AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police officer Christopher Taylor's fate is now in the hands of a jury after closing arguments wrapped up Tuesday. Taylor is the Austin police officer who shot and killed Michael Ramos outside a southeast Austin apartment complex in April 2020.
After hearing three weeks of witness testimony and watching hours of body camera footage, the jury will now make a decision on whether Taylor should be convicted of murder.
The state and defense took an hour and 15 minutes each to make their final arguments to the jury on Tuesday. During the trial, the jury was given a lot of information when it came to policing practices, procedures and the events leading up to the shooting.
Tuesday kicked off with the jury visiting the parking lot where the shooting took place in 2020, at the state's request. After lunch, the state kicked off closing arguments with prosecutor Dexter Gilford saying Ramos was entitled to rely upon the sacred oath that Taylor took when he was entrusted with a rifle and ammunition. He said generally accepted professional practices in policing exist and one of its hallmarks is to attempt to standardize a number of things, including the discretion to use force.
"You are responsible for all of your shots. What are they telling you? They are telling you, you think about all this before you take the shot. Otherwise, a man like Mike Ramos is dead and all you can say, all that can be said is, if that was a bad decision. That was his choice," Gilford said.
After Gilford wrapped up, attorney Doug O'Connell began closing arguments for the defense, saying that this case is about one thing: whether Taylor's perception of the threat was reasonable. He said this may be a tragedy, but it is not murder.
"The police officers you met in this case, including Chris, followed their training, did everything they were expected to do and it's simply unfair these prosecutors will sit in an office building, scrutinizing every second of a body cam and second guessing what officers have to do out on the street. This whole case was a political prosecution from the very beginning," O'Connell said.
O'Connell went on to say no one is saying officers are above the law, but if the jury convicts Taylor on the evidence in this case, he said they can reasonably expect officers will hesitate in the future.
The jury will be back Wednesday morning to deliberate.