Jury was seated Tuesday afternoon and opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday
SAGINAW, Mich. (WJRT) - Nearly two years after a police raid resulted in a Saginaw teen being shot, the teen faces a trial for allegedly pointing a gun at an officer.
Jury selection began Tuesday in the case of 19-year-old Rae'Quinn Scott, who was shot several times by police in August of 2021. Police and prosecutors allege Scott held a gun and pointed it at police who came inside the home.
Scott's attorney disputes that claim, even though the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office ruled police were justified in shooting Scott.
The shooting happened as Saginaw Emergency Services Team was executing a high-risk no-knock search warrant at a home on Harrison Street during a summer when there were a rash of shootings in the city.
Scott is paralyzed from the waist down and had his right leg amputated due to the injuries he sustained in the shooting.
"It's a struggle, this is an everyday struggle for him, mentally and physically. He has some serious damage. He lost his leg," said attorney Bruce Leach, who is representing Scott.
Cell phone video captured the moment police went into the home in August of 2021. Police and prosecutors say Scott pointed a gun at the officers as they went into the home and that's why they opened fire.
Police said a confidential source did a controlled buy of drugs at the home and spotted several firearms in the house. But Leach questions the reliability of that source.
"There was some extremely bad information that was relied upon by police to justify their no-knock raid in this case," he said.
The shooting happened on the same day that Saginaw leaders held a previously scheduled press conference calling for an end to the gun violence that spread across the city that summer.
The home that was raided was the target of multiple drive-by shootings in prior weeks. Two other people in the home during the raid were later arrested in connection with a murder in Oakland County.
"That doesn't have any bearing on the raid. This particular raid had no bearing on those charges and nor does it have any bearing on Mr. Scott's case," Leach said.
The jury was seated Tuesday afternoon and opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon.
