AUSTIN, Texas — The trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who is charged with murdering Michael Ramos, continued Friday, with the State calling a pair of new witnesses.
The testimony provided more information and context about what occurred after Taylor shot Ramos in the parking lot of a southeast Austin apartment complex.
The first witness was Officer Brandon Swindell. One of his duties was to set up crime tape at the scene, and his body camera footage was reviewed by the State.
The second witness was Sgt. Dan Mireles, a retired APD detective who was the lead detective in the case. Mireles claimed that after the shooting occurred, Taylor's defense attorneys arrived at his office and reviewed video footage of the incident.
The defense explained that they wanted to review the videos without Taylor present, believing that watching the video after the fact could impact someone's memory. After watching the video, the defense provided a statement that Taylor made around two weeks after the shooting, explaining his perspective on it.
In the statement, Taylor explained how he believed Ramos could run over officers in his attempt to leave the scene. Sgt. Mireles read that statement in court.
"Perceiving this threat, I fired my rifle, attempting to hit Ramos in the head and to ultimately stop the deadly force threat. I was trained in the Austin Police Training Academy that a shot to the head causes immediate loss of motor function, meaning that Ramos could no longer use the vehicle as a deadly weapon against officers," Mireles read out loud.
After the statement was read, the judge announced that Day six of testimony would commence Monday morning. The State expects to be finished with their witness testimony on Tuesday, which is when we could hear from the defense.