The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office lost its second appeal Monday to reinstate a felony charge against Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, who is charged in the killing of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a chaotic search for a murder suspect in 2010, Fox 2 reports.
The ruling leaves Weekley facing only a misdemeanor charge, careless discharge of a weapon. If convicted of that, he's likely to avoid prison.
On Friday, Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway dismissed the felony charge, involuntary manslaughter , much to the chagrin of prosecutors, who appealed the ruling to the state Appeals Court. The higher court issued a ruling against the prosecutors on Monday, and prosecutors then filed an emergency motion for reconsideration. Fox 2 reports that the court rejected that second appeal.
The court ruled that it couldn't overturn a directed verdict by the lower judge, who dismissed the charge. A directed verdict means that the judge dismisses the charge before a jury can decide on the matter.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that a judge's decision to grant a directed verdict cannot be appealed because it would constitute double jeopardy, the Detroit News reports.
