WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former Palm Beach Gardens police officer wants an appellate court to toss his 2019 conviction and 25-year prison term.
Nouman Raja is in prison for the 2015 shooting death of musician Corey Jones, whose SUV broke down on an Interstate 95 exit ramp.
Raja claimed he saw Jones, 31, pull a gun on him and acted in self-defense. But jurors convicted him of manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder.
Raja's lawyer told the three-judge panel from the Fourth District Court of Appeal that jurors did not receive the proper instructions on when a suspect is under arrest and that the charges amount to "double jeopardy," or being tried on the same charges twice.
Prosecutors contend the conviction should be upheld because Raja never identified himself as a police officer when confronting Jones.
Raja, 43, is currently serving his sentence at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ocala. He is currently scheduled to be released from prison in 2044.
The panel didn't issue a ruling.