What to Know
- Van Dyke is charged with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old McDonald nearly four years ago
- The Chicago police officer was captured on dashcam video shooting McDonald 16 times the night of Oct. 20, 2014, on the city's Southwest Side
- Van Dyke entered a plea of not guilty
Follow along live from court above and below. (NOTE: Not all witness testimony will be streamed live above. You may notice intermittent bars and pauses.)
After calling 24 witnesses over three and a half days, special prosecutors have rested their case in the Jason Van Dyke murder trial.
The fourth day of testimony saw prosecutors call an FBI agent, an expert on deadly force and a witness who saw Officer Jason Van Dyke shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014.
FBI Special Agent Scott Patterson testified that McDonald fell to the ground 1.6 seconds after the first shot was fired. The last shot was fired 12.6 seconds later. All 16 bullets were fired in 14.2 seconds.
Jurors were shown a video showing an FBI agent shooting 16 shots in just four seconds. Then the agent shot 16 shots in 14 seconds- the same amount of time Van Dyke fired. Patterson called those shots "deliberate and methodical."
A second witness, Urey Patrick, an expert on use of deadly force, testified the risk posed by McDonald "did not rise to the necessity to use deadly force."
"When Mr. McDonald went down, clear threat ended. When he went down, the shooting should have ended within a second or two - 10 seconds later? Unreasonable."
Under cross examination, however, Patrick noted that someone on PCP holding a knife could still pose a threat, even while on the ground.
The third day of the trial saw the jury looking at graphic autopsy images showing the more than a dozen gunshot wounds on the body of 17-year-old McDonald as a forensic pathologist detailed how each bullet affected the teen's body.
Jurors also heard how the teen died with PCP in his system - and how that could have caused some of his erratic behavior in the moments before his death.
In the first two days of the trial, jurors have heard from several Chicago police officers, watched dashcam video of McDonald's fatal shooting and seen the weapon Van Dyke used to shoot the 17-year-old 16 times.
Van Dyke has claimed he opened fire that night to protect himself and other officers. The Chicago police officer is charged with murder after he shot McDonald 16 times the night of Oct. 20, 2014, on the city's Southwest Side.
Van Dyke's attorneys maintain the Chicago officer has been wrongly charged, saying he was acting within the law when he shot the teen, who at the time was an armed felon fleeing a crime scene.
1:37 p.m.: Defense will begin presenting their evidence, in an attempt to clear Jason Van Dyke of murder charges, on Monday morning.
1:35 p.m.: In their directed verdict motion to have Judge Gaughan declare Jason Van Dyke not guilty, defense attorney Dan Herbert says this is not an excessive force case and 16 shots are not relevant. Also says there’s no evidence he acted in anyway of lawful authority. Motion Denied.
1:22 p.m.: /BREAKING/ The state rests its case in the Jason Van Dyke trial. Special prosecutors rest their case after calling 24 witnesses over 3 1/2 days.
12:57 p.m.: Next witness, Jose Torres, the father of Xavier, who both witnessed the shooting, says he heard more shots while Laquan was on the ground, than upright. It upset him so he says he shouted out, "Why the f*** are they still shooting when he’s on the ground."
12:06 p.m.: Under cross examination, Urey Patrick is asked if a person on the ground, holding a knife, can be a threat to a police officer. He answers "conceivably, yes." He agrees that even at 21 feet away, someone with a knife on PCP, can still be a threat. "It can happen."
11:43 a.m.: Urey Patrick: "When Mr. McDonald went down, clear threat ended. When he went down, the shooting should have ended within a second or two. 10 seconds later, unreasonable."
11:30 a.m.: While watching the dashcam video, Mr.Patrick repeatedly notes that Laquan was moving away from the police. "He is an imminent threat by virtue of his noncompliance & knife, but he does not pose an imminent risk." Says use of deadly force "not justified under these circumstances."
11:17 a.m.: Next witness for the prosecution, Urey Patrick, an expert in use of deadly force testified "My assessment of the situation, risk posed by Mr. McDonald, did not rise to necessity to use deadly force to stop it."
10:40 a.m.: Jurors watched a video showing an FBI agent shoot 16 shots in just four seconds. Then the agent shot 16 shots in 14 seconds- the same amount of time Jason Van Dyke fired all 16 shots. The FBI expert called those shots “deliberate and methodical.”
Local
10:31 a.m.: FBI Special Agent Scott Patterson testifies that Laquan McDonald fell to the ground 1.6 seconds after the first shot was fired. The last shot was fired 12.6 seconds later. All 16 bullets were fired in 14.2 seconds.
9:56 a.m.: Day 4 of testimony in the Jason Van Dyke trial begins with testimony from Scott Patterson, an FBI Special Agent in ballistics research. They study bullets and firearms and their affects.
