Trial filed against ex-officer in Tysons police shooting – NBC4 Washington

Defense attorneys say they will seek a mistrial against a former police officer on trial in the fatal shooting of a shoplifting suspect outside a busy Northern Virginia mall after prosecutors’ closing argument Wednesday included evidence that was never presented at trial became.

The jury heard the prosecution’s closing argument against former Fairfax County police officer Wesley Shifflett, who is accused of involuntary manslaughter. But the judge sent her home for a day after defense attorneys objected to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Natheena Tyler’s argument.

Shifflett fatally shot Timothy McCree Johnson in February 2023 after a brief chase outside Tysons Corner Center, a busy shopping center, after Johnson was identified stealing a pair of sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store.

Jurors saw bodycam video of the shooting, which shows Shifflett yelling “get on the ground” before firing two shots at Johnson. After the shots were fired, Shifflett immediately yelled “Stop reaching” and told the other officers that he saw Johnson reaching into his waistband.

The shooting happened at night, and it’s unclear from the dimly lit video whether Johnson, who turned out to be unarmed, ever reached for his waistband.

Shifflett, who was fired after the shooting, is white and Johnson was black.

While jurors saw much of the body camera video, they had not seen a clip a few minutes after the shooting in which Shifflett tells officers that he told Johnson to “show me your hands,” something he did neither before and after said to Johnson that he had fired the shots.

Tyler further argued that Johnson made up the quote in his statement to officers because he already knew “he screwed up.”

Defense lawyer Matthew Noel said the error was extremely damaging to his client because it portrayed him as a liar and denied him the opportunity to defend himself against it with his own evidence. He said the defense had appointed an expert who could have explained how an officer could make such excited statements, but the expert’s testimony was barred because the “Show Me Your Hands” clip would not be shown in court.

Another defense attorney, Caleb Kershner, said after Wednesday’s hearing that he expected to seek a mistrial without prejudice, meaning the case would be dismissed and prosecutors would be barred from seeking a new trial.

However, it is unclear how Judge Randy Bellows will address the issue. Although it was significant enough for him to abandon the trial and send the jury home, he also said the defense made a mistake by waiting to object until the prosecutor’s decision was finalized. He said they should have objected as soon as the clip was played.

Defense attorneys said they were hesitant to immediately object because they weren’t entirely sure at the time whether the clip had been entered into evidence.

Bellows will decide how to proceed when the trial resumes on Thursday.

Prosecutors had a difficult time presenting their case against Shifflett. A grand jury initially declined to indict Shifflett. That’s when Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who had won office on a platform that included holding police officers accountable for misconduct, convened a special grand jury that operated under rules that which gave Descano more control over the process.

The special grand jury indicted him on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm.

The trial was delayed for several days because the lead accuser suffered from a serious medical problem. After a few days, another prosecutor got involved.