John Jacik Death - CMPD Officer Guilty of Misdemeanor Sentenced to One Year Unsupervised Probation

Local Television News Reporter Continues Her Excellent Play by Play Coverage of CMPD Officer Barker Trial via Twitter:

TRIAL FOR OFC. BARKER continues: Attorneys discussing “culpable negligence” with the judge. 

This is the term the jury asked for clarity on 

Judge will bring jury back in to get further explanation from them as to what they’re struggling with 

Jury asks to go back to the jury room to discuss how they want to clarify the specifics of their question 

The jury is back in court and they are putting an additional definition for culpable negligence on the screen for them to take notes on 

#BREAKING- Judge says jury has a verdict 

Jury: GUILTY of misdemeanor death by vehicle. 

Prosecutor: Family of Short not in court. "This has been extremely hard on them." 

Says John Jacik wanted to be here to speak but is not.

Defense: Says Barker is scheduled to be married December 28th. 

"He does regret what happened and is remorseful for what happened to the family... we still contend he was responding to a priority 1 call." 

Says he's never had driving disciplinary actions. 

Barker is speaking. Apologizes to the family, says he's been "on probation" for the past 5 years going job to job while he's been on unpaid leave from CMPD. 

Prosecutor: We offered Barker a plea deal 5 years ago, but this was his choice. 

Sentencing:

12 mos unsupervised probation

50 hours community service 

12 mos suspension drivers license 

Bailey Marie Todd Murder Case Continued Once Again

One of dozens of murder cases that have been delayed or dismissed by Spencer Merriweather's Mecklenburg District Attorney's office is that of Bailey Todd.  

Bailey Todd Photo MCSO

Todd was 21 when she according to police she murdered 22-year-old Josh Griffin. Griffin was killed on Pinewood Circle in Mint Hill around 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 23, 2019. 

Police reports show a knife was used as the murder weapon.

Sean Harper, 23 of Halifax, VA, was also charged in Griffin’s death. Arrest warrants were issued for both Todd and Harper for first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and destruction of evidence.

Todd was initially arrested on July 19, 2019 and released on bail in January of 2020. On July 1, 2021 she was arrested on a felony probation violations and drug charges. She was previously convicted in 2018 on felony drug charges and given a suspended sentence, community service and probation. She will appear in court on drug charges and violating the terms of her probation on September 14th. 

Three years later Todd now 24 still awaits trial on the First Degree Murder charge, which on December 8th was continued until March of next year.

Meanwhile Harper has remained behind bars since his arrest on July 1, 2019.

Sean Harper Photo MCSO

Yet a search of current trail calendar shows only an August 29, 2022 court date for a felon with gun charge. 

Now more than three years later the family of Josh Griffin waits for justice.

Joshua David "Boo" Griffin, Jr

May 18, 1997 ~ June 23, 2019 (age 22)

Perhaps like God's Grace - Justice Delaying is not Justice Denied? Bailey will appear in court on drug charges in January on 2023. 

CMPD Officer Barker Closing Arguments

Back in court for trial of CMPD Officer Barker:

Judge, defense and prosecution discussing language of charges they will be presenting to jury today. 

Jury is now entering for closing arguments 

Prosecution is beginning closing arguments.

Says Short had a right to expect Ofc. Barker would "bring his A game to every call to service," had the right to expect him to "use his training specifically designed to protect all the ppl he was sworn to serve" 

Prosecution showing words "broken trust" on the big screen. Now showing photos from night of crash and words "duty failed." 

He says defense is going to argue he was exempted from law because he's a police officer, prosecutor: "It doesn't work that way." "He must show that he showed due regard for the safety of others." 

Prosecutor: "Let's be clear. 100mph was reckless and unreasonable on Morehead Street no matter what the day, no matter what the time." 

"Look at his computer. What did it say? Car versus building, MEDIC 17 on the way, awake and breathing... When he launched himself down Morehead that was the info he had." 

