FORT WORTH, Texas — Prosecutors and defense lawyers closed their cases Tuesday in the murder trial of former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean, who fatally shot a Black woman in her mother’s home more than three years ago.
Lawyers will give closing statements and the jury will begin deliberations Wednesday morning, State District Judge George Gallagher said.
Dean, 38, killed Atatiana Jefferson in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2019, while responding to a call. A concerned neighbor called a nonemergency police line about 2:30 a.m. because doors at the home were open and lights were on inside.
Prosecutors called a rebuttal expert witness to testify Tuesday afternoon and then rested. They rested their case-in-chief after three days last week and did not call a use-of-force expert to testify whether Dean’s deadly force was justified. A central issue for the Tarrant County jury is whether Dean, who is white, saw Jefferson’s gun before he fired the lethal shot.
Defense lawyers called three witnesses, including Dean, over two days. The former officer took the stand in his defense for about four hours Monday.
Jefferson, 28, was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when she heard a noise in the backyard and armed herself. The doors were open, her nephew testified, because they burned hamburgers and were airing out the smoke. Dean and a fellow officer did not announce themselves when they arrived at the East Fort Worth home or when they walked around the house, through a gate and into the backyard, according to testimony. Dean shot through a window into her bedroom.
Jay Coons, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University testified Tuesday morning as a use-of-force expert for the defense. He said Dean’s actions as a police officer were reasonable. Coons told jurors the officers “didn’t know what they had” other than an open door. He later implied while being questioned by prosecutor Dale Smith he did not believe Dean committed a crime when he killed Jefferson.
“Police officers are trained that when a firearm is pointed at you, shoot that individual, you are in extreme danger, you are in danger of being shot and killed,” Coons said. “As far as the training, as far as your options as a human being, it’s down to one decision — one decision only.”
Adarius and Ashley Carr, Jefferson’s siblings, passed notes as Coons testified. One of Jefferson’s relatives read from a daily prayer devotional. Dean wrote feverishly as Coons stood and gave a demo to the jury.
Dean said on the stand Monday he saw Jefferson’s gun through the window. In opening statements, his lawyers said he saw a green laser on her gun; Dean did not testify to that. His lawyers have said Dean followed his training to meet deadly force with deadly force.
Smith pressed Coons on testimony he gave in a 2018 Dallas County case. Coons said when testifying in that case it takes between 1.3 and 1.5 seconds for an officer to make a decision and then act.
A forensic video evidence expert testified Monday that just about a half second lapsed from when Dean started shouting commands at Jefferson to when he pulled the trigger. Smith argued that given Coons’ prior testimony, Jefferson wouldn’t have had enough time to respond before the lethal shot was fired.
Dean and his partner said they believed the home was burglarized. Dean said on the stand Monday the home looked ransacked and objects were strewn around the kitchen and living room. Dean and his partner testified they did not identify themselves in case a burglar was inside and said department policies did not require they announce their presence at an “open structure” call.
Coons, however, testified under prosecutors’ questioning that the department’s policy for open structure calls does not instruct officers to not announce themselves. He said it is implied if the officers believe something nefarious is happening. Coons said the mere presence of an officer in police uniform is a form of announcement.
Smith lambasted Dean on Monday about whether his actions were “good police work.” Dean conceded “there’s probably things I could have done better” but said he thought he did a “fine job.”
Jefferson’s nephew, Zion Carr, told a child forensic interviewer the morning of the shooting that Jefferson pointed a gun toward the window. But on the stand last week, the now-11-year-old said she kept the gun at her side. Zion also told the interviewer he heard someone yell outside the window and thought he saw a police badge. But on the stand, Zion said he didn’t hear or see anything outside. Defense lawyers later implied to the judge they believe Zion was coached to give a different account of the shooting.
Dean, while being questioned Monday by the prosecution, said Jefferson was bent over and stood upright as he drew his gun. He said her gun was near her chest.
Dean’s killing of Jefferson sparked nationwide outrage and became a watershed moment previewing 2020′s widespread social justice protests. Although some of the 12 jurors and two alternates are people of color, none is Black.
Dean faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder. Before Dean’s arrest, no Tarrant County officer had ever faced a murder charge, the district attorney’s office said at the time.
Jefferson has been described by family as a doting aunt and aspiring doctor who grew up in Dallas’ Oak Cliff area and graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana. She’d moved into the East Allen Avenue home to care for her ailing mother and Zion, whose mother was also in poor health.
