AUSTIN, Texas — Closing arguments have ended in the murder trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who is accused of fatally shooting Mike Ramos in April 2020.
The defense rested its case on Monday, and closing arguments lasted several hours Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutor Dexter Gilford made the case for the state, asking jurors to "follow the law" and "apply the law" in this case, when he said Taylor shot and killed Ramos "when there as absolutely no reasonable basis."
Gilford said jurors knew where Taylor was positioned and where Ramos' car was heading, and he asked them to recall what they felt upon first being shown video of the shooting.
"I don't think you heard anything over the past couple of weeks that undermines what your natural, moral convictions were when you saw Michael Ramos driving away," he said.
Gilford said Taylor shot before having all the relevant information, including which direction Ramos planned to drive his car. He made choices, Gilford said, to restrict the information he was able to receive about the situation. He said Taylor made a decision to shoot if the car moved.
"To predicate that man's life on that?" Gilford said. "You can't [get] any more unreasonable than that decision."
The state concluded its closing arguments just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. The defense began its closings shortly afterward.
Defense attorney Doug O'Connell said time has been wasted on this case and that the only thing that matters is Taylor's perception of what was happening in the moment.
"You get to decide if they seem like nice, normal people," O'Connell said of officers at a scene. "These officers are highly educated and they are highly trained."
O'Connell told the jurors if they don't like something about police training or procedures, they "can't hold that against Chris [Taylor]."
He said the issue of which way Ramos' car turned doesn't matter.
"What matters is what Chris perceived and whether that was reasonable," O'Connell said. "Chris is presumed to be innocent, and that presumption is enough to acquit him."
O'Connell then stated that there was no evidence Taylor intended to kill Ramos. Consistent with Taylor's training, O'Connell contended that Taylor was attempting to stop the threat. He also pointed out that prosecutors did not charge Taylor with another offense, stressing the legal standard for murder.
Jurors visited the site of the shooting on Tuesday. O'Connell pointed out to jurors, who personally saw the distance from where Taylor was standing and where Ramos was parked, that the proximity is closer than it seems in the video.
"This is what matters in this case: Chris's perception," O'Connell repeated.
O'Connell said that no one says officers are above the law, but that if Taylor was convicted on "this evidence," it would have serious ramifications on policing in Austin.
In his final comments, prosecutor Gary Cobb appealed to the juror's emotions by saying that Taylor shot Ramos "like an animal" and pointed out how civilian witnesses in real time reacted to the shooting, declaring it "wrong."
KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski is livetweeting updates, and this article will be updated as more information becomes available.