WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say a man accused of killing an Iowa state patrol trooper had plenty of opportunity to surrender before the fatal shooting. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Douglas Hammerand made the remarks Tuesday during opening statements in the first-degree murder trial of 42-year-old Michael Thomas Lang. The Waterloo-Cedar Rapids Courier reports that Lang’s attorney, Aaron Hawbaker, told jurors the trooper’s death was tragic but did not amount to murder. Lang is accused in the April 2021 killing of Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith, who was shot as he led a tactical team to arrest Lang in his home. Lang was wanted for assaulting a police officer after a traffic pursuit earlier that day.
Prosecutor: Man had chance to surrender before killing cop
By Mandy Billings
May 10, 2022 | 3:21 PM
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