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A third video released Tuesday by authorities discounts a conclusion, based on a cellphone video made public last week, that a Salt Lake City police officer shot James Dudley Barker in the back while Barker was handcuffed on the ground.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill revealed the new footage at a Tuesday news conference and said that "the [new] video clearly demonstrates that did not happen."
The latest of a trio of video recordings clearly shows that Officer Matthew Taylor's hands are not holding a weapon as he handcuffs Barker, Gill said. The video that was shot from across street — and not previously released — shows that Taylor's gun remains in its holster and that he is putting handcuffs on the 42-year-old Barker.
That is the same time span during which San Francisco-based attorney Robert Rubin and former Davis County Sheriff William J. "Dub" Lawrence claim the officer appears, in another video released by them last week, to be shooting Barker in the back.
Beyond the third video, Gill said none of four witnesses who saw the shooting said last year that the officer shot Barker while handcuffed. The witnesses' recollections are consistent with Barker being shot while facing Taylor, the D.A. said.
"We can clearly refute that [Barker was shot in the back] with the evidence we have," Gill said.
Further, the D.A. said, a medical examiner's report indicates Barker was shot as the two men faced each other.
Barker was shot three times, Gill said: once under the chin, once in the chest and once in the left side.
Gill did not make the autopsy document public Tuesday. Nor was evidence from the medical examiner's report included in the D.A.'s February 23, 2015, report that found Taylor's use of deadly force was justified.
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have had possession of the third video since Barker was shot to death on Jan. 8, 2015.
It was not released earlier, Gill said, because the footage shows activity at the scene after the shooting occurred and was not necessary to justify Taylor's use of deadly force.
Barker's death was the fourth controversial police shooting in a span of about seven months — all ruled justified. A Salt Lake City officer shot a dog, Geist, during a search for a missing child on June 18, 2014; another Salt Lake City officer shot Dillon Taylor to death Aug. 11, 2014, believing he was armed, though he was not; and Saratoga Springs police shot and killed Darrien Hunt on Sept. 10, 2014, when the young man ran away from them after swinging a decorative samurai sword he was carrying.
The Barker incident occurred when police were called to investigate a "suspicious" man offering to shovel snow in the neighborhood. Taylor arrived and found Barker on the porch of a house at the intersection of I Street and 2nd Avenue.
Footage from Taylor's body camera, released last year, showed the confrontation between Taylor and Barker.
An argument broke out as Taylor repeatedly asked Barker for his name and a business license. The body-cam footage shows Taylor's hand move out toward Barker, who jumps back and swings the shovel at Taylor. Police have said the strike of the shovel disabled the camera.
Taylor said he fell off the porch and injured his arm, according to Gill's report last year on the shooting. He said Barker knocked the officer's stun gun out of his hands and tried to grab at his gun or holster.
"I know if he gets my gun, he's going to kill me," Taylor said, according to interview transcripts released by Gill.
Taylor said he pushed Barker off of him and shot the man three times from about two feet away.
Friends and family of Baker were infuriated that such an incident would result in his death. Someone contacted Rubin, who enlisted Lawrence, who is now an activist for police reform, to conduct an independent investigation.
After discovering a cellphone video and editing it, the pair determined that it showed Taylor had handcuffed Barker when noises, like three gunshots, could be heard. They made the video available to news outlets Friday and turned it over to the D.A. later that day.
Gill said he and a team of investigators worked over the weekend to determine whether the cellphone video showed Taylor shooting Barker after he was handcuffed.
The D.A. said he welcomed and encouraged all citizen participation. He thanked Rubin and Lawrence for raising the issue, but added: "Let us be careful about the allegations we do make. ... This officer deserved better."
Interim Police Chief Mike Brown said Taylor was put on administrative leave Friday as the investigation into the shooting was reopened. The chief said Taylor continues to heal physically and emotionally from the altercation.
"Officer Taylor continues to be an asset for this department," Brown said.
Although a detective reviewed the cellphone video one year ago, the police department did not turn it over to the district attorney's office. Brown conceded that was a mistake.
The person who filmed the cellphone video brought it to officers while they were at the scene of the shooting. Brown said they watched it, but didn't collect it because it appeared to have been filmed after Barker was shot.
"From now on, every bit of information is important and we will collect it," Brown said.
The chief noted that all members of the Salt Lake City Police Department participate in de-escalation training. But, he added, such training has not changed since Barker's death.
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski called the incident "tragic" for both the family and friends of Barker, as well as Taylor and his family.
"The portrayal of Officer Taylor in such a bad light, without a thorough review of evidence, frayed our community," Biskupski said. "There was no cover-up. There was a search for truth."
Two witnesses reported seeing the shooting from their cars as they drove by the scene. One witness said there was a pause in the struggle between Taylor and Barker, when she saw Taylor shoot Barker.
The other eyewitness, Richard Grow, 67, told The Tribune that he saw the men scuffling as he drove south on I Street.
"They wrestled on the ground for 10 to 15 seconds," he said. Then he saw the officer "reach around his side and pull out his gun and hold it up to the guy's chest and bam, bam, bam. … Point blank against the man's chest."
Investigators reinterviewed Grow after they viewed the cellphone footage released last week, Gill said. His account of the shooting did not change.
The Salt Lake City Police Department investigated the shooting before forwarding evidence to the D.A.'s office for its inquiry. Since Barker's shooting, Salt Lake County has enacted new protocols for police shootings, requiring an outside law enforcement agency to conduct the review.