ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Lawyers began making their final case to jurors on Thursday in the trial of two former Albuquerque police officers charged with second-degree murder in the on-duty shooting death of a mentally ill homeless man that was captured on police video and set off protests in New Mexico’s largest city.
The closing arguments by a special prosecutor and defense attorneys for now-retired Detective Keith Sandy and former Officer Dominique Perez follow nearly three-weeks of testimony that focused on whether James Boyd was posing a threat or turning away when he was shot in March 2014.
Defense attorney Sam Bregman says Sandy and Perez opened fire on Boyd to protect a K-9 handler who was near him.
The trial also scrutinized how and when police should deploy force or deescalate encounters with people suffering from mental illness at a time when shootings by police has become a central national topic. Boyd had paranoid schizophrenia.
“You were not supposed to hold him personally responsible for being mentally ill,” special prosecutor Randi McGinn stated Wednesday during pointed questioning of Sandy.