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PITTSBURGH – The trial of former East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, ended with closing pleas on Friday afternoon. Jurors have now been allowed to decide whether the shooting death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose, while he was leaving a roadside check in June, was warranted.
UPDATE 10:00 pm Friday: Protesters in the streets started blocking cars in areas around the courthouse.
Channel 11 reporters in the courthouse observed many emotions during the protests.
HAPPENING NOW: Protesters blocking cars at Grant & Forbes in court @WPXI pic.twitter.com/b1HUo4tmSA
– Gabriella DeLuca (@GabriellaDeLuca) March 23, 2019
UPDATE 9:25 pm Friday: Lawyers from both sides spoke and the protesters took to the streets of downtown Pittsburgh.
Click here for the latest reaction to Michael Rosfeld's verdict of not guilty.
Sure @WPXI -> @WPXIAaronMartin And @ Cashmoney2292 are about to go live on Ch 11 after talking to Pat Thomassey's defense attorney pic.twitter.com/rUNoO9TmQd
– Gabriella DeLuca (@GabriellaDeLuca) March 23, 2019
Channel 11 has a team of journalists covering this trial all week. Watch the live coverage below or the WPXI Now app for Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire Stick.
UPDATE 9:15 pm Friday: The jury acquitted Michael Rosfeld.
Click here to see sketches of the fourth day of Michael Rosfeld's homicide test.
UPDATE 8:20 pm Friday: The jury handed down its verdict in the Michael Rosfeld case. Michele Newell of Channel 11 was the first to post the update after a lawyer contacted her. The court has since confirmed the announcement.
#RUPTURE: Court administrators confirm that a verdict was handed down in the Michael Rosfeld trial
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 23, 2019
UPDATE 7:52 PM Friday: The jury now begins the third hour of deliberations.
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Aaron Martin, of Channel 11, says that the time the judge will leave for the jury tonight will not be revealed, but the court staff expects to be back tomorrow morning.
ROSFELD TRIAL: After 3 hours of deliberations of the jury, no verdict has been made. We still do not know what time the judge will leave the jury leaving tonight, but the court staff is waiting to be back tomorrow morning
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 17:13 Friday: The mother of Antwon Rose, Michelle Kenney, addressed the reporters after the start of the jury's deliberations.
"I am grateful for the prosecutor's office and for the closing.His statement was great and I was worried that he was not able to relate anything that was relevant.I am a little relieved at the time current, "she said.
Do you read this in the WPXI News app? Click the + sign next to the title to subscribe to the alerts for the latest details of this current trial.
Kenney also thanked everyone for the support she received during the trial before talking about the loss she's feeling.
"I miss my son and he is not here, Antwon did not have the opportunity to defend himself, all these rights were taken away by a person and he "It was not the jury of this court." It was an individual, "she says.
UPDATE 4:45 PM Friday: The jury is currently examining the case of former police officer Michael Rosfeld.
#RUPTURE: The jurors are currently examining the case of Michael Rosfeld. The jury has the option of sentencing Rosfeld for first degree murder, third degree murder, willful homicide, manslaughter, or not found guilty.
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 3:41 PM Friday: The closing arguments are over.
ROSFELD TRIAL UPDATE: Closing statements are complete. The judge will now read the charge to the jury before it deliberates.
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
In final argument, defense counsel Pat Thomassey told the jury: "You will have to decide whether (Rosfeld) is a criminal or a police officer. It's so simple. "
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
MORE: Thomassey also told the jury that if the shots fired by Hester during the shooting in North Braddock had killed someone a few minutes earlier, Rosfeld would have done the same thing "would we be there?
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
ADA, Jonathan Fodi, presented the final conclusions of the prosecution, telling the jury that Michael Rosfeld knew very little about Rose: "He was the judge, the jury and the hangman that day."
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 2:40 pm Friday: Pleadings are ongoing in the Michael Rosfeld trial.
Click here to see sketches of the fourth day of Michael Rosfeld's homicide test.
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UPDATE 12:30 pm Friday: Following the lifting of a Friday gag order in the Michael Rosfeld case, Channel 11 News heard the lawyer of the former East Pittsburgh police lawyer, Patrick Thomassey. .
Thomassey said that he thought the jury wanted to hear Rosfeld, who had defended his own defense on Thursday, about what had happened the night he had shot down Antwon Rose.
"Why do not they [Rose and Zaijuan Hester] stay in the car? Yes, officer … and we are not here, "Thomassey said.
CLICK HERE to view other Thomassey interviews.
LAWYER OF ROSFELD'S LAWYER: After the judge lifted the gag order, defense lawyer Pat Thomassey explains why he put Michael Rosfeld on the stand. Much more on Channel 11 News at noon pic.twitter.com/KhbCw76yBM
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
Rose family lawyer Fred Rabner also spoke to the media.
"It was really brutal for the family to sit down and tell and hear the shots, to see their son fall to the ground," Rabner said.
CLICK HERE to watch more of Rabner's interview.
