Judge dismisses all charges against former Police Officer Mark Dial in shooting death of Eddie Irizarry

A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday dismissed all charges against former city Police Officer Mark Dial, ruling that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to show that his fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry while on-duty last month was a crime.

Following a preliminary hearing, Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew agreed with Dial’s lawyers that the officer was justified when he shot Irizarry, and that he and his partner were reacting to a situation in which they believed Irizarry presented a potential threat to their safety.

The decision led to an outburst of support from Dial’s relatives and dozens of police officers who had gathered in the courtroom to support him. His defense lawyers, led by Brian McMonagle, said the shooting was “a tragedy and not a crime” and that the charges — which included first-degree murder — “should have never been brought.”

» READ MORE: Family, supporters of Eddie Irizarry march after judge dismisses charges against Philly officer who killed him

Irizarry’s relatives were outraged; some burst into sobs in the courtroom after Pew issued her ruling. Speaking outside the courthouse afterward, Irizarry’s aunt Zoraida Garcia said: “The officers can go out here and kill a person that’s not doing anything and get away with murder, because this is what it was.”

The District Attorney’s Office quickly appealed the decision in an attempt to refile all charges against Dial. A hearing on that request is scheduled for next month before a Common Pleas Court judge.

“We do not agree with [Pew’s] decision,” Assistant District Attorney Karima Yelverton said outside the courthouse.

Dial, 27, a five-year veteran of the force, shot and killed Irizarry, 27, as Irizarry sat in his car during a traffic stop in Kensington on Aug. 14. Police initially said Irizarry had lunged at Dial with a knife, leading the officer to shoot him. But video showed that wasn’t true: Irizarry was in his car, with the windows rolled up and a knife in his hand, when Dial opened fire within just seconds of getting out of his police cruiser.

On Aug. 23, then-Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said she was suspending Dial with intent to dismiss him from the force for refusing to cooperate with the department’s internal investigation into the shooting.

About two weeks after that, District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office charged Dial with crimes including first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault. After Dial surrendered to police, he was released on bail. Last week, however, a judge ordered that the first-degree murder charge he was facing required that he be held without bail, and sent him to jail ahead of his preliminary hearing.

Dial was officially fired from the department Sept. 18.

Prosecutors had alleged that Dial’s partner yelled “knife” before Dial opened fire, and that because he emerged from his police car with his gun drawn, and then fired within five seconds, he should be charged with murder.

But Dial’s lawyers had said the officer thought his partner yelled “gun,” and that Dial shot Irizarry in self-defense.

Dial’s lawyers reiterated that in court Tuesday — and sought to bolster their contention with testimony from Dial’s partner, Michael Morris.

Morris testified that in the moments before the shooting, he told Dial that Irizarry appeared to be holding a knife as he sat inside his car. Under questioning by prosecutors, who called him to the witness stand, Morris said he didn’t remember the exact words he used, but said he saw Irizarry grab a knife and appear to move it upward, and that he’d tried to tell Dial about it.

“For the most part, my eyes were zoned in on the threat,” Morris said.

On cross-examination, McMonagle played surveillance video from a nearby doorbell camera that captured the shooting. He said the audio accompanying that video made it sound as if Morris or Dial had said “f — gun,” and asked Morris whether that’s what he heard on the recording, too.

“Fair to say,” Morris said.

McMonagle told Pew, the judge, that testimony made it clear that Dial’s actions were justified under the law, which allows officers to shoot if they believe their life is in danger. At the end of the hearing, Pew said she agreed that prosecutors had not provided evidence that Dial’s actions amounted to a crime and she dismissed all charges. She did not elaborate.

McMonagle said afterward: ”Once the court heard everything in this case, there was nothing under the law that you could do but dismiss charges.”

Yelverton, the prosecutor, also played bodycam videos from both Dial and Morris during the hearing, and showed Pew the entire surveillance tape from a nearby doorbell cam.

Prosecutors also called to the stand Detective Peter Marrero, the assigned investigator from the department’s Officer Involved Shooting unit. While being cross-examined by another of Dial’s lawyers, Fortunato Perri Jr., Marrero acknowledged that he had recommended that Dial be charged with voluntary manslaughter — not murder.

Still, Yelverton contended that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to hold Dial for trial on murder charges, and said her office was seeking “even-handed justice” in charging him.

Afterward, she said that she was “angry” that the case was thrown out, but quickly added: “It’s not about how I feel. The commonwealth will appeal this decision.”

Krasner has been more aggressive than his predecessors in charging police officers for on-duty shootings. Last year, prosecutors convicted former officer Eric Ruch Jr. of voluntary manslaughter in the 2017 shooting of an unarmed man, the first such conviction in the city in decades.

But also last fall, a judge dismissed all charges against former officer Ryan Pownall, ruling that prosecutors had failed to provide proper legal instructions to a grand jury as it weighed whether to charge him with murder in a 2017 on-duty shooting.

Another prosecution filed by Krasner’s office — the murder case against former officer Edsaul Mendoza for fatally shooting 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio in the back — remains pending, with a trial scheduled for next year.

Irizarry’s family had been publicly calling for Dial to face charges for weeks before he was arrested. They rallied and marched through the city with leaders from the Puerto Rican community, and the charges, they said, had brought some relief.

Mayor Jim Kenney said Tuesday that his thoughts were with the Irizarry family, and that he trusts the DA’s Office “will do everything in its power to pursue justice and accountability.”

His likely successor, Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker, said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, that Irizarry’s death “shocked my conscience and the consciousness of our city.”

“We need a Police Department that receives the very best training that exists, and we need a focus and commitment to community policing to create much stronger bonds between neighborhoods and police everywhere,” Parker wrote.

Quetcy Lozada, the City Council member who represents Kensington, called the case’s collapse “a grave injustice” and said: “This inaction will only continue to exacerbate the issues that plague our justice system and further strain our community’s relationship with the police.”

Garcia, Irizarry’s aunt, said she and the whole family were reeling with anger from the judge’s decision.

“How much evidence more do you need?” she asked while standing outside the Kensington home of Irizarry’s grandfather, Nelson Garcia. “If the evidence was there, all the videos was there. The whole city have all the videos. So for you to sit here and say it was not enough evidence, then that was wrong.”

As drizzle fell Tuesday evening, supporters gathered outside City Hall to protest the judge’s decision. Chants of “No good cops in a racist system” began as the crowd grew.

» READ MORE: Family, supporters of Eddie Irizarry march after judge dismisses charges against Philly officer who killed him

Charito Morales of Philly Boricuas, one of the organizations that led an earlier rally, said Tuesday that she was “very angry” when she learned of Pew’s decision.

The community has grown tired of watching police evade accountability, she said in Spanish, and Tuesday’s ruling was a message that officers police could do anything without fear of consequences:

”Today they went 1,000 steps backward and they shattered the faith we have in the justice system.”