A New York state trooper was acquitted of manslaughter charges on Wednesday in the killing of an unarmed man in downtown Buffalo after a high-speed highway chase.
The trooper, Anthony Nigro IV, was found not guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter charges by Judge James Bargnesi of Erie County Court following a bench trial.
New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, charged Trooper Nigro last June in the fatal shooting of the man, James Huber, 38, of North East, Pa., in February 2022. Trooper Nigro, 40, of Eden, N.Y., had faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Charles W. Murphy, the president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement that the union was pleased with the verdict.
“We commend the judge for his decision, as it is clear the charges were not applicable to this case,” Mr. Murphy said, adding, “Trooper Nigro’s actions were in accordance with his training and the law, and he was justified in his use of force.”
Andrew Quinn, a lawyer for Trooper Nigro, declined further comment.
A spokeswoman for Ms. James said in a statement that the office “remains committed to conducting thorough and transparent investigations of every case, following the facts and pursuing justice.”
“We offer our sincerest condolences to Mr. Huber’s loved ones,” the spokeswoman added.
Nicole Frye, Mr. Huber’s sister, said in a brief telephone interview that the trial had been hard to sit through and that the verdict was hard to accept.
“My brother didn’t deserve to die that way,” Ms. Frye said, adding of Trooper Nigro, “I just hope he knows he can do better.”
The events that preceded the fatal shooting began with troopers chasing Mr. Huber after seeing him speeding and driving erratically on Interstate 90 near Buffalo, Ms. James said in announcing the charges last year. The State Police said Mr. Huber had been going more than 100 miles per hour, The Buffalo News reported.
Troopers called off the pursuit when Mr. Huber left the highway, Ms. James said. A short time later, she said, Mr. Huber stopped his car near a downtown Buffalo intersection, and Trooper Nigro, a 15-year State Police veteran at the time, stopped as well.
At that point, as shown in footage captured by Trooper Nigro’s body-worn camera and released by Ms. James’s office, the trooper left his vehicle and approached Mr. Huber’s.
The ensuing interaction lasted only about 10 seconds, the footage shows. Trooper Nigro walked toward Mr. Huber’s car, his right arm extended and his gun pointed at Mr. Huber. He ordered Mr. Huber out of the car.
Mr. Huber mumbled in response and did not move. The exchange between them continued until Mr. Huber turned away and reached toward the car’s center console.
The trooper reached into the car, grabbed the hood of Mr. Huber’s sweatshirt with one hand and held his gun near the back of Mr. Huber’s head with the other. He ordered Mr. Huber out of the car again, before firing twice and then appearing to fall down.
Mr. Huber’s car appeared to speed backward, and a few seconds later, the sound of the car crashing can be heard. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An assistant attorney general prosecuting the case said during his closing argument that Trooper Nigro’s actions were not reasonable and that he did not need to shoot Mr. Huber.
But Trooper Nigro testified that he feared for his life when he fired his gun, The Associated Press reported.
“I felt like I was going to get sucked underneath the vehicle; this man was going to kill me,” he said.
The attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation prosecuted Trooper Nigro under a 2015 executive order that gives it the authority to examine any incident where a police officer may have caused the death of a civilian.
The case against Trooper Nigro was the second to be brought against a state trooper by the office in recent years as a result of a highway-chase-related death.
Trooper Christopher Baldner is awaiting trial on manslaughter and other charges in the December 2020 death of an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl. He is accused of ramming her family’s minivan during a high-speed pursuit near Kingston, N.Y., causing it to crash.
Trooper Baldner was originally indicted on a second-degree murder charge. A judge later dismissed the murder count, and Ms. James’s office has appealed to have it reinstated.
