Shooting by ex-cop poses $75 million hit for Mesa

The controversial verdict that cleared a former Mesa police officer of murder in a dramatic shooting captured by a body cam spared Philip “Mitch” Brailsford from a potential prison sentence, but the case is far from over for Mesa taxpayers.

Mesa still faces millions of dollars in potential liability in a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by Laney Sweet, the widow of Daniel Shaver, 26, a Texas pest control worker who was seen in the disturbing video begging for his life as he crawled in the hallway of an East Mesa hotel on Jan. 18, 2016.

Sweet is seeking damages of more than $100 million.

Brailsford, 27, shot the unarmed father of two, after Shaver appeared to reach behind his back. Lawyers for Sweet say Shaver was trying to pull up his loose-fitting gym shorts, but Brailsford and former Sgt. Charles Langley said they feared he might have been reaching for a gun.

The city fired Brailsford a couple of weeks after the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office took the unusual step of charging him with second-degree murder and negligent manslaughter. A jury found him not guilty of both crimes in early December, after Brailsford’s defense attorney argued he was following his training.

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