Prosecutor says he put himself, fellow officers, & citizens he is sworn to protect in danger.

He says there is no evidence that he slowed down ever after he left College & Morehead. "He didn't follow his training."

"Remember 100mph and no clearing intersections."  

Showing body worn camera on screen again. "This is one of the most important pieces of evidence... cameras don't have a side." ... "We're going to watch it several times." 

He's asking jury to pay attention to the sound of the engine and the image of buildings as he speeds past them. Now to focus in on the speedometer: "over 100mph. The video has no side in this case." 

Replayed it-- reminding them of witness Tommie Gentry's testimony on driving training: "It takes 1.5 sec to react."

"If he hadn't been going 100mph he would've been able to avoid this crash."

"There is no doubt that Michael was in the roadway. There is no doubt that the light was green... but... no matter what Michael was doing, the defendant still had a duty to regard the safety of others. At 100mph he created conditions that made that impossible." 

Discussing Michael's condition: "He was intoxicated, he took medication. Beyond that? That is not in the evidence before you." 

Prosecution now showing a side-by-side view of body cam footage worn by Ofc. Kelly and Ofc. Barker 

Prosecutor tells jury the defense made promises to them they are not fulfilling.

"They played audio but didn't match it up with what was happening at the time."

"Think about what the defendant knew, and when he knew it and was it worth responding to at 100mph?" 

Prosecutor is laying out to the jury what they have to consider in determining whether the state proves what it has to prove to return a conviction. 

Prosecutor says difference b/w responding to that call at 35 mph and 100 mph is 90 SECONDS. 

Showing photo of James Michael Short on the screen.

"He killed Michael. He didn't mean to kill him, but that's not what we have to prove." 

15 min recess 

Defense attorney starting opening arguments.

Defense reading definition of reasonable doubt. 

"The defense is not required to prove defendant's innocence." Innocence is presumed because he pled not guilty.

Defense: "Only time you've heard 100mph is thru the prosecutor's mouth."

Lists on a screen titled: What it takes to be a police officer, Tough time to be an officer

What did officer know at time? Screen says: priority 1 call, person vs. bldg, person possibly ejected 

Defense: "We don't have to prove a thing. They do. And they haven't done it." 

Defense says Ofc. Barker had to consider not only the person, but structure of the bldg. knowing that a vehicle had hit it. 

Asks jury if they saw him going 100 mph. Reminds them he was driving in left lane per training, followed by 2 officers to create "presence"

Defense: "If you're on meds, or even worse if you're off meds for schizophrenia... you might see things." 

Screen says: "Very little evidence. Very big decision." 

He's going through witness Ofc. Tommie Gentry Horton's training-- says you'd have to be trained to know conditions of roads.

Says Ofc. Barker was trained. 

Reminds jury there's no traffic. "Not foreseeable" that someone in all dark clothing would be crossing st. 

Reminds jury Joshua Short told them his brother took meds religiously.

"If you know someone is bipolar and schizophrenic.. should they be drinking?"

Reminds jury that witness John Jacik says they took shots of vodka and he was so drunk he was escorted out of bar.

Defense says prosecutor is trying to tell them he's an unsafe driver.

"The same man who chewed out his colleague for making an unsafe U-turn?" (Referring to testimony from Ofc. Kelly.) 

Says Ofc. Kelly also never saw anyone on the road.

Now discussing witness CSI Shari Walton- saying her diagram was not made to scale.

Defense tells jury every element has to be proven w/o reasonable doubt.

He says if there's no traffic violation, full stop, not guilty. Officer exemption applies? Not guilty. No proximate cause? Full stop. Certainly not criminally negligent. 

"What did the state actually prove after only calling 5 witnesses?" he asks.

"You can say 100 mph all you want."

He says jury selection took longer than the actual trial b/c jurors don't want to be responsible for determining officer's liberty. 

