Furr Update
MPD officer accused of shooting at transgender women remains in lockup as lawyers try to negotiate plea deal
The U.S. government’s case against Kenneth Furr, the Metropolitan Police Department officer who allegedly shot at a group of five people in a car, including at least two transgender women, in the city’s Sursum Corda neighborhood in August, was delayed further Dec. 19 when both Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Worm and Furr’s defense lawyer, Harold Martin, asked Judge Ann O’Regan Keary for a continuance.
Keary granted the request, scheduling a felony status conference for Jan. 27, 2012. Worm had told Keary at a Nov. 4 hearing that the government was close to offering a plea deal to Furr, who remains held without bond as he awaits a grand jury indictment on one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. However, at a subsequent hearing on Nov. 18, Worm and Martin had still not reached an agreement on the terms of a plea deal.
Jan. 27 will mark Furr’s fifth felony status conference without a grand jury indictment. If the lawyers are unable to reach an agreement, and the government remains intent on prosecuting Furr, they would then move forward with an indictment, followed by a trial.
According to charging documents, Furr was arrested during the early morning hours of Aug. 26 after he exited his car and shot at the other car with the five individuals following an initial altercation at a CVS store and a subsequent collision between the two vehicles. Furr allegedly approached one of the transgender women at the CVS, leading to an altercation. Furr then pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the group, pushing them inside the store, where they told the on-duty security officer that they were being threatened, according to the documents.
The charging documents detail the larger group following Furr after the initial altercation, both parties in vehicles; the collision between the two; and Furr exiting his car to fire at the group. Officers responding to the crime scene smelled alcohol on Furr’s breath. When his breath was tested five hours later, Furr had a blood-alcohol level of .15, almost twice the legal limit.
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