JUDGE

Chicago Cop: Video of Shooting ‘Doesn't Show My Perspective'

Officer Jason Van Dyke grew emotional as he recounted the moments before, during and after the shooting

A white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald testified Tuesday that he opened fire when the black teenager kept advancing toward him while waving a knife, adamantly sticking to his version of events even when confronted with video that appeared to show a different scene.

In a clear but sometimes halting voice, at times fighting back tears, Officer Jason Van Dyke described arriving in his police SUV to find McDonald in a city street, carrying a small knife that the 17-year-old had previously used to puncture the tire of a squad car after officers responded to a report of someone breaking into vehicles. Van Dyke later turned defiant under questioning by prosecutors who pointed out that video of the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting didn't match his account, telling jurors: "The video doesn't show my perspective."

"I could see his face. He had no expression, eyes bugging out of his head, huge white eyes staring through me," he testified. 

Van Dyke grew emotional as he recounted the moments before, during and after the shooting.

The video shows Van Dyke exit his vehicle and start firing even as McDonald appears to veer away from police. After the bullets start, McDonald spins and falls to the ground. Van Dyke continues firing, shooting a total of 16 shots.

About 10 other officers were on the scene, and prosecutors have stressed that none of them — including Van Dyke's partner — opened fire.

Van Dyke testified he stopped shooting because the gun was empty. Then, he said in the time it took him to reload his gun things "drastically changed."

"In those seconds, [McDonald] had stopped moving," he said. "Once I realized he was on the ground, I stopped shooting."

When Van Dyke insisted that McDonald raised the knife across his chest just before the officer opened fire, prosecutor Judy Gleason asked: "Where do you see that on the video?"

"The video doesn't show my perspective," Van Dyke responded.

When she asked why Van Dyke resumed firing after McDonald lay motionless on the ground, he responded: "All I could see was him starting to push up with his left hand off the ground. I still see him holding his knife in his right hand, eyes still bugging out of his face, still showing no expression."

He also described being obsessed with the knife that was still in McDonald's hand until another officer eventually kicked it away.

"I shot at the knife. I wanted him to get rid of the knife. My focus was just on that knife. ... That's all I could think of," Van Dyke said.

"His back never once turned towards me," Van Dyke said. "He could have made a decision to turn and walk in the other direction; he could have dropped the knife and ended it right there."

But prosecutors picked apart his story, asking why Van Dyke didn't step out of McDonald's path and pointing out that the video shows Van Dyke actually stepping toward McDonald.

"I know that now, yeah," he said. "Not intentionally. I thought I was backpedaling."

At times, cross examination became confrontational. When prosecutor Jody Gleason remarked, “You didn’t have to get out of the car that night," Van Dyke responded by saying, "I didn’t have to go to work that night."

Lawyers for clients who aren't police officers typically advise against testifying because it opens them up to potentially devastating cross-examination. But it's not obvious whether the right legal strategy for officers, like Van Dyke, is to stay off the witness stand. In several similar trials elsewhere in the U.S. in recent years, officers have testified. Some who did were acquitted or the juries couldn't reach a unanimous verdict.

Tuesday marked the fifth day of the defense phase in the trial. Court was canceled Monday due to a sick juror.

The day began with testimony from a psychologist, who testified about the human body's reaction during stressful situations. 

Dr. Laurence Miller, a psychologist who interviewed Van Dyke for defense attorneys, had told jurors that he believed the shooting was a "reasonable response" to what Van Dyke perceived as a deadly threat posed by McDonald. But Miller also said that even before he got out of the squad car, Van Dyke had told his partner that he believed they would have to shoot the teen.

Van Dyke later told the jury: "I thought the officers were under attack and the whole thing was shocking to me."

In an unexpected turn, testimony was briefly halted after a journalist was caught recording part of the trial, a violation of the judge's orders. The reporter was taken into custody and held in contempt of court. 

Special prosecutors rested their case against Van Dyke Thursday after calling 24 witnesses over three and a half days.

NBC Chicago is covering the trial in-depth. See more of their reporting for details on daily courtroom proceedings.

Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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