Hate crime charge dropped against agent shot by trooper

NEW ORLEANS – A hate crime charge has been dropped against a federal agent shot last year after police say he pointed a laser-sighted gun in the direction of a uniformed Louisiana State Police trooper.

In a statement Friday, Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office spokesman Ken Daley said prosecutors dropped the charge against 44-year-old Ronald Martin, of Fort Knox, Kentucky. He says the office will continue to press the remaining charges, including aggravated assault upon a police officer with a firearm.

Martin’s attorney Elizabeth Carpenter says Martin wasn’t intentionally pointing his gun at anyone.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports Daley said the charge was dropped after the district attorney’s office could not prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Martin intentionally pointed his laser-equipped gun at the trooper in December.

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Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com