How A State Supreme Court Ruling On A 2019 Officer-Involved Shooting Could Have Lasting Impact

An Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling on a 2019 deadly shooting involving a Blackwell officer could have a lasting impact for similar incidents.

Blackwell Lieutenant John Mitchell was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of Michael Godsey.

Lt. Mitchell was in pursuit of Godsey, who had been driving around town shooting at cars and law enforcement.

Dashcam video showed Mitchell firing dozens of rounds at Godsey. 

He was charged in 2019, but two years later, a Kay County judge dismissed the criminal case ruling the use of force was justified. 

Then last month, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed and stated in a document "the preliminary hearing evidence coincides not with guilt but solely with innocence."

Attorneys said the ruling will impact cases moving forward, as well as a new "use of force" law to determine what's excessive and what's reasonable.