Hearing delayed for ex-officer who wants murder case tossed

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A hearing for a white former police officer who faces a fourth murder trial in Oklahoma in the 2014 fatal shooting of his daughter’s black boyfriend has been postponed.

Attorneys say the hearing on former Tulsa officer Shannon Kepler’s request to dismiss the case won’t take place Friday as scheduled because the judge is ill.

Kepler’s attorneys are trying to have the case dismissed on several grounds in the months since a mistrial was declared in his third trial.

One motion says Kepler is a member of an American Indian tribe and can’t be tried by state prosecutors. Another claims repeated trials violate Kepler’s right to due process.

Kepler is charged in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake while he was off-duty.

A new hearing date hasn’t been scheduled.