Man: The following segment is sponsored by Harding Mazzotti.
Interviewer: An unarmed man, Luis Rivera, was recently shot and wounded by an Albany police officer after they received a report that a man was threatening somebody with a handgun. Police are now saying he may have been intending to be killed by police. But if he didn’t have a gun in his hands when he was interacting with police, can the charges of menacing stick? So we’ve got managing partner Paul Harding here from Harding Mazzotti. So Paul, what happened in this case?
Paul: Well, you know, a lot. And, you know, the scene was unfolding rapidly, no doubt. The police get a call. There is someone brandishing a gun against someone in a home. And I think there was an allegation there were children either there or close by. So they show up. They find a way to get that situation safe. Mr. Rivera is acting erratically by what they’re saying and kind of goes down in the shooter stance a couple times. There’s a shot fired by the police officer. He’s hitting the leg. And at this point, you know, things turn out he doesn’t have a gun. He’s, kind of, doing, kind of, an air move. And the police reacting as they see fit under the circumstances is what’s going to be looked at through this case.
Interviewer: Right. Rivera faces a bunch of charges, but one of them is menacing. And can he still face that menacing charge considering he didn’t actually have a gun in his hands?
Paul: So menacing, you know, it’s a gun or a deadly weapon, but he had nothing. But I think what the menacing charge might be referring to is what was happening prior to the police arrival. He had a gun. He had a gun, again, allegedly pointed at someone. So I think that’s where we see the menacing charge. But it’s pretty unclear.
Interviewer: Right. And so will that charge stick, do you think?
Paul: Well, he’ll have defense counsel and they’ll be attacking each and every one of those charges just to see which ones are going to stick. You know, things went south. Things are erratic. I think that Mr. Rivera, you know, needed to have some support and some health check, which I believe that was done also with him. We’ll wait and see. You know, as a defense attorney, what you do is look at the charges. Does it substantiate the charges? If not, you make a motion to have those charges dismissed.
Interviewer: Yeah. So we’ll see what happens.
Paul: We’ll see how it unfolds.
Interviewer: All right, Paul, thanks.
Paul: Thank you.
