Ex-Utah detective charged with manslaughter

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah prosecutors on Thursday charged a former police officer from a troubled department with fatally shooting an unarmed 21-year-old woman during a 2012 drug investigation.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced at a news conference Thursday morning that a single count of manslaughter had been filed against Shaun Cowley, 33, a former narcotics officer in West Valley City.

Cowley and another officer fired at Danielle Willard as she backed her car out of a parking spot. The officers had contended their lives were in danger, but Gill said that's not the case because Cowley was standing on the side of the woman's car.

"Mr. Cowley acted in a reckless manner, and the evidence that we have does not support that his life was in danger or give him the justification to use the force that he did," Gill said.

While Cowley and the other officer both fired a total of six shots, Gill said Cowley fired the fatal shot and his office didn't have enough evidence to justify charging the other officer.

"There was one more than the other who started this process," Gill said of the officers.

Cowley's attorney, Lindsay Jarvis, was not immediately available to comment. Her office said it would release a statement later Thursday.

Gill's office has been weighing whether to file charges since he ruled last August that the shooting was unjustified.

Willard's shooting touched off an internal investigation in Utah's second-largest city, as the West Valley City Police Department uncovered evidence that drug-squad officers mishandled evidence, lost drugs and money and kept small tokens from drug busts as souvenirs.

The city disbanded the drug unit and disciplined the nine officers on the squad. Prosecutors threw out more than 120 cases the officers had been involved with, citing questions about the credibility of the investigations and evidence.

Cowley was fired in September, the only officer to be dismissed. West Valley City Police Chief Lee Russo cited Cowley's "pattern of behavior" that undermined investigations as the reason for the dismissal.

Cowley has been challenging the firing, but it's unclear how the manslaughter charge will affect that process.

During the news conference Thursday, Gill said his office was meeting with Cowley and attempting to work out whether the former officer would surrender to be booked in to jail. Cowley's bail would be set at $25,000, Gill said.

If convicted, he could face one to 15 years in prison.