AUSTIN, Texas — The state rested its case Wednesday in the trial of Christopher Taylor, the Austin Police Department (APD) officer who shot and killed Michael Ramos in April 2020.
The defense gave their opening statement with attorney Doug O'Connell, who promised the jury they would bring a complete picture and all the facts.
This comes after the state brought in its last witness on Tuesday, a use of force expert and law professor named Seth Stoughton.
During the defense's cross-examination Wednesday morning, Stoughton said it is not his position to say what an officer has to do or does not have to do. Instead, Stoughton said it's his job to assess whether or not an officer acted consistently or inconsistently with generally accepted practices.
"Applying generally accepted policing practices, an officer in Mr. Taylor's position could not have identified from the available information an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm that would justify the use of deadly force," Stoughton said.
After a lunch break, the state rested its case and the defense gave its opening statement. O'Connell said witnesses will range from trainers in the police academy, one of whom taught Taylor how to shoot a patrol gun, as well as what went into that course. An APD Special Investigation Unit detective is also expected to speak about the car Ramos was driving when he was shot.
"We're confident that you will determine that Chris Taylor's actions were reasonable given what he was perceiving in the seconds before he had to take the shot," O'Connell said.
Three APD officers also testified, giving information on why APD officers are trained with AR-15s, along with their take on the de-escalation that happened with Ramos.
Day 9 of testimony starts back up Thursday morning.