[ad_1]
A Mesa Police officer who asked to retake the stand to change his testimony in the murder trial of a former colleague has taken back his request.
Mesa Police officer Brian Elmore changed his mind over the weekend about taking the stand again, Maricopa County Superior Judge George Foster said Monday in court.
Foster is presiding over the trial of Mesa police Officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford, 26, who is charged with second-degree murder in the on-duty shooting of a man during a confrontation at a Mesa hotel last year.
No reasons were specified for Elmore’s decision. Neither he nor his lawyer, Robert Jarvis, were present during the court proceedings.
Jarvis didn’t return a phone message from The Arizona Republic seeking comment.
Elmore, a witness for the prosecution, testified last week that he didn’t see an imminent threat shortly before Brailsford shot and killed Daniel Shaver, 26, five times in January 2016. Elmore and Brailsford were among six Mesa officers who responded to the hotel that night after a report of a man with a gun.
During redirect, when a lawyer questions his or her witness for the second time, Deputy County Attorney Susie Charbel noted that Elmore didn’t fire his AR-15 and asked Elmore if he saw an “imminent threat.”
“At that moment, no,” Elmore responded.
A day after Elmore’s testimony, Jarvis told Foster that Elmore misunderstood Charbel’s question and thought Charbel had asked if Elmore needed to shoot, not whether he saw a threat.
Jarvis said Elmore read a news article on Wednesday morning and realized he answered Charbel’s question incorrectly and wanted to get back on the stand to correct his answer.
The judge gave the lawyers, including Brailsford’s defense attorney Michael Piccarreta, transcripts of Elmore’s testimony to review over the weekend to clarify what Charbel’s question was and what Elmore answered.
Widow of Daniel Shaver on how their children are faring | 1:05
Laney Sweet, widow of Daniel Shaver, speaks about the toll his death has taken on their two small children. April Morganroth/azcentral.com
Wochit
1 of 10
Witness account from woman in hotel where Daniel Shaver was killed | 1:21
Witness account from woman in hotel where Daniel Shaver was killed
Mesa Police Department
2 of 10
Mesa police shooting body-cam video | 1:21
Philip “Mitch” Brailsford, a Mesa police officer, was wearing a body camera when he shot and killed Daniel Shaver in January 2016. Brailsford was later charged with Shaver’s murder.
Mesa Police Department
3 of 10
Mesa Police Association President makes statement on Brailsford case | 2:56
Nate Gafvert, president of the Mesa Police Association, comments after former Officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford’s preliminary hearing. Garrett Mitchell/azcentral.com
Garrett Mitchell/azcentral.com
4 of 10
Laney Sweet, attorney Mark Geragos react to May 17 Brailsford hearing | 2:36
Laney Sweet and attorney Mark Geragos react to May 17 Brailsford hearing. azcentral.com
5 of 10
Attorney demands justice for Daniel Shaver and his family | 0:37
Attorney demands justice for Daniel Shaver and his family. azcentral.com
6 of 10
911 call released from Mesa PD shooting | 0:51
A 911 call between a hotel staffer and 911 dispatch tells the story of how hotel guests were frightened by a man pointing a gun out of a hotel window.
7 of 10
Attorney, widow react to perceived leniency for Mesa officer | 0:39
Attorney Marc J. Victor and Laney Sweet react after a judge allows Mesa police Officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford to remain out of custody. Brailsford is charged with 2nd degree murder in the death of Daniel Shaver.
Garrett Mitchell/The Republic
8 of 10
Mesa police shooting victim Daniel Shaver’s wife: ‘Still waiting for answers | 0:56
Texas resident Daniel Shaver was shot and killed by a Mesa police officer on a work trip in Arizona in January.
Wochit
9 of 10
Defense attorney Michael Piccarreta and Philip “Mitch” Brailsford | 1:56
Defense attorney Michael Piccarreta and defendant Philip “Mitch” Brailsford talk after a hearing 10/21/16 in which they advocated for a 2nd hearing on whether there was probable cause to charge Brailsford. Garrett Mitchell/azcentral.com
10 of 10
Widow of Daniel Shaver on how their children are faring
Witness account from woman in hotel where Daniel Shaver was killed
Mesa police shooting body-cam video
Mesa Police Association President makes statement on Brailsford case
Laney Sweet, attorney Mark Geragos react to May 17 Brailsford hearing
Attorney demands justice for Daniel Shaver and his family
911 call released from Mesa PD shooting
Attorney, widow react to perceived leniency for Mesa officer
Mesa police shooting victim Daniel Shaver’s wife: ‘Still waiting for answers
Defense attorney Michael Piccarreta and Philip “Mitch” Brailsford
Since then, the prosecutor and the defense attorney indicated they received three emails from Jarvis regarding Elmore’s decision not to come back to the stand. Piccarreta asked the judge on Monday that the emails be included in the case as part of the record but kept under seal, which would keep them from public view.
Foster said he would think about that after he has heard from Elmore’s lawyer about the emails.
Jarvis said in a brief phone interview last week that Elmore just wanted to make sure the jury had the correct information.
Brailsford could be facing 10 to 25 years in prison if the jury convicts him.
The trial stems from a Jan. 18, 2016, incident at a Mesa La Quinta Inn, where Shaver was staying. Police had responded to the hotel for a call about a person pointing a gun outside of a fifth-floor window. A couple inside a hotel hot tub told staff that they saw a silhouette with a gun pointed toward the room’s window.
Brailsford has said he shot Shaver because he had raised his right hand, appearing to him that Shaver was reaching for a weapon. He was the only officer who fired his weapon.
Police later found that Shaver, who had a blood alcohol level of 0.29, nearly four times the legal limit of 0.08, was unarmed when he was shot but had a pellet gun inside his hotel room, which he kept with him as part of his job as a pest-control worker.
Shaver, who had two daughters, was in Mesa from Granbury, Texas, working for his father-in-law’s pest-control company.
On Monday, two Mesa police officers who responded to the scene testified. Richard Gomez and Bryan Cochran both supported Brailsford’s statements.
Both said Shaver at one point put his hands behind his back when a sergeant at the scene had yelled out commands. Brailsford shot him when Shaver raised his right hand after he had been crawling on his hands and knees, police video shown to the jury shows.
Before he was shot, Shaver sobbed and begged that he not be shot, the video shows.
READ MORE:
Mesa police officer wants to take stand in Brailsford murder trial to change his testimony
Witness: Man shot by Mesa police officer had cried for his life
Jury sees body-cam video of Mesa officer shooting unarmed man
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/2idBfAn
[ad_2]
Source link