Former Auburn Police Officer Jeffrey Nelson will not receive a new murder trial or recusal of the court.
On Dec. 20, King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps issued the ruling in the case for Nelson, who was the first police officer to be convicted of murder following the institution of Initiative 940, which changed the standard for holding police criminally liable for excessive use of force.
Nelson was found guilty of murder in the second degree and assault in the first degree with a deadly weapon following the May 2019 death of 26-year-old Jesse Sarey. After attempting to arrest Sarey, Nelson shot him once in the stomach and then once more in the forehead when he was on the ground. Sarey was the third person Nelson had killed as a K9 and patrol officer — the other two being 48-year-old Brian Scaman in May 2011 and Isaiah Obet in June 2017…