Closing arguments ended. 

Judge says jury now has to decide what facts are, and apply law to those facts.

Plea: Not guilty. Defense not required to prove innocence.

State must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Judge asked original 12 jurors if they are able to participate in jury deliberations. They all raised their hands and are now clearing the room.

The alternate jurors will go to jury assembly room while deliberations take place. They're on standby. 

JUDGE: Releasing jury for the night. Overnight judge/attorneys will be looking into providing them w/ another definition for "culpable negligence" as it relates to involuntary manslaughter. Jury asking for clarity on this. They'll be back at 9:30am tomorrow.

Biden's Border Policy is Misguided and Counter Intuitive

16,000 illegals just this weekend.

The massive border insurrection is flooding the US workforce with cheap labor - completely opposite of the liberal calls for better wages.

The immigration insurrection is driving up low income housing demand, increasing housing costs disproportionately on the low rental market. Again counter to liberal demands for more affordable housing.

Most migrants participating in the border insurrection are un-vaccinated - not just for COVID but for tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, chickenpox, meningitis and others diseases. 

Many are unknown carriers of deadly illnesses that have been long removed from the US healthcare system. None that is NONE have healthcare insurance.

The odds that Immigrant Insurrection has the potential to overwhelm our healthcare system is huge.

Finally there is little benefit to GDP because most the earned wages return to the country of origin. 

In other words the largest export to the US from Central America is cheap labor, deadly drugs, slavery and it's duty and tariff free.

 As the insurrection at our Southern Border grows so does the potential of destroying the US economic outlook for decades to come. 

Footnote:

Before you get all worked up about how racist Cedar Posts is and his white privilege keep in mind my ex is Latina, my sister in-law is from Honduras, I speak passable spanish and have spent a large amount of time on Central American Coast and in Texas. My first border crossing was at age 8 and I've been to the border more times than that idiot Mayorkas! 

Gangbanger Brothers Gunned Down

Brothers Damien Gonzalez (left) and Dominic Salazar (right)

A family continued to grieve this weekend while demanding justice as detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Homicide Unit and Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office charged two juvenile suspects in the shooting deaths of brothers Damien Gonzales and Dominic Salazar.

Police identified the first victim as 17-year-old Damien Gonzalez who was pronounced dead at the scene the night of the shooting. At that time police would only say that a second person was shot, that the victim was 18-years-old and remained in the hospital in critical condition.

It was later determined that the second victim was related to the first both connected to a  shooting the Fred Alexander on November 15th. 

Last week the second shooting victim Dominic Salazar succumbed to his injuries. 

CMPD has now charged two juveniles for the murder of Damien Gonzalez and Dominic Salazar.  Both juveniles are charged with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted murder.  

The unnamed juveniles are being held by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.

Now the brothers’ family wants them to be charged as adults.

“That’s two off the streets right there, if you keep them off,’ says Ronald Christenbury, the brothers’ grandfather.

Damien's family described him as having many hobbies which included riding dirt bikes and bicycles, playing soccer and listening to music.  Most important to him was being with his family, especially his infant son and best friend and brother Dominic Salazar.

Family photos show two very close brothers 

And the family is even asking for help with funeral arrangements for Dominic Salazar.  If you’d like to donate you can do so, via gofundme. 

The Fred Alexander Park is a constant source of crime in the Beatties Ford Road area. Just two weeks ago a Mecklenburg County Park Ranger was shot at the same location.

One week of crime at the Fred Alexander Park in a pie graph makes the playground a poor choice for most families.

Of course everyone knows, crimes are ever present in "Da Ford" so unless you live across the street there's not many reasons to even be in the area. Not surprisingly as the their social media posts show the brothers were anything but "good boys" 

Elected Mecklenburg County and Charlotte City Officials need to ditch their woke agenda and start to address crime head on. Families need to wake up as well, these young men were not at the park to shoot hoops and its a long way from Huntersville. Sadly there are few reasons to visit Fred Alexander Park. No ducks to feed no running tracks just a seldom used tennis court and two basketball goals.

