Judge to Send MPD Officer’s Case to Grand Jury

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A judge has found probable cause to send the case of Montgomery police officer Aaron Smith to a grand jury.

Smith appeared in court today for a preliminary hearing in connection to the Feb. 25 shooting death of Gregory Gunn.

Smith was arrested after he shot and killed Gunn, a 58-year-old resident of the Mobile Heights community in Montgomery. It happened in the early hours of the morning as Gunn was walking through the neighborhood. Six days after the shooting, the state’s district attorney charged Officer Smith with murder. The State Bureau of Investigation took over the case and handed its findings over the district attorney’s office.

Thursday’s hearing was requested by Officer Smith’s legal team. It will give them a chance to examine the evidence the state claims shows as “probable cause” for a murder charge against the four year officer.

Smith’s attorneys say the arrest is out of normal procedure and that a grand jury should decide whether Smith he should be charged.

We will have more on this developing story throughout the day.