It's been rare to charge US police with crimes in the death of civilians, and winning a conviction is harder in part because juries are often reluctant to second-guess an officer's split-second decisions.

OTHER HIGH-PROFILE KILLINGS BY US POLICE:

ERIC GARNER

Eric Garner, 43, died in July 2014 in New York City after a white officer placed him in a chokehold when Garner refused to be handcuffed for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in December that year. The Justice Department said in 2019 that it would not file civil rights charges after a years-long investigation.

MICHAEL BROWN

Michael Brown, 18, was fatally shot by a white officer, Darren Wilson, in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, touching off weeks of sometimes-violent protests. A St Louis County grand jury declined in November 2014 to indict Wilson in the unarmed black teen's death, and the US Department of Justice later also declined to charge him. Wesley Bell, the current St Louis County prosecuting attorney, conducted a five-month review of witness statements, forensic reports and other evidence and announced in July that he would not charge Wilson.

LAQUAN MCDONALD

Chicago policeman Jason Van Dyke shot 16 times at Laquan McDonald, killing the black 17-year-old as he walked away from officers in October 2014. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder the same day the city released the shocking dashcam video of the shooting. Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

TAMIR RICE

Tamir Rice, 12, was fatally shot by a white Cleveland police officer in November 2014 after officers responded to an emergency call from a man drinking beer and waiting for a bus who said a "guy" was pointing a gun at people. Tamir, who was black, had a pellet gun tucked in his waistband and was shot after the officers' cruiser skidded to a stop. A grand jury in December 2015 declined to indict patrolman Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot, and training officer Frank Garmback. The US Justice Department announced last year that it would not bring federal criminal charges, saying the quality of video of the shooting was too poor for prosecutors to conclusively establish what had happened.

PHILANDO CASTILE

Philando Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, was shot five times by a St Anthony, Minnesota police officer during a 2016 traffic stop after Castile informed the officer he was armed. The shooting gained widespread attention after Castile's girlfriend, who was in the car with her then four-year-old daughter, live-streamed its gruesome aftermath on Facebook. Officer Jeronimo Yanez testified that Castile was pulling his gun out of his pocket. The officer was acquitted of manslaughter at trial.

JUSTINE RUSZCZYK DAMOND

Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed white dual citizen of the US and Australia, was fatally shot in July 2017 by Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor when she approached his squad car in the alley behind her home minutes after calling 911 to report a possible rape. Noor testified at trial that a loud bang on the squad car startled him and his partner and that he fired to protect his partner's life. He was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and sentenced in 2019 to 12 1/2 years in prison.

BREONNA TAYLOR

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Louisville emergency medical worker studying to become a nurse, was shot several times in her hallway after three plainclothes narcotics detectives busted down the door of her apartment in the middle of the night in March 2020. A grand jury brought no charges against officers in her death, although one was indicted for shooting into a neighbouring home that had people inside. Prosecutors said two officers who fired at Taylor were justified in using force to protect themselves after they faced gunfire from her boyfriend.

Australian Associated Press