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Just a day after police officer John Moody was cleared of shooting Ernesto Duenez Jr. eleven times in front of his Manteca, Ca. home, police have released the graphic cam dash video that details the incident.

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The video, taken on June 8, 2012, shows Moody waiting for Duenez to exit a vehicle parked in the driveway. The Daily Mail reports that Duenez was wanted in connection with a domestic violence incident earlier that day, and as he pulls up to the home, Moody exits his own vehicle:

He approaches the home once Duenez arrives in a pickup truck.

Duenez, a passenger in the truck, can be seen climbing across the seats and opening a door as Manteca police officer James Moody runs towards the vehicle with his gun pointed.

In the video, Moody can be heard screaming:

“Drop the knife now! Hands up! Hands up, Ernie! Don’t you move, Ernie, don’t you move or I’ll shoot you!”

Moody and police claim that the officer saw a knife in Duenez’s right hand, which is not visible on the video. Moody said he feared the man might throw it or charge at him, however, the Duenez family’s attorney contends that Duenez was unarmed.

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What happens next is shocking and fast:

Moody shoots 13 shots in 4.2 seconds as soon as Duenez exits the pick-up truck. Eleven bullets hit him – once in the head, eight times in the body and twice in the extremities – and four while he was already on the ground. He died of gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen.

His wife, Whitney Duenez, is seen running out of the home, heartbroken and screaming at the police officer, who tells her to stay back. She rushes to her husband’s side as her husband rolls over clutching his chest.

According to the Manteca Bulletin, it wasn’t until more officers arrived that they realized Duenez’s foot was caught in his seatbelt.

The District Attorney’s video experts said that it did look as though Duenez had a knife in his hand at the start of the video. Police later said they found an eight-inch “throwing knife” in the bed of the truck, however, they are not sure how the knife moved from Duenez’s hand to the back of the vehicle.

The family is now seeking retribution.

John Burris, an Oakland attorney, filed a wrongful-death federal lawsuit against the Manteca Police and Moody in July during the case. He obtained this video and released it at a news conference a day after Moody was cleared from wrongdoing. The District Attorney’s office decided that Moody was justified in shooting the man.

The attorney said he has asked the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation and pursue murder charges against 40-year-old Moody.

‘We have communicated to the Department of Justice that this man should be prosecuted for murder,’ Burris said. ‘He should be held accountable just like anyone else would be held accountable when they engage in this kind of barbaric conduct.”

In the report, the district attorney said Duenez was a gang member who served three prison sentences for drug, stolen vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon charges. Burris added that the man was in violation of his parole.

Moody is back on active duty and the family, saddened and still shocked from the incident, believe the video should have been released earlier so that justice could be served.

Burris, who briefly represented Rodney King during his suit against the Los Angeles Police Department, doesn’t take on trivial cases, so we’re sure there is something else to this story. The graphic nature of the video alone should have Moody behind bars, yet, he’s back on the force and roaming free.

We hope the family gets the justice they deserve. 

SOURCE: The Daily Mail