Derek Chauvin likely would be a free man if not for a video recording. Nouman Raja likely would be a free man if not for an audio recording.
Raja is the former Palm Beach Gardens police officer who killed Corey Jones in October 2015. Raja tried to cover up his crime by lying about his encounter with Jones. But that recording, which Raja didn’t know existed, continues to undercut his alibi.
A Palm Beach County jury didn’t buy Raja’s defense and convicted him in 2019 of manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 4thDistrict Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Raja’s attempt to get a new trial.
Writing for the panel, Judge Melanie May came back to the audio. Jones had called roadside assistance and was speaking with the operator at 3:15 a.m. when Raja approached.
Raja claimed that Jones was “giving commands … yelling and screaming. I’m like, ‘Drop the gun, drop the gun, drop the gun.’ And as he’s running, he gets about like right — just a little past where the guardrail starts, and he’s, he does this number, and I see his whole body spin, and I saw like a flash, a silver flash, it was like a metallic flash come at me.”
As Raja told it, Jones was the armed aggressor. May noted, however, that the transcript of the phone call “reflected a very different version of what happened.”
When investigators “compared the recording and the defendant’s sworn statement, discrepancies were obvious.”
Raja said Jones “immediately popped out of the vehicle.” In fact, more than six seconds passed between Raja’s first words and what Jones said, which was, “I’m good.” Raja’s response: “Get your f—ing hands up!”
Raja said he fired rapidly in self-defense, because Jones was armed. That was true of the first three shots. In fact, “The second three were a little more spaced out.” Ten to 12 seconds elapsed between the first and second volley because Raja had fired at Jones as he ran away.
Raja told investigators that he was speaking with a 911 dispatcher as the incident happened “and shouted commands on the call.” In fact, “Analysts later determined that the 911 call took place 33 seconds after the defendant had fired his last shot.”
Jones’ wounds “were inconsistent with a person holding or aiming a gun.” Raja said Jones had a gun in his right hand. Jones was left-handed.
May called the case “tragic.” That’s an understatement. All blame, however, falls on Raja, who did everything wrong from the start.
He was working plainclothes when Jones’ van broke down after midnight. Jones, who played drums for his band, was returning from a gig.
Raja’s vehicle had no police markings. He parked not behind Jones — the standard procedure — but in front of him on the southbound PGA Boulevard exit ramp. Law enforcement experts testified that Jones thus had reason to be suspicious.
Raja also had nothing to identify himself. Most important, the recording proved that Raja never told Jones that he was a police officer. Raja needlessly provoked the confrontation and then overreacted. He shot at the fleeing Jones, who had dropped the gun he had a permit to own.
Not surprisingly, the judges took just 11 pages to reject Raja’s appeal. One could read the opinion in less time than Chauvin’s knee was on George Floyd’s neck.
Raja’s attorneys raised 12 issues in their challenge of the conviction. The court dismissed nine “without further comment” and found no grounds to uphold any of the other three, one of which was double jeopardy.
Each conviction carries a sentence of 25 years. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joe Marx gave Raja a break by making the sentences concurrent. Raja is at Marion Correctional Institution north of Orlando with a release date of 2044.
What-ifs compound the tragedy. After he was unable to get the van started, a friend offered Jones a ride. Jones declined because he worried that someone might steal his drums. Jones then made the call that made the case against Raja.
Raja could seek a rehearing before the appellate panel or a hearing before the full, 12-member court. He could take his case to the Florida Supreme Court, but the justices have little reason to hear it. The appeals court strongly affirmed the conviction and there is no issue of great state concern.
The Chauvin conviction may lead to national police reform in Congress. The conviction of Raja — Florida’s first on-duty guilty verdict in three decades — led to no substantial change in Tallahassee. Legislators passed mild reforms this year, but the police bill of rights remains on the books.
Meanwhile, Delray Beach had the ribbon-cutting last month on Corey Jones Isle, an affordable housing complex. Jones worked for the city’s housing authority as a property manager. His family also owns New Vegan, a restaurant in Delray Beach.
But as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said of the Chauvin conviction, the ruling on Raja amounts to accountability, not justice. Corey Jones should be alive. Because of that, Nouman Raja should remain in prison.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of consists of Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email letters@sun-sentinel.com.
