Protesters, activists meeting with St. Louis judges

<p>Protesters demonstrated in the streets after a judge found former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley not guilty in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. </p><p>Stockley shot and killed Smith after a high-speed chase. In a video, Stockley can be heard saying he was going to kill Smith. Prosecutors say Stockley planted a gun on Smith, and the only gun found on the scene had Stockley's DNA on it. He was later charged with first-degree murder in 2016.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/database-tracks-arrests-of-law-enforcement-officers/">Why Race Isn't Part Of A National Police Crime Database</a></b></p><p>"I just hope justice [is] served," Annie Smith, mother of Anthony Lamar Smith, said. </p><p>Although many, like Smith's mother, were hoping for a guilty verdict, protesters were ready to demonstrate in case of the opposite outcome — which could've been expected. </p><p>According to data from Dr. Philip Stinson at Bowling Green State University, there are around 1,000 officer-involved shootings in the U.S. each year. Since 2005, 80 officers have been charged in fatal on-duty shootings. Only 35 percent have been convicted. </p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/should-police-ever-shoot-at-moving-cars/">Should Police Ever Shoot At Moving Cars?</a></b></p><p>Convictions are rare in cases of fatal police shootings because, according to legal experts, it's tough to dispute a law enforcement officer's split-second decision-making, among other factors. </p><p>The judge in this case, Timothy Wilson, even alluded to the high bar for conviction in a first-degree murder trial in his <a href="https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/7b/57b2d12c-83d8-53a0-ba1f-18b659a7e569/59bbe0a450230.pdf.pdf" target="_blank">30-page decision</a>, saying that one must "knowingly [cause] the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter." </p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/the-vatican-recalls-a-priest-for-child-porn-investigation/">Vatican Launches Investigation Into Priest And Child Porn</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/the-next-generation-and-learning-about-9-11/">The Next Generation And Learning About 9/11</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/state-department-awards-25m-to-anti-slavery-fund/">US State Department Gives $25 Million To Fight Modern Slavery</a></li></ul>