A former vice squad officer has been found not guilty of murder and voluntary manslaughter charges stemming from the death of a woman he shot while working undercover almost five years ago.
Andrew Mitchell, 59, who served with the Columbus police force, had argued that he acted in self-defense. The Franklin County jury reached its verdict Tuesday after deliberating for about five hours.
The verdict came a year after Mitchell's first trial ended in a mistrial after another jury was unable to reach a verdict. Mitchell will remain in custody because he still faces multiple federal charges after being accused of forcing women to perform sexual acts in exchange for their freedom and lying to federal investigators. His trial on those charges is due to start in July and he has pleaded not guilty.
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Mitchell was indicted after shooting and killing Donna Castleberry, 23, as she sat in his unmarked police vehicle in August 2018. He said he acted in self-defense after she stabbed him in the hand during an undercover prostitution investigation.
Defense attorney Mark Collins told The Columbus Dispatch that Mitchell’s family was "overwhelmed" by the jury’s decision and was happy to see what they considered justice done in the case. Castleberry’s sister, Bobbi McCalla, told the newspaper the verdict was a "miscarriage of justice," adding that her family "thought the prosecutors did a really good job proving the kind of cop he was on that day in August."
