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.