August 08, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial posted bail and was released from prison Thursday to await his trial in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in Kensington in August 2023.
Former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial, charged with fatally shooting Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in Kensington last year, posted bail and was released from jail Thursday after having first-degree murder charge against him dropped.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office withdrew the first-degree murder charge to maintain its ability to use an expert witness at Dial's trial, which has been postponed until May. He is charged with third-degree murder and other offenses.
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The trial had been scheduled to begin in September, but prosecutors failed to timely inform Dial's defense attorney about the witness, prompting Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson to exclude the witness from the case unless the trial was pushed back to allow the defense to prepare a response. But Bronson only would postpone the trial if prosecutors agreed to drop the first-degree murder charge, because he did not want to keep Dial incarcerated for months over a delay created by the D.A.'s Office.
As a result of the withdrawn charge, Dial, 28, became eligible to post bail and avoid waiting in prison until the trial in May. Defendants charged with first-degree murder are not eligible for bail. Dial's bail was set at $200,000, requiring him to pay 10% of that amount to be released, his defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, said.
The D.A.'s Office said it is not permitted to comment on the case by order of the court.
Irizarry, 27, was shot through the driver's side window of his car in August 2023 after Dial and his partner, Michael Morris, pulled him over on the 100 block of East Willard Street.
After the police cruiser pulled up next to Irizarry's stopped car, the two officers got out and shouted at Irizarry to show his hands. Seconds later, Dial opened fire into the car and struck Irizarry multiple times.
Police initially said Irizarry had "lunged" at the officers with a knife before he was shot. Two days later, then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that account was not accurate. Body camera footage shows that Irizarry was holding a knife near his knee but had not left his car – with its windows shut – when Dial fired.
In surveillance video obtained and released by Irizarry's family, Dial and Morris can be heard shouting at Irizarry to show his hands immediately after they leave their police cruiser.
The trial is expected to center on whether Dial violated policies that determine when using deadly force is justified. At the time Dial was charged, McMonagle said his client opened fire because he heard the other officer shout that Irizarry had a gun. The defense also claimed that the handle of the knife Irizarry possessed could have been mistaken for a firearm.
Prosecutors allege that Dial immediately escalated what should have been a routine traffic stop by drawing his weapon as soon as he got out of his squad car. Irizarry initially was pursued because police observed him driving erratically. He had turned the wrong way down Willard Street before coming to a stop.
Dial also is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and official oppression. He was a five-year veteran of the department who most recently had served in the 24th District before he was fired.
After a judge dismissed all of the charges against Dial during a preliminary hearing last September, the district attorney's office refiled them.
Dial's request to have the case tried in a venue outside Philadelphia was denied in court late last month.
Irizarry's family also filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year against Dial and Morris seeking $150,000 in civil damages.
