Lawyers for a Philadelphia police officer insisted Friday that he was justified when he gunned down a driver during a traffic stop last month.
Five-year veteran Mark Dial surrendered to face murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry on Aug. 14.
Dial’s lawyers said that the officer believed that Irizarry had a firearm when he fired a total of six shots.
“Despite what has been portrayed to the media, the facts will unmistakably show that Officer Mark Dial was legally justified in discharging his weapon while fearing for his life,” said Dial’s attorney Fortunato N. Perri.
“When police officers ordered him to show his hands, he instead produced a weapon and pointed it at an armed police officer,” said defense attorney Brian J. McMonagle.
“In no world (are) those facts murder, we intend to right this wrong.”
District Attorney Larry Krasner said that his office is trying to be “evenhanded.”
“It is evenhanded if you are powerful or not powerful, rich or not rich, famous or not famous, an insider or an outsider,” Krasner said.
