AUSTIN, Texas — The third round of pre-trial hearings in the murder trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor began Wednesday.
At the pre-trial hearing, Travis County Judge Dayna Blazey scheduled Taylor's retrial for Sept. 23, 2024.
Taylor shot and killed Michael Ramos in April 2020 after officers said Ramos failed to obey orders and got into a car and started driving. The shooting led to a local outcry and calls for justice, amid ongoing outrage over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Taylor's defense attorneys say he fired to protect himself and fellow officers from being hit by Ramos' car. Prosecutors say Ramos was only trying to flee.
Last month, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in Taylor's trial and a judge declared a mistrial. It was the second mistrial declared in Taylor's case this year – in May, the court was unable to seat a jury due to allegations of potential jury tampering.
The second jury deliberated for four days but was unable to come to a decision. It deadlocked with eight jurors voting not guilty and four voting to convict.
On Dec. 4, Travis County District Attorney José Garza confirmed that his office intended to take Taylor back to trial for a third time.
Taylor also faces a second unrelated murder charge involving the death of a man in 2019. He and a fellow officer opened fire on Mauris DeSilva after they said that he moved toward them with a knife. DeSilva’s family has said he was suffering a mental health break at that point.
Judge Blazey has not yet decided whether the Ramos case or the DeSilva case will be tried first.
On Wednesday, Taylor's defense argued that the 2019 case should be tried first because it will likely be a much shorter case, and it happened before the Ramos case in 2020. The state wants the Ramos case to be tried first.
The defense is also withdrawing Taylor's right to a speedy trial for the Ramos case, so that they can invoke it on the DeSilva case.
Blazey decided on the Sept. 23 date for the retrial because she said she already has several cases scheduled for next year ahead of Taylor, so the soonest the trial could be held is June. But she said they should take it up in September so they don't run into issues with jury members trying to find child care for a long trial during the summer.
The state and the defense will both submit briefs on which case they think should be tried first by March 8. Blazey will then conduct a hearing to decide.
Blazey also set a date to take up all pre-trial matters before September: May 14, 2024.