The defense for Connecticut state trooper Brian North rested its case Tuesday. Closing arguments are expected on Wednesday after prosecutors call a rebuttal witness.
North is charged with first-degree manslaughter for shooting Mubarak Soulemane, 19, of New Haven in a stolen car on Jan. 15, 2020. Soulemane had led police on a high-speed chase up I-95 and was surrounded by officers in a West Haven underpass.
North testified last week that he opened fire because he believed Soulemane was about to attack other officers with a knife.
State Inspector General Robert Devlin is prosecuting the case. He says the shooting was not justified because Soulemane, seated and facing police with their guns drawn, did not present an imminent danger.
Tuesday, the defense questioned two witnesses, both presented as experts on shooting scenes. The witnesses, initially hired by the state before the inspector general’s office took over the case, concluded in reports issued previously that the shooting was justified. Judge H. Gordon Hall, however, did not allow that determination to be placed on the record: he says that issue is for the jury to decide.