Prosecutors Plan to Retry Former University of Cincinnati Officer in Death of Unarmed Black Man

— -- Prosecutors are hoping to retry former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing in the fatal shooting of Sam DuBose, an unarmed black man.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters told reporters today his team will request that a second trial be held in a different Ohio county, pointing to Cleveland or Columbus as potential locations.

He said he came to the decision to retry Tensing, who is white, after reviewing the trial transcript, speaking with some of the jurors and consulting with his staff.

"My decision is based on the likelihood of success in trial, and that's it," Deters said. "If I thought we couldn't win this case, we would not retry this case."

The parties are scheduled to appear before Judge Megan Shanahan on Nov. 28 in the Hamilton County courthouse.

Earlier this month, Shanahan declared a mistrial in the case against Tensing after a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. The murder charge carried the possibility of life in prison, and the voluntary manslaughter charge carried a possible prison term of three to 11 years.

The fatal shooting happened in July 2015 after Tensing, then an officer for the University of Cincinnati, pulled over DuBose in his car near campus.

Tensing, 26, lost his job after DuBose's shooting death and was charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter. He pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors in the case told the jury — consisting of two black and 10 white people — that the shooting was "completely intentional" and "truly unjustified."

Tensing's attorneys said he feared for his life and his actions were justified. They said he was close to being run over by DuBose's car. Although DuBose didn't have a gun, the defense argued that he turned his car into a weapon. Tensing instinctively drew his weapon and fired "to stop the threat" and save his own life, the defense claimed.