A Baltimore jury is considering the fate of a city police officer on trial for attempted murder in the shooting of an unarmed burglary suspect.
Jurors began deliberations Tuesday in the trial of Officer Wesley Cagle after hearing closing arguments from attorneys on both sides.
A prosecutor called the police officer "a bully" and said he had no need to shoot the man. But a defense attorney said prosecutors had not proved their case — and told jurors that the law requires them to judge Cagle's actions based on what a reasonable officer should have done in a tense situation.
Cagle, 46, is the first city officer to be charged in an on-duty shooting since 2008. He is charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of burglary suspect Michael Johansen in East Baltimore.
Johansen had already been shot by other officers at a corner store when Cagle approached from an alley. Prosecutors say Johansen was lying in the doorway of the store when Cagle shot him in the groin.
"The defendant is a bully," prosecutor Kristin Blumer told the jury in closing arguments. "He wanted to be part of something he missed while he was hiding in the alley."
The standard of reasonableness raised by Cagle's attorneys was a key to the acquittals of three Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray.
The judge in those trials found prosecutors had failed to prove the officers' actions were unreasonable and cleared them of reckless endangerment charges.
Cagle testified last week that he saw a "shiny silver object" that he thought could be a weapon before he shot at Johansen.
"He didn't fire because he wanted to fire," defense lawyer Chaz Ball told jurors Tuesday. "He fired because he was afraid for his safety."
Cagle said he later found a metal object under Johansen's leg. He said he didn't know whether his bullet hit Johansen.
Cagle has been suspended from the Police Department without pay. He also faces charges of first-degree assault and a firearm violation.
Jurors deliberated for a few hours Tuesday afternoon. They are scheduled to return to the courthouse Wednesday morning.
With different witnesses giving conflicting statements over five days of testimony, much will depend on who jurors believe is most credible.
Prosecutor Gerard Volatile called Cagle's testimony a "script." He also sought to discredit the testimony of Emanuel Kapelsohn, a use-of-force expert witness hired by the defense, saying he "makes a living from contracts with police departments."
Ball focused on Johansen's credibility. Prosecutors say Cagle stood over Johansen and shot him. Ball asked why Johansen didn't tell investigators that.
Defense attorneys have also argued that there is no proof that Cagle's bullet struck Johansen.
Johansen testified last week that he went to burglarize the store in the 3000 block of E. Monument St. the morning of Dec. 28, 2014, and ended up being shot multiple times by officers.
Johansen told jurors that he had already been shot when Cagle approached him. Johansen said he was in pain and asked Cagle whether he had been shot by a beanbag.
"He said, 'No, it was a .40-cal, you piece of [expletive],'" Johansen told the jury. Then, he said, Cagle shot him in the groin.
The two other officers who fired at Johansen — Keven Leary and Isiah Smith — have been cleared in the shooting and testified for prosecutors.
Leary testified that Cagle told him he shot Johansen. And he said he told Smith after the shooting that what Cagle did "was wrong."
Leary and Smith said they heard an exchange of words between Cagle and Johansen before Cagle fired his gun, but they couldn't make out what was said.
Cagle said he was giving Johansen commands to show his hands during that conversation. But if he had been doing so, Volatile said, he would have been using a "command voice" — and the other officers at the scene would have been able to hear what he was saying.
In 2008, Officer Tommy Sanders III was charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man. A jury acquitted Sanders.
Baltimore Sun reporter Kevin Rector contributed to this article.
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