A former South Whitehall Township police officer was found not guilty Thursday in the shooting death of a 44-year-old New Jersey man near Dorney Park.

Jonathan Roselle, a Parryville resident, was found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in the July 28, 2018, shooting death of 44-year-old Joseph Santos along Hamilton Boulevard near Dorney Park.

Jurors deliberated for nearly six hours before delivering the verdict. After being acquitted of the charge, Roselle was escorted by cheering friends, family and supporters from the Lehigh County Courthouse.

In his closing arguments, defense attorney Gavin Holihan said the “fundamental bottom line” was that Roselle’s actions were reasonable, justifiable and legal, and thus could not constitute a crime.

He said toxicology reports determined that Santos had a variety of controlled substances in his system at the time including morphine, codeine and metabolites of heroin, and that the prosecution’s expert had testified that people could suffer adverse reactions from the drugs.

He also said Santos’ behavior – attacking vehicles, pointing to his eyes while covered in blood, apparent imperviousness to pain, and approaching Roselle in the presence of a loaded gun – led Roselle to consider him a threat.

Holihan also said counsel for the Taser company Axiom said the stun gun would not have worked and any officer, given the same totality of circumstances, would have made the same decision to use deadly force.

“Jonathan doesn’t have to wait to be reasonable, he doesn’t have to be right to be reasonable,” Holihan said, noting that officers must make snap decisions in response to rapidly changing situations, and must be judged from their perspective in the moment without the benefit of hindsight.

Holihan said Roselle held “honest, bona fide” beliefs that his use of force was justified and that statements made after the shooting to fellow officers including saying “I think I f---ed up” showed Roselle’s humanity as a person in shock “second-guessing” the justified decision to take a life.

“They’re police officers, they’re allowed to have self-doubt,” Holihan said.

“He did what we ask of law enforcement every day in a hard job with no second chances.”

Prosecution

Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dimmig played back the video recordings of Roselle’s dashcam and body camera showing the events of the shooting.

The video shows Roselle inside his SUV being alerted by motorists and arriving at the scene where a staggering Santos approaches and begins banging on the driver side of the vehicle. Drawing his weapon and pointing it at Santos, Roselle orders him to move to the front of the vehicle multiple times. Santos climbed on the hood and hit the windshield.

Santos moved to the passenger side, hitting the window several times, before walking away from the SUV. Roselle got out and ordered Santos to “get on the ground.” Santos turned around and walked back toward Roselle, where he was fatally shot five times by the officer.

Dimmig said that as Santos was shot, despite being noncompliant and approaching Roselle, he was walking and unarmed.

According to the prosecution’s force expert, Dimmig said Santos’ actions did not constitute a “significant step” toward causing death or significant bodily injury, which would have made lethal force justifiable.

“Police officers don’t shoot people for getting close,” Dimmig said. “You can’t kill him for that.”

He argued that Roselle could have followed Santos as he was walking away, tackled or used the Taser from behind, and said backup was nearby and on the way.

Dimmig said that Roselle was an “exceptionally trained officer” who knew how to de-escalate situations, use nonlethal force, fight hand-to-hand and recognize mental health conditions, adding that such calls were not uncommon for township police, and by shooting Santos, Roselle bypassed all his training and resorted to deadly force.

“If you’re going to take your firearm out and point it at another human being, that’s the point you have to be sure about, taking that life,” Dimmig said in closing. “Joseph Santos was not a deadly threat.”

The verdict came after almost a weeklong trial which continued despite a statewide judicial emergency declaration and a Wednesday state Supreme Court announcement that all courts would be closed until April 3 to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.