Yahoo Finance KC cop has been in jail 1 day in Cameron Lamb killing. He’s asking to be released again
A former Kansas City police officer whose manslaughter conviction in the shooting death of a Black man was upheld by an appeals court Tuesday is asking to be released from jail on bond pending another appeal.
In a motion filed Wednesday at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, attorneys for Eric DeValkenaere say he is appealing his conviction to the Missouri Supreme Court.
DeValkenaere, who is white, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the 2019 shooting death of Cameron Lamb, a 26-year-old Black man.
In a rare move, Judge J. Dale Youngs granted a request allowing DeValkenaere to remain free for nearly two years during his appeal, from November 2021 until his appeal was decided this week.
That decision came Tuesday, when a three-judge panel ruled that DeValkenaere will have to serve a six-year prison sentence.
In a 42-page ruling, Judge Thomas N. Chapman said it was the court’s unanimous opinion that, “DeValkenaere has failed to establish error with respect to his conviction for involuntary manslaughter, his arguments regarding his armed criminal action conviction also fail.”
Lamb’s family opposed letting DeValkenaere go free again.
“That shouldn’t happen,” Lamb’s mother Laurie Bey said at a rally in support of her family Wednesday outside the Jackson County courthouse.
“My son was killed December the 3rd, 2019 ... Up until yesterday, (DeValkenaere) had not served a day in jail. I just don’t understand why do they continue to keep giving this man that killed an innocent man passes. Make it make sense to me. Make it make sense. It does not make sense.”
Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said DeValkenaere should serve his time.
“He is not above the law. He deserves no special treatment because he’s a cop,” Grant told The Star. “It’s unconscionable to me that they have the unmitigated gall to attempt ... to keep this convicted murderer free.”
DeValkenaere has been in custody since Tuesday, after his bond was revoked and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He surrendered in the afternoon and was booked into the Platte County Detention Center.
Eric DeValkenaere appeal
Arguments at the Court of Appeals were heard in September.
In an unusual move, the Missouri Attorney General’s office which tasked with arguing on behalf of the state, instead sided with the defendant and recommended that the conviction be overturned.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office was allowed to defend the manslaughter conviction during the hearing.
In the motion filed at 5:43 a.m. Wednesday, attorney Jonathan Laurans said the Missouri attorney general did not oppose reinstating bond for the former officer while he took the case to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Laurans wrote that there were “no compliance issues” while DeValkenaere remained free and that he is not a flight risk.
“Appellant should be permitted to remain on bond until such time as all post-opinion motions are decided,” the motion said.
On Wednesday, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said it has opposed bond throughout the appeal process.
“We would do that with any case. But this will be a matter for others to sort out,” said Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
DeValkenaere motion to reinstate bond by Ian Cummings on Scribd