CMPD Officer Trial Day 2 Testimony

WBTV's Caroline Hicks running commentary of the trial of CMPD Officer Phillip Barker:

Day 2 of the trial of CMPD Officer Phillip Barker is about to begin with more witnesses taking the stand 

The prosecutor requested that we not film the first witness approaching the stand. He was subpoenaed here and is emotional. The judge approved that request. We are still able to take notes, but are not allowed to film the first witness 

First witness taking the stand: 34-year-old John Jacik was visiting Charlotte and was with James Michael Short the night of his death 

Jacik was here for the 4th of July holiday. Short picked him up from the airport. They spent some time in Myrtle Beach to watch fireworks and then came back to Charlotte. Plan was to get a hotel room, go out in Charlotte 

He says they were drinking New Amsterdam Apple Vodka. They got an uber to the club. He says Short was "a little drunk at that point, a bit more than he should have been." 

He says they separated at the club. Short was upstairs, Jacik was downstairs. Then the bouncer told Short to leave because he was too drunk, he saw him being brought out. He says Short "seemed like he was rather intoxicated." 

Jacik says he followed him out of the club (The Bar at 316). Short was locked out of his phone, Jacik's phone was dead. Short laid down outside, Jacik and another person went inside club to look for a phone charge. When they came back outside Short was gone. 

Jacik, and another person named Dante, tried to find Short but couldn't. So Jacik found other people who offered to help him get back to his hotel in their uber. He waited at hotel for Short, but he never came. "I had no reason to believe something happened." 

Then the police came to the hotel and woke him up. Prosecutor showing body camera footage. Police told him: "he was involved in an accident last night, his parents have asked us to come get his belongings." He asked if he's okay. Police: "I'm afraid he passed." 

Footage shows Jacik collecting his bag. Police tell him Short was hit by a car and detectives would like to speak with him. "Anything!" Jacik said. 

Police asked to see Short's car. It was parked in the hotel lot. Video ended. Jacik says he then provided a statement to police, gave them all the information they asked for. 

Prosecutors are now playing the audio from the interview Jacik gave to detectives. Plus he's handing the written transcript of that interview to the judge and defense. 

In the audio, Jacik describes what happened that night. The story is the same as what he said on the stand earlier. "It was at the point where there was nothing else I could do." Jacik is emotional on the stand listening to this audio 

Jacik tells police in the interview that he went to another party, then went back to the hotel and waited for him. Calls went straight to his voicemail. 

Describing Short's state that night: Jacik says Short had trouble walking, he was slurring his speech but was able to converse. 

Prosecutor now asking Jacik to read portion of transcript and clarify something he said about Short "trying to get into rental car" at the club. He says he meant he was drunk trying to get into random cars, clarifies that Short's rental car was still parked at hotel 

Cross examination: Defense asking Jacik how often he talked to Short: "often." Asked if he talked about mental health issues he had. "We just talked as friends. I'm not sure how in depth you want me to get." 

Asked if they did drugs. "There were no drugs involved whatsoever." He also says he did not see him taking medications. Asked if they were doing shots of vodka, he says yes. Can't recall how many shots. He says he wasn't angry that he was talking to other guys at club 

Defense says that in the interview Jacik mentioned Short was angry. Now he tells defense he's never seen him angry. 

NEXT WITNESS: CMPD patrol officer Steven Kelly, hired in June 2016. Worked 3rd shift in Central Division with Officer Barker. 

Prosecutor asking him to describe lighting in various areas along E Morehead Street. 

He was dispatched to same Priorty 1 call that Officer Barker was that night: Traffic accident with injuries: vehicle vs. building. 

He says he was called to Morehead and Kings Dr. He was closeby (Stonewall & Caldwell area) on way to less serious call, so he asked to be switched to this call. Turned on lights and sirens and headed that way. 

