Prosecutor: No new probe of fatal shooting by Florida deputy

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A prosecutor will not reopen an investigation into the 2012 shooting of an unarmed man by a Florida deputy.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a letter released Friday that filing new charges would be unethical because prosecutors don’t believe they could convict Sgt. Michael Custer.

Aronberg said in the letter to an attorney for the family of 24-year-old Seth Adams that no new evidence exists. Custer testified in a civil trial that he feared for his life after the two got into an altercation outside the garden shop where Adams lived and worked.

The civil case ended earlier this year with a hung jury. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office subsequently settled the family’s lawsuit for $2.5 million.

The family says the shooting investigation was flawed.