NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Justice Department says no federal charges will be filed in the death of a man who was fatally shot while handcuffed in the back of a sheriff's patrol car in Louisiana.
The coroner in Iberia Parish had already ruled that Victor White shot himself on the evening of March 2, 2014, despite being handcuffed behind his back while sitting in the car after a drug arrest.
Tuesday's Justice Department statement stopped short of concluding White shot himself. But it cited expert opinions that the gun was close to the body when fired. It noted that gunshot residue was found on White's hands. And it said video showed that White had, earlier in the evening, reached his cuffed hands around to his front pants pocket. The fatal shot entered the right side of White's chest.
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