Deputy Who Killed Man For Bag Of Pot Won't Face Any Charges

By Steve Elliott, Toke of the Town
Nov. 14, 2011

[Pictured: Daughter Ashley Bodden reacts to the news that her father's murder by a deputy was ruled "justifiable homicide."]

"He died over a bag of marijuana." ~ Ray Bodden's daughter

The shooting death of a Florida man by a deputy was ruled "justifiable homicide" this week because the unarmed man supposedly made the officer "feel in danger."

Ernest Cole, the deputy who shot and killed Franklin "Ray" Bodden, 39, as he pulled a bag of marijuana out of his pocket, has now returned to patrols, reports Kate Howard at The Florida Times-Union.

Nassau County Deputy Cole shot Bodden twice during a traffic stop, killing him.

"He died over a bag of marijuana," said Ray's daughter, Ashley Bodden, who said she had spent the last several years building a relationship with her father. Her mother and father had divorced when she was very young, leaving the father and daughter to make up for lost time.

"I'll never be able to see my dad again and that runs through my head all the time," Bodden said. "I cried myself to sleep last night because after watching that tape, it just broke my heart."

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(Photo Source: First Coast News)