The case is now in the hands of the jury after closing arguments wrapped up in the murder trial of Aaron Dean, Wednesday morning.
Dean is the officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson while he responded to a call at her home in October 2019.
The case comes down to whether the jury believes Aaron Dean acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson on October 12, 2019. Dean was sent to the home of Jefferson's mother where she was watching her nephew. A door had been reported open.
Dean never announced he was a cop. He and his partner thought there may have been a burglary and the two went into a backyard. Jefferson heard a noise, got her gun, and was shot. In order to qualify as self-defense, the law says Dean had to believe Jefferson was breaking the law. Defense attorney Bob Gill says pointing a gun at a uniformed officer qualifies.
But prosecutor Dale Smith thundered back that there was no way for Jefferson to know Dean was a cop, she heard a sound, grabbed her gun and seconds later was dead.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from law enforcement professor Jay Coons, who was the defense's expert on "use-of-force."
Dean took the stand in his own defense on Monday, when the prosecution repeatedly tried to prove that he exhibited "bad police work."
Monday morning, Dean told the court he never saw victim Jefferson's face before he opened fire, and only saw her fall after he fired a shot. He said he thought there was a burglar who was pointing a gun at him.
In the first week of testimony, the prosecution called Jefferson's nephew Zion Carr, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, Carol Darch, an officer who responded to the call with Dean, James Smith, the neighbor who placed a call to the Fort Worth police department's non-emergency line, and multiple crime scene investigators.
The jury has an option of a lesser included verdict of manslaughter.
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