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Everything you need to know from Day 2 of the Ray Tensing murder retrial

Civilians and police testify
Posted at 3:17 PM, Jun 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-09 22:13:16-04

CINCINNATI -- Jurors heard Ray Tensing's account of the fatal July 19, 2015 shooting on Day 2 of the ex-police officer's murder retrial.

Tensing didn't testify Tuesday -- although his attorney already confirmed he will. Jurors watched a video and listened to audio from Tensing's first interview with Cincinnati police detectives who investigated the fatal shooting and death of Samuel DuBose.

RELATED: Everything you need to know from Day 1 of Ray Tensing's retrial

Here are the key moments from Friday's court proceedings, including a short synopsis of the interview with Cincinnati police.

1. DuBose's fiancée lashed out under cross-examination

DaShonda Reid, DuBose's fiancée and the mother of three of his children, was the first witness to testify Friday. Reid and DuBose were "on and off" for 16 years, Reid said. They became engaged two days before DuBose was killed.

Asst. Prosecutor Stacey DeGraffenreid asked Reid about her car, which DuBose was driving on the day he was killed. Reid said the car had some mechanical issues. She also said she was unaware her license was suspended until months later; Tensing said the suspended license alert on the car -- registered to Reid -- led to the traffic stop.

RELATED: Opening statements show prosecution is taking different tack

The exchange between Reid and defense attorney Stew Mathews during cross-examination was heated.

Watch Reid's testimony below

 

Mathews asked Reid if she knew about the drugs in her car while DuBose drove it. He asked if Reid knew DuBose's alias "Christopher Simmons" or if she knew of another apartment he rented. When asked if DuBose sold drugs, Reid said she knew he did at one time in the past.

RELATED: Shooting could be justified, ex-homicide detective testifies

Mathews also asked Reid about her own history.

"Were you ever convicted of a crime related to dishonesty or giving a false statement?" Mathews asked.

"I feel like that's irrelevant to the case," Reid responded.

"You don't get to decide that," Judge Leslie Ghiz said. "You're not the attorney or the judge."

Reid refused to answer the question again, and then said, "I have made decisions in my past that were...not always the best decisions."

When Mathews asked Reid about a specific conviction from October 2016 for possession of criminal tools, Reid responded with a jab at Tensing.

"Like I said, I have done things in my past, and, unlike your client, I know how to own up to what I've done," Reid said.

Ghiz ordered that comment stricken from the record.

2. What young mom saw on day of shooting contradicts Tensing's defense

Tensing argues he was caught in DuBose's car, dragged and fired a shot to "stop the threat." Alicia Napier, a young woman who was in her car on Rice Street the day of the shooting, told police she never saw Tensing move with DuBose's car.

"He was on the ground," Napier said during cross-examination. "There was no way he was attached to the car...He wasn't touching the car at all."

Napier was in her car with her two young children when she saw what she thought was "a routine traffic stop" happening on Rice Street. She saw some interaction between Tensing and DuBose; then she heard a gunshot, saw Tensing fall and heard the crash of DuBose's car, she said.

Napier admitted she didn't see everything -- she said she was scared and wanted to protect her son and daughter.

"I was trying to be safe," she said, crying.

Watch Napier's testimony below

 

Napier's account of the incident contradicts Tensing's account -- Napier said she heard a shot, saw Tensing fall and then saw DuBose's car in motion. According to Tensing, DuBose took off, Tensing was dragged, then he fired a shot.

Mathews asked Napier if she saw everything "with her own eyes" or filled in the blanks with YouTube videos. She said she watched the body camera videos, but what she remembers from that day, and her testimony, all comes from her own memory.

Later in the day, Mathews was able to cast some doubt on Napier's testimony when Cincinnati police Sgt. Shannon Heine was on the stand. Heine took Napier's statement on the night of the shooting.

Heine said there were “some inconsistencies” between Napier's statement and what Heine saw on Tensing’s body-camera video.

"But none that were heavily of note to discount her entire statement," Heine said.

"You didn't discount her entire statement, but it wasn't entirely accurate. Is that correct?" Mathews asked.

“Correct," Heine said.

3. Jurors learned DuBose had drugs in the car when he was killed

Crime scene analyst Kimberly Horning showed jurors diagrams and photographs from the scene of the shooting. Part of that scene and evidence included four bags and one jar of marijuana in his car.

In addition, DuBose had four cell phones and cash in his car.

Horning also showed the plastic gin bottle -- full of air freshener -- that was on the floor of DuBose's car and caught Tensing's attention during the traffic stop. The air freshener, known as "smell good," is sometimes used to mask the scent of marijuana.

 

WATCH Horning's testimony below

 

Autopsy results found marijuana in DuBose's system, but Judges Ghiz and Shanahan both barred the results from evidence. Investigators from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office said it's still too difficult to determine, after death, when a person last smoked or ingested marijuana.

4. Jurors hear Tensing's interview with police

With the exception of jurors who followed Tensing's first trial, this was the jury's first time hearing Tensing's account of the shooting in his own words.

In an interview with Sgt. Heine and Cincinnati Police Det. Terry McGuffey, Tensing described a fear of being run over or "sucked underneath" DuBose's car. He said his arm was tangled in the steering wheel and he was dragged by the car.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, I'm getting dragged by this guy's car,'" Tensing said in the interview. "'I don't want to die today.'"

Read the transcript of Tensing's interview here.

McGuffey asked Tensing to describe the chain of events leading up to the shooting -- Tensing said DuBose mashed the accelerator, then his arm became "tangled behind the steering wheel," then he was being dragged and "facing the trunk" of DuBose's car, and then he shot to "stop the threat."

5. Tensing watched his body camera video before interview

Tensing wasn't interviewed by police until two days after the fatal shooting. In that time, he had a chance to watch his body camera video -- that goes against Cincinnati Police Department policy, Heine said.

Heine said the department tries to interview police on the same day as an officer-involved shooting to ensure an authentic recollection of the incident, she said. University of Cincinnati police, however, are allowed time to "calm down" before they're interviewed.

Watch Heine's testimony below

 

Heine said Napier's account of the shooting was given without seeing body camera footage and detectives found several "inconsistencies" with Tensing's account of the shooting, given later.

For complete trial coverage, visit wcpo.com/TensingTrial