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 arguments Wednesday morning, and the Tarrant County jury will begin deliberations, state District Judge George Gallagher said. Jurors will be sequestered until they reach a verdict, Gallagher said during jury selection.
Dean, who is white, shot Atatiana Jefferson through her bedroom window when the officer responded to a call at the East Fort Worth home in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2019.
A concerned neighbor called a nonemergency police line about 2:30 a.m. because the doors of the home were open and lights were on inside. The doors were open because Jefferson and her 8-year-old nephew burned hamburgers and were airing out the smoke, the nephew testified. The two were up late playing video games when Jefferson heard a noise in the backyard and armed herself.
Jurors heard contradictory opinions on the last day of testimony from police use-of-force experts about whether Dean acted reasonably when he peered into the open front door, walked around the house and entered the gated backyard where he saw Jefferson through the window.
Dean and a fellow officer did not announce themselves when they arrived at the home. Both Dean and his partner testified they believed the home had been burglarized and did not identify themselves as police officers in case a perpetrator might still be inside. They said department policies did not require they announce their presence at an “open structure” call or during a burglary in progress.
Jay Coons, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University who testified for the defense, 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.
Smith pressed Coons on testimony he gave during the 2018 murder trial for former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver in Dallas County. Oliver was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting into a car and killing Jordan Edwards, an unarmed teenager who had done nothing wrong. Coons testified 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 said 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 to the officer’s orders before the lethal shot was fired, piercing her heart.
Dean shouted, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” before firing, his body-camera footage shows. Dean did not alert his partner he saw a gun until after the officers ran into the bedroom and Dean found the gun at Jefferson’s feet, according to the partner’s testimony and the body-camera footage.
Coons testified under prosecutors’ questioning that the department’s policy for open structure calls does not prohibit officers from announcing themselves. He said it is implied they shouldn’t make themselves known if the officers believe something nefarious is happening. Coons said the mere presence of an officer in police uniform is a form of announcement.
Jonathyn Priest, a retired Denver police officer who works as a consultant on police use-of-force cases, testified for the prosecution and said Dean should not have walked around the house. Priest said Dean should have either announced himself as Fort Worth police when he walked up to the open front door or used his radio to call for backup officers.
Dean should have requested additional officers and secured the exits if he believed a burglary was still in progress, Priest said.
“My opinion is they shouldn’t have left the front door,” Priest said. “Anything after leaving that front door creates potential risk and danger.”
Priest and Coons agreed openings such as doors and windows create a so-called fatal funnel that can leave an officer vulnerable. Priest said Dean should have moved away from the window’s line of fire instead of shooting Jefferson.
Defense lawyer Miles Brissette also challenged Priest’s prior testimony in a 2013 case. Priest previously testified Fort Worth police officer Richard Hoeppner was justified when he shot and killed 72-year-old Jerry Waller in his own garage. Hoeppner and another officer were dispatched to a burglary call but went to the wrong house. A grand jury declined to indict Hoeppner. Priest said Waller had an opportunity to respond to the officer’s commands, but Jefferson did not have time to register Dean’s orders.
Prosecutors 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.” Dean testified about four hours.
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 boy 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 in his testimony, 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.
A central issue for the jury is whether Dean saw Jefferson’s gun before he fired. Prosecutors rested their case-in-chief after three days of testimony last week, surprising some legal experts. They initially did not put on an expert to testify to whether Dean’s killing of Jefferson was justified. But after the defense called three witnesses — including Dean — the prosecution presented Priest as a rebuttal witness.
Dean, while being questioned by the prosecution Monday, said Jefferson was bent over and stood upright as he drew his service weapon. He said her gun was near her chest, and he saw the barrel of the gun through the window. Dean’s lawyers have said he followed his training and met deadly force with deadly force.
City officials said after the shooting Jefferson had a right to defend herself within her home. Dean resigned from the police department before he could be fired, the then-interim police chief said at the time.
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. It was not immediately known Tuesday evening whether the jury would be instructed to consider lesser charges, like manslaughter. 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.
