A former Alabama police officer who shot more than a dozen rounds in less than two seconds and killed a black man during a truck recovery in 2023 will have to be judged after a judge denied immunity.
Mac Marquette, who was fired from the Decatur Police Department, has been accused of murder in the shooting of September 29, 2023 by Steve Perkins. Marquette’s lawyers had argued that he should be immune to prosecution under the law of the state of “defending.”
The shooting took place after a crane driver went to Perkins’s house to recover an early truck that morning. Perkins left his garage with a gun and told the driver to leave his property, according to judicial documents presented on Monday in a Circuit Court of Morgan County.
The driver left and contacted the police.
Marquette and two other officers, Joey Williams and Christopher Mukadam, met the crane driver in a lot and accompanied him to Perkins’ house to ensure that recovery occurred “peacefully”, according to the presentation.
Mukadam testified that the officers had to act as “certain security” for the crane driver.
The officers first arrived at Perkins’ house and hid in their property and on the other side of the street. Marquette and Williams stopped to the side of the house, while Mukadam placed between two vehicles in a residence on the other side of the street, according to the file.
After the crane driver arrived, Perkins left his house with a gun, according to the presentation. Marquette shouted, “Hey”, twice and Perkins “turned and his weapon swept towards the direction of Marquette,” according to the judicial document. The presentation establishes that, based on evidence, the only part of Marquette that would have been immediately visible to Perkins was from the chest.
Marquette announced himself as a police officer while shooting several rounds, according to the presentation. He continued shooting until “he had fired every bullet from his weapon,” he says.
Marquette told the researchers that he drew his firearm because he considered that Perkins’s weapon was a threat to the tow driver. The former officer said that after shouting Perkins, the “closed eyes” couple, and feared he was about to die.
About 1.40 seconds passed when Marquette announced his presence and when he opened fire, according to the file.
According to the “Stand Your Ground” law of the State, immunity is granted to people who use deadly force when they are in a place to be right and reasonably believe that there is a danger.
But Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott denied Marquette’s motion, writing in the court that presents that no crime was committed when the officers arrived and that they were not allowed to participate in a recovery because they did not have a court order.
The judge said a jury will have to decide if Marquette was in Perkins’s house to maintain peace. A trial date for June 9 has been established.