He says Officer Barker made a righthand turn onto Morehead a block east of him. Ofc Kelly let him go in front of him, then turned left onto E Morehead from S Tryon behind Barker 

Ofc Kelly says he was driving between 50-70mph. He says he slowed down as he approached intersections. Never encountered a red light. He describes Ofc Barker as driving "a little bit faster than I was." 

Ofc Kelly says he does not recall seeing Ofc Barker's brake lights until the collision. Kelly says he reached the speed he was comfortable with, that he thought was appropriate for the call-- he did not choose to speed up to catch up with Barker 

As Ofc Barker crossed Morehead & Euclid: Ofc Kelly watched him swerve roughly 100 yards and then saw debris, so he thought he blew a tire. Stopped behind him to make sure he was OK. 

He noticed windshield damage. Says Barker's car was between intersections of Euclid and Royal. Got out of his car- realized Barker had hit a person. He says body was 15-20 yards behind Barker's car, body had significant injuries and was not entirely intact. 

He says Ofc Barker was "concerned." Spoke to MEDIC, another officer who also stopped. Barker asked him if there was glass on his face, Kelly didn't see any. He says they checked out body, requested resources to shut down intersection, contacted supervisor to respond 

Ofc Kelly body cam footage: Dispatch call comes thru, Kelly says he's not far from it, puts blue lights on. He drives-- then stops and gets out of car and runs towards Ofc Barker. "Did you hit him?" he asks. Barker says "yeah" He moves to block intersection w/ his car 

Prosecutor is re-playing dispatch call, going through it again. Dispatcher updates the call saying "21-year-old male awake and breathing at this time." At that point Ofc Kelly hits brakes abruptly because he sees Barker brake and swerve. 

Now moving to lunch recess until 2pm 

LUNCH

Prosecution continuing questioning of witness Ofc Kelly. Now playing recorded statement from Ofc Kelly from after he left the scene 

Ofc Kelly said he was driving approx. 50 mph and Ofc Barker "is definitely going faster than me. I thought about speeding up to him, then I decided not to." Said he didn't think the call warranted a faster speed. He guessed Kelly was going 60 mph 

Ofc Kelly said the light was green when Barker went thru it. 

Defense attorney Michael Greene now cross examining Ofc Kelly. Asked if Kelly received emails from him, including subpoena. He says he saw the subpoena and notified the DA's office. 

He asked if Ofc Barker's patrol car model was faster than Ofc Kelly's? He said yes 

Asked if there would normally be foot traffic at 3:30am since bars close at 2 and Kelly said no. Also confirmed no big events that night. Defense asking if there's a distinction within Priority 1 calls of which incidents are more serious than others, Kelly says no. 

Defense asking about Ofc Kelly's conversation with ADA: that ADA confirmed Kelly's speed was actually closer to 75mph, which Ofc Kelly confirms. Asks if Kelly saw person walking across street, he said no. 

He also asks Ofc Kelly to share the story he told the ADA about a time that Ofc Barker yelled at him for making an unsafe U-turn without blue lights leaving a scene. Kelly tells story. 

NEXT WITNESS: State calling Crime Scene Investigator Shari Walton to the stand. She was requested to go to scene around 3:30am. She IDed dead body, items in roadway.  

Prosecution showing diagram Walton created of scene. Items scattered across road included a phone and clothing items. 

Court taking a 15 min recess 

Prosecution showing photos [some graphic in nature] that Walton took on scene. Including human tissue, cracked phone, shoe 

She's describing Short's injuries in graphic detail. Prosecutor just passed photos to the jurors to look at, and they are not showing the photos on the big screen 

She says his clothing and items were wet. It was not raining that night. 

Defense is beginning cross examination. Asking Walton why there wasn't a lot of blood on scene. She said there was blood. 

