Feaster stands trial

The trial for Patrick Feaster, the former Paradise cop who shot and killed a man he suspected of drunken driving last Thanksgiving, began last week. A jury was chosen and attorneys offered opening statements in the involuntary manslaughter case.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the defense attempted to have lapel-cam footage showing the gunshot that killed Andrew Thomas—including Feaster’s admission of the shooting—thrown out as irrelevant because the shot was accidental. Ramsey’s rebuttal argues that the footage “shows not only potential attempted fabrication and destruction of evidence, but clear evidence of a consciousness of guilt by the defendant.”

All but a small portion of the footage—in which commanding officer John Alvies says, “Oh my fucking God, are you serious?”—remains in evidence. Ramsey says Feaster (pictured) is expected to testify.