The jury in the Christopher Gaynor case deliberated three hours Thursday afternoon before quitting for the night. The panel is to start again on Friday morning.
Attorney Lee Davis told the jury Thursday afternoon that former Chattanooga Police Officer Gaynor made a mistake, but did not commit a crime in fatally shooting motorist John Eric Henderson.
But prosecutor Jason Thomas said the officer failed in the "standard of care" of officers and should be convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Officer Gaynor chose not to take the witness stand in the case in which he is charged in the death of a motorist in East Chattanooga.
Attorney Davis told Criminal Court Judge Steve Bevil late Thursday morning that the defense was not putting on any proof.
The defense had planned to call a former St. Louis, Mo., chief of police as an expert witness. He would have said he had reviewed the case and found that Officer Gaynor acted out of self defense in the shooting on May 29, 2003.
However, Judge Bevil ruled that he could not qualify as an expert.
An all white jury is deciding the case. Officer Gaynor, 25, is white, and the victim was black.
A number of local black leaders are monitoring the trial at the Courts Building.
Near the close of the state's case, assistant medical examiner Dr. Stanton Kessler said the angle of the bullet showed that the victim was twisted and leaning down.
He said the bullet went in the left shoulder and down into the right lung, while also servering the aorta.
Officer Gaynor and backup officer Moreland Wilson said Mr. Henderson had ducked into the passenger side window of his car just before he was shot.
Dr. Kessler also testified that cocaine was found in the victim's body. The jury earlier heard testimony to that effect.
Outside the presence of the jury, Dr. Kessler said Mr. Henderson had an enlarged heart, which may have been caused by cocaine abuse. He said it was not possible to tell what effect the cocaine had on him at the time of
the shooting on Newell Street.
Attorney Davis said it is "very easy to be Monday morning quarterbacks and second guess the officer's decision." He said it had to be made in three-quarters of a second.
He said, "It is far too easy to second guess these life and death decisions we ask police officers to make every day."
He said Mr. Henderson was on cocaine and acting erratically, not following the officer's instructions. He said he drove on a block and a half, though the officer put on his blue lights and then his siren. He said he jumped out of the car and walked toward the officer, then leaned inside the car, though the officer commanded him to stop.
"He was on his fourth day on the job and he ran into every officer's worst nightmare," the former assistant district attorney told the jury.
Attorney Davis said Mr. Henderson had an ID on him, though he denied having a license. He said there was no registration in the glove box.
He said backup Officer Wilson was on the scene and said Officer Gaynor "absolutely" had reason to fear for his life. He said the fact that Officer Wilson also fired showed the severity of the situation.
Attorney Davis said Officer Gaynor saw what turned out to be a brown cologne bottle and thought it was a gun so he fired as Mr. Henderson turned quickly.
He said had it been a gun and the officer chosen not to fire "we would have had another dead Chattanooga police officer."
He told the jury Officer Gaynor "is going to have to live with this decision for the rest of his life."
Gaynor, 25, was dismissed from the police force, but he is appealing.
Prosecutor Thomas said the defense "tried their best to put John Henderson on trial." He said Mr. Henderson was not arguing, fighting or threatening in his confrontation with the officer.
He said Mr. Henderson had had the car just a month and might have thought the registration was in the glove box.
The prosecutor said Officer Gaynor should have either jammed Mr. Henderson up against the car or backed away for cover when he felt threatened.
He said if he had not "lost his composure and panicked" that "both the officer and the motorist could have gone home alive."
Prosecutor Thomas said, "We all know that John did not deserve to die."
He said what happened "left John Henderson lying in the street and left a frantic officer. And inside you've got a bottle of cologne - still in the box."