He asked why they didn't do a 3D FARO scan of items found. She said that's not her call.

Court is over for the day. Trial resumes Monday with continued cross examination of Crime Scene Investigator Walton

1714 12-9-2022

CMPD Officer Barker Trial

Caroline Hicks live tweeted much of today's testimony 

RIGHT NOW: Opening statements are beginning in the trial of CMPD officer Philip Barker

Prosecutor describing scene of car crash in 2017 to the jury. He described in graphic detail the dismembered body of James Short after Officer Barker hit him at up to 100 mph 

Defense attorney described life of 28-year-old James Short. Now about to play dispatch call from that day 

Barker got a dispatch call about a priority 1 call: a 21-year-old ejected from a vehicle. That's what Barker was driving to respond to when he hit James Short 

He says Short was drunk- his BAC about 3x the legal limit and also took Xanax. He says we will hear from toxicologist about what effects this would all have on a person 

He says Short was dressed in all black. Tells jury that prosecutor will try to make case that he had duty to look both ways & follow rules of pedestrians. But he says Barker did not follow rules of road: did not stop and look left and right before making turn 

NEXT: We will hear witness testimony. Judge tells jurors they can take notes 

Prosecutor showing bodycam footage from Barker's vehicle. It shows point at which he hits Short- loud noise, windshield smashes. He calls for MEDIC. 

FIRST WITNESS to the stand: Tommie Gentry a part time employee of CMPD (teachers drivers training and firearms at the academy, logistical ops at warehouse- puts up barricades for events). Works 0-40 hours a week depending on week 

He joined CMPD in June 1993. Retired as full-time employee for CMPD in March 2022. He used to be a full-time logistics operations at warehouse, and part time at academy. 

Gentry taught driver instruction to officers since 2003. Prosecutor asking him to explain how calls come into patrol officers in the car- describing phone, radio and computer systems 

Gentry says it usually takes a second and a half to perceive hazard in roadway and then put foot on brake. Speed affects vision: faster you go, less peripheral vision works. 

Describes how faster driving, longer time it takes to brake. In fall of 2017-- Gentry conducted training at airport-- showing officers a demo of what it takes to get a vehicle to stop at 60, 80 & 100mph. Used same car Barker drove.  

At 100mph-- car traveled close to 400 ft. before coming to a stop. They showed video from the training 

Gentry says he did not reduce speeds to clear intersections, which does not meet directives

No further questions from prosecution. Judge announcing recess until 2pm. 

2 PM

Court is back in session. Cross examination of prosecutor's witness Tommie Gentry is beginning. 

Defense attorney George Laughrun asking Gentry about the training he conducted at the airport. Argues there's a big difference between an FAA- authorized simulation in optimal conditions, no unforeseen circumstances v. the deadly crash on Morehead 

Laughrun asks if CMPD has a program for officers needing extra driving/ remedial training due to issues w/ their conduct. Gentry says yes -- and Barker was never subjected to that 

Defense asking Gentry about educational program called Watch For Me NC. He says he's heard of it but hasn't taken it. 

Now handed him Barker's training book. It contained tests where Barker received 100% scores and notes that said "Good job!" He scored high on all emergency driving courses. 

Prosecutor now questioning Gentry again. Asked if he would expect an officer to have both hands on the wheel when not speaking on radio. He said yes. Barker only had one hand on wheel at time of crash 

Prosecutor asked if Barker accelerated through 3 intersections, was he following protocol of slowing to clear them? Gentry says no. 

Prosecutor calling James' brother Joshua Short up to the stand as a witness. He says his brother went by "Mike." He referenced that his mother and father Deborah and John Short are also in court. 

Jury is heading into recess until 3:45 

3:45 PM

Back in session. Defense team now cross examining Joshua Short 

Defense team asks Joshua if his brother took his meds for mental health disorder and schizophrenia the day of crash. Joshua not sure but says his brother was "adamant" about taking it