The prosecutor rested his case Wednesday in the criminal trial of a former Lonoke County sheriff’s office deputy accused of recklessly killing teen Hunter Brittain.
The defense is set to start calling witnesses Thursday morning.
Jurors in the trial of former deputy Michael Davis, who is accused in the June killing, were shown video of an interview between the man and Arkansas State Police.
Davis, charged with felony manslaughter, faces up to ten years in prison in the shooting that happened about 3 a.m. on June 23.
He was fired from the Lonoke County sheriff's office the week after the shooting for not activating his camera "in a timely way," according to Sheriff John Staley. The traffic stop and shooting were not captured on camera.
In the video of the interview, Davis said he first passed Brittain and 16-year-old Jordan King stopped on the side of the road. At the time, he thought smoke coming from the vehicle was fog.
He pulled into a nearby church and saw Brittain’s vehicle pull back onto the road.
“It was making a loud racket,” Davis told an investigator. “Clearly there was some car issues.”
It was smoking so heavily Davis said he had difficulty pulling the tag number.
Davis told investigators he suspected the vehicle was stolen and had been damaged.
The deputy turned on his lights after following for a short distance, he said. Brittain’s vehicle crossed into the oncoming traffic lane, stopped and then revved before turning into the body shop, he said.
At this point in the interview Davis took a long sigh. He paused. When he started talking again his voice was shaky with emotion.
“Before I could get the vehicle in park the driver jumps out and slides,” he said.
Davis said he told Brittain to get back in the vehicle, to show his hands and to stop. He said Brittain didn’t comply. He said Brittain had his hands in the truck bed, digging.
“And I shot him,” Davis said.
Two witnesses, King and another friend, Landon Crowder, have testified they did not hear Davis make any commands ahead of the gunshot.
Davis said he saw King stick his hands out the window before he pulled the trigger.
“I know he (Brittain) could hear me but he didn’t say anything to me,” Davis said “He didn’t look at me. I thought he was going to kill me.”
Also Wednesday, the jury watched body camera footage from a second officer who assisted at the scene.
The video showed the handcuffing of King, who was a passenger in Brittain’s truck.
Davis shouted at King, who yelled from the ground that the vehicle wouldn’t shift.
Photos from the crime scene showed a blue jug laying next to the vehicle.
Photos taken from the investigation also showed the keys still in the ignition and the truck placed in reverse. A bullet rested on Brittain’s windshield wipers.
On Tuesday, the jury heard Special Prosecutor Jeff Phillips' and defense attorney Robert Newcomb's opening statements.
Phillips said Brittain had been working on his truck with his friends King and Crowder. The group started in the afternoon to swap out a transmission in Brittain's truck, Phillips said.
King and Brittain went to test drive it before 3 a.m. Crowder stayed at the repair shop.
"When they started the truck up it was loud and smoking, it continued to be loud and smoking," Phillips said. "They could never get the transmission to shift from first to second."
After driving it, the teens pulled onto a private driveway to put transmission fluid in, Phillips said. It was an attempt to get the transmission to shift, King later said on the stand.
Since the vehicle wouldn't park, King placed a jug of coolant behind the wheel. It worked at keeping the truck in place, King said.
The teens then headed back to the shop.
They were pulled over and pulled back into the parking lot of the body shop.
"Jordan went to get out to do the same thing with the jug," Phillips said. "Hunter does same thing but is quicker."
King heard the gunshot as soon as he placed a foot on the ground, Phillips said.
Phillips said King did not hear anyone yell to get back in the truck. He did hear, after the shot, someone yell about showing hands.
King was ordered at gunpoint, cuffed and put in the back of a police car. He sat there for three hours, Phillips said.
The teen later testified that he watched as the police worked the scene. He saw the jug that Davis said the teen was grabbing for. The jug stayed after they took Brittain's body, he said.
Crowder, about 50 yards away, saw blue lights. He also never heard anything until after the shot, Phillips said. What he heard was "show me your hands, show me your hands."
"These boys never had any contact, Phillips said.
Newcomb on Tuesday criticized Crowder's statements, saying they hadn’t been consistent. He didn't specify the inconsistency.
"Mr. Phillips and I are going to agree on some things and some things we will not," Newcomb said in his opening. "I do agree with him that this is a very tragic event that nobody wanted to happen, but it did happen."
Davis had a split second, Newcomb said.
"Davis did not know the car wouldn't go into park," Newcomb said. "We are talking about judging with hindsight."
The shooting event, from the time the blue lights went on, lasted about 22 seconds, Newcomb said.
CORRECTION: Michael Davis was fired the week after the shooting, according to Sheriff John Staley. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when he was fired.