Judge Finds Former St. Louis Cop Not Guilty of Shooting Unarmed Man

Former St. Louis cop Matthew EerNisse has been found not guilty of shooting an unarmed man in the back in north city in 2018 — a case that began with St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and that drew angry pushback from the union representing police officers in the city.

The verdict came today after a three-day bench trial in front of St. Louis Circuit Judge John T. Bird last month. Defense attorneys Scott Rosenblum and T.J. Mathes had opted to waive their client's right to a jury trial in order to try their chances with Bird.

Bird was appointed to the bench by Governor Mike Parson in 2021.

In his 10-page ruling, Bird wrote that EerNisse was not guilty of assault in the second degree or armed criminal action. He wrote that he found the testimony of Arvell Keithley, the man shot by EerNisse, not credible — and that EerNisse was credible.

Keithley was in a stolen red Mustang at a McDonald's in north city on August 27, 2018, when police officers spotted him. Bird wrote that testimony found that Keithley sped off, traveling as fast as 110 miles per hour before the vehicle spun out and Keithley took off on foot.

EerNisse gave chase, and eventually caught up to Keithley. But it was dark in the gangway where they finally met, and the former officer testified that Keithley ignored his commands to stop. EerNisse said Keithley reached for his waistband, and that EerNisse tried to swat his hand away — but that Keithley than grabbed for EerNisse's weapon. At that point, EerNisse testified, he fired in self-defense. He explained shooting multiple times by saying he was disoriented by the "strobe light" effect of the muzzle flash and also still felt under threat.

A police technician later found seven spent shell casings. Keithley was injured but survived the shooting.

Judge Bird found EerNisse's actions to be justified, writing that he and other officers believed Keithley to be armed (even though they ultimately learned he was not). Beyond that, he wrote, "a law enforcement officer is justified in using such physical force as he believes is necessary to effect an arrest or prevent an escape from custody." Bird found "no evidence" that EerNisse shot Keithley in the back after being blinded by the muzzle flash and no evidence that he "continued to shoot his weapon when it was reckless to do so."

Prosecutors had originally charged EerNisse with shooting blindly through plywood at Keithley and charged him with first-degree assault, but later substituted the lesser charge. With that move, Bird writes, prosecutors "essentially conceded that Officer EerNisse was justified in initially shooting at Mr. Keithley."

The case was originally investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's internal affairs unit and Force Investigation Unit. But Jeff Roorda, the business manager of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, blamed Gardner, who filed the charges nearly a year after the shooting, in October 2019: “It’s appropriate on Halloween that we have a criminal masquerading as a prosecutor charging yet another innocent police officer," he told KMOV at the time. “We’ll let his attorney address the facts of the case, but we are here to stand up for our member, and we believe this is about him wearing a badge, not the facts of the case."

EerNisse later resigned from the force. The Post-Dispatch reported last month that he turned down a plea deal to plead his innocence at trial.



Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News |  Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed