Judge: Release video in police shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge has ordered the release of video showing a fatal shooting by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police in 2012.

The Charlotte Observer reported that the ruling is the second time a judge has ordered the release of video of a Charlotte police shooting under a new state law.

Mecklenburg County Superior Judge Lisa Bell ruled the police department must release to the newspaper the footage in the killing of 28-year-old Michael Laney, whose family and police give conflicting accounts of what happened.

A prosecutor ruled officers were justified in the shooting. Family members said the shooting was unnecessary and officers overreacted.

Earlier, another judge ordered the release of video in the June 2 police shooting of Rodney Rodriguez Smith.