UPDATE 12:25 PM Friday: Closing arguments must now begin at 13:30. Friday. They had to start at 12:30.
UPDATE OF ROSFELD'S TRIAL: The court administrators have just informed me that the closing arguments will begin at 1:30 pm
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 12:15 PM Friday: After Judge Alexander Bicket lifted a gag order and fired a juror on Friday morning, the defense concluded his case.
The expert in the use of force, Cliff Jobe, a retired state soldier, returned to the bar on Friday after starting his testimony Thursday afternoon.
Jobe spoke Friday of a cell phone video of the day former East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, had fired at Antwon Rose, while he was coming out of his office. A stoppage of traffic.
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When asked about the speed of light versus the speed of sound, Jobe claimed that the perception of video and sound was different. He said the woman who captured the video was too far away.
The prosecution then hammered Jobe's use of force training courses. Jobe said the officers are trained to shoot and that the options are based on the circumstances.
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UPDATE 11.30 am Friday: The alternate juror replacing Jury # 2 after being dismissed is a 50 year old white man. He works as a service writer in a body shop.
The sacked juror took diligent notes throughout the case. She was replaced by the second alternate, a 50-year-old white man, who works as a service editor in a car body shop https://t.co/Si3mSfFSV2.
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 11:20 am Friday: Judge Alexander Bicket denied the defense's motion that the charges of first and third degree murder against Michael Rosfeld be dismissed.
FOLLOW: After the defense rested, the judge denied the defense's motion to dismiss the charges of first- and third-degree murder.
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 11:05 am Friday: The defense is rested. Closing pleas must begin at 12:30 pm
UPDATE 9:55 am Friday: Jury # 2 has been removed from office. This was a 39-year-old white woman who was a librarian. His father spent 25 years in law enforcement. Another juror takes over.
#RUPTURE juror number 2 licensed. Jury number 13 takes over.
– Mike Holden (@WPXIMikeHolden) March 22, 2019
UPDATE 9:25 am Friday: The gag order in the case Michael Rosfeld has been lifted.
Judge Alexander Bicket agreed to lift the order after Rosfeld's lawyer, Patrick Thomassey, claimed he was raped by Lee Merritt, a human rights lawyer representing Antwon Rose's family.
Merritt spoke to the media about the trial.
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#RUPTURE: Judge in the case Michael Rosfeld lifts the gag order. This decision was made after defense lawyers filed complaints against the Rose family's civil rights lawyer, who had spoken with the media.
– Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) March 22, 2019
ORIGINAL HISTORY: The trial of former East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, seems to be over. Now, in the fourth day of Friday, the jurors should soon be heard to decide whether the shooting death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose, while he was coming out of a road check in June, was justified.
An expert in the use of force will again speak while the defense will continue its arguments on Friday morning.
The expert, a retired police officer, owner of a consulting company and having trained thousands of police officers, first spoke Thursday afternoon. He followed Rosfeld, who testified for his own defense after the prosecution had rested a little before noon.
The expert told the jurors that he believed Rosfeld's staff was reasonable and trained. The prosecutor, however, retaliated during cross-examination, claiming that he had testified in 41 cases and never against a police officer.
Do you read this in the WPXI News app? Click the + sign next to the title to subscribe to the alerts for the latest details of this current trial.
Prosecutors also asked the question of how much money the expert was receiving by analyzing this case, an answer that he could not give right away.
Whatever the case may be, the testimony of the expert on the use of force could be crucial.
"I think it's important that the defense appeals to an expert in the use of force, because the jury is watching the video and sees a young man running away." An officer also fired three bullets at his back. The defense must call on an expert to assert that this use of force is warranted, "said lawyer Blaine Jones, legal analyst.
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Although the importance of the expert's testimony on the use of force was not neglected by the jurors, the key point of discussion on the third day of the trial was Rosfeld's testimony.
Rosfeld spoke in detail of the night he shot and killed Rose. He testified for almost 90 minutes and tears were visible in his eyes.
Rose was in a car with another teenager, Zaijuan Hester, when she was arrested on June 19 in East Pittsburgh after a shooting session a few minutes earlier in North Braddock. Both teenagers ran, and Hester has since pleaded guilty to being the shooter.
The new surveillance video from a Cliff Street camera was presented in court Thursday, showing Rose shortly after the shooting and the moment he was shot by Rosfeld. It can be seen with two other young men cleaning the broken windows of the car, trying to cover the broken rear window, shortly before she was stopped.
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Rosfeld told the jury that he was upset and shocked after shooting Rose, but he thought he was dealing with "dangerous criminals" because the car he had stopped matched the description of the one who had been involved in the previous shot. He also thought he saw one of the teens pointing his gun at him.
During cross-examination of Rosfeld by the prosecution, he said that he thought there was an obvious threat. After starting to aim, his rifle and his hands clogged him.
Rosfeld said that he had shot Rose because he was protecting the community and himself.
Rose's mother was not in the courtroom to hear Rosfeld's testimony, she went out before going to the bar.
© 2019 Cox Media Group.
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