Cop In Dash Cam Shooting Video Says He Does Not Recall Firing First Shot.
BLACKWELL: A new video this morning after California man is accused of driving drunk and crashing his car last month. We've got the dashcam video. It shows he was shot by an officer as he tried to climb out of the car. But this new body cam video from the scene shows what the Officer Patrick Feaster, said after he shot the man. This is edited together from several minutes of footage.</s>ALVIES: "Who shot you?"</s>FEASTER: Get out of the car, sir. You're not shot, sir. Get out of the car.</s>ALVIES: "Who shot you?" Thomas: "The cop."</s>ALVIES: "The cop did not shoot you."</s>FEASTER: "I don't think I shot him. I wasn't even pointing at him but the gun did not go off."</s>ALVIES: "Oh my God, are you serious?"</s>BLACKWELL: Andrew Thomas is now recovering in the hospital from being shot in the neck. It could leave him permanently paralyzed. And get this, he could still face DUI and manslaughter charges after his wife was ejected from the car and killed in that wreck. Well now dashcam video released earlier this week shows what happened from the beginning. We have to warn you, the video is disturbing. Watch.</s>MIKE RAMSEY, BUTTE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The officer's immediate reaction was thinking that the man was going to attempt to flee.</s>BLACKWELL: District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he could not file charges under the law, calling what happened unintentional and possibly negligent, but not criminally so. He says their investigation shows the shot was fired accidentally, and Officer Feaster was surprised by the discharge. Protests have now been organized by Thomas and supporters.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are here to serve and protect us, not shoot us.</s>BLACKWELL: Investigators say Feaster waited 11 minutes to report that he fired the shot. He didn't even tell the paramedics when they arrived.</s>FEASTER: I've an unresponsive female and a male in the car refusing to get out.</s>BLACKWELL: The district attorney called the delay troubling but said Feaster was in shock and wasn't sure if he actually fired a shot. Feaster is on leave while an internal investigation continues within the department.</s>CHIEF GABRIELA TAZZARI-DINEEN, PARADISE POLICE: Discipline can range anywhere from a letter ladder of reprimand to termination.</s>BLACKWELL: We have back with us now CNN Legal Analyst, Joey Jackson. Joey, you know, this feeds into the narrative that there is a separate justice system or process for people who wear a badge and don't. Is there any precedent in which outside of law enforcement that there is the "I didn't realize I had shot him" defense and no charges are filed?</s>JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Victor, good morning. I have not seen that anywhere, such a precedent for "I didn't shoot, I don't remember shooting. I was in shock for shooting." You know, this is extraordinarily troubling. I'd go as far as to say outrageous. And it also feeds into another narrative and that is should the local district attorney, be investigating and potentially prosecuting the officers that they rely upon on a daily basis to make their case. Now, I could tell you as a former prosecutor myself that you have a huge deal of discretion. And I was simply an assistant district attorney in terms of dismissing cases, elevating cases, you know, deciding to prosecute them at different levels. And, you know, to read the D.A.'s conclusions and it's just very troubling, and I also would go as far as to say intellectually dishonest. Now, you can argue intent or lack of intent. It appears to be pretty intentional to me, but that's just me. But now, you get to the issue of negligence and then you're suggesting that it's negligent maybe but doesn't rise to criminal negligence. And that's why you need independence in an investigation. So that the community can feel that everything, every stone was unturned to determine whether or not it was criminal or not criminal, not just the local district attorney saying, "It looks OK, let's move on to the next case."</s>BLACKWELL: Yeah. The officer says that he was in shock and, you know, I don't know that to be different. It's not my job to opine on that. But if this works in this case, and in this specific shooting, could this be used as a precedent in other shootings in which officers or anyone could say, "I didn't recognize that I this shot him. I didn't realize it, so that -- maybe I'm not legally liable."</s>JACKSON: Well, that's the problem, Victor. And, you know, was there a medical evaluation here? Was he examined by a psychologist or did the district attorney impanel one to evaluate him, or to opine on that? Or is it his word? In addition to that, look at the actions of the officer. Were the actions of the officer consist with shock, were they consistent with someone who didn't know what they did or was it consistent with someone who was covering this up? And so that's the issue. You mentioned the precedential effect. It also sets the effect on precedent for people who just don't trust law enforcement, and that's the problem because we need law enforcement. We need to respect law enforcement. We need to work to with law enforcement and we need to rely and really, you know, support the things that they do. And so this is very troubling. And I don't think we've seen or are going to be talking about the last of this.</s>BLACKWELL: Yeah. And certainly, you can expect a civil suit to come from his family. We'll, of course, follow this story, this case. Joey Jackson, thank you so much.</s>JACKSON: Thank you, Victor.</s>WALKER: And coming up next hour, combating home-grown terrorism. This week, numerous people have been arrested right here in America for alleged ties to terrorists. We'll take a look at how law enforcement is catching terrorists before they strike.