Ohio prosecutor to retry Ray Tensing in Sam DuBose shooting death case

Impact

An Ohio prosecutor overseeing the case against Ray Tensing, the University of Cincinnati police officer who killed Sam DuBose during a 2015 traffic stop, announced Tuesday his decision to retry the case.

During a press conference, Hamilton County attorney Joe Deters said he will put Tensing, 26, on trial again for murder and manslaughter. 

"We've determined that there is the probability of success in another trial and we will be doing that," Deters said.

The prosecutor said he would go before a judge on Monday to request a change of venue for the new trial. 

"The public attention that has been focused on the Tensing case could have in fact seeped into the jury room," Deters said in the press conference.

Last week, Judge Megan Shanahan was forced to declare a mistrial after a jury in Tensing's initial trial failed to reach a consensus on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of DuBose, an unarmed black motorist. Tensing, 26, who is white, had stopped the 43-year-old DuBose over an alleged missing front license plate on July 19, 2015.

Deters had at least four options to consider in the DuBose case, according to WXIX-TV: retry Tensing on the current charges; drop the murder and manslaughter charges to seek a grand jury indictment on an even lesser offense; offer a plea deal on a lesser charge; or decide not to retry at all.

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati rallied outside of the prosecutor's office last week, after vowing to keep up its protests until Tensing's retrial was announced. Local black clergy also picketed in favor of a retrial, according to WXIX-TV.

Nov. 22, 2016, 11:00 a.m. Eastern: This story has been updated.