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The defense has called Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke to take the stand. Van Dyke’s testimony could mark a pivotal point in the trial, an opportunity for the officer to try to convince the jury that he was, indeed, acting in self-defense and that he had a reasonable fear for his own safety. Follow along for live updates from the courtroom.
UPDATES: Van Dyke called to testify | Detective retrieves transit card from McDonald’s body | Defense witness suggests Van Dyke may take witness stand | McDonald’s stare like looking into his ‘soul’ | Reporter taken into custody for recording testimony | Prosecutor suggests Van Dyke exaggerated threat | Expert interviewed Van Dyke over Skype | Defense expert says Van Dyke acted reasonably | ‘Motor memory … kicking in’ | Police psychologist testifying for the defense
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1:01 p.m.: Van Dyke called to testify
The defense has called Jason Van Dyke to take the stand. Check back for updates.
A defense expert hinted as much in his testimony Tuesday, noting off-the-cuff that “I don’t know what Jason Van Dyke is going to say today.”
Van Dyke’s testimony would mark a pivotal point in the trial, an opportunity for the officer to try to convince the jury that he was, indeed, acting in self-defense and that he had a reasonable fear for his own safety.
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12:28 p.m.: Detective retrieves transit card from McDonald’s body
Chicago police Detective William Johnson testified he went to the hospital after Laquan McDonald died and retrieved a CTA card, a state ID and disabled veteran’s public transit card from the body.
The defense wants to show that McDonald illegally used the card to crisscross the city on the night of his death, though the judge has limited the testimony.
Assistant special prosecutor Joseph Cullen chided Johnson for calling McDonald “the offender” and reminded him that he also picked up other evidence that night.
“The bullets that had riddled the body of Laquan McDonald,” Cullen said.
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12:21 p.m.: Defense witness suggests Van Dyke may take witness stand
Back under questioning by Jason Van Dyke’s lawyer, defense psychologist Laurence Miller testified he has no reason to believe the officer lied in recounting what happened on the night he shot McDonald.
Miller said Van Dyke’s statements to him about what he perceived had been consistent.
In answering the question, Miller then may have telegraphed that Van Dyke will testify later Tuesday, saying, “I don’t know what Jason Van Dyke is going to say today.”
“I believe Jason Van Dyke told me the truth as he perceived that truth,” Miller added.
Prosecutors then pressed Miller on whether Van Dyke has, in fact, been consistent, noting that the officer initially told a detective that McDonald raised the knife over his shoulder but later said he only drew it across his chest.
“At the time he perceived the subject to draw the weapon over his chest (multiple times),” Miller said. “He realizes now it was only one time.”
McDonald does not appear to draw the knife over his chest at any point in the now-infamous police dashboard camera video.
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12:14 p.m.: McDonald’s stare like looking into his ‘soul,’ Van Dyke said
Miller acknowledged that Van Dyke gave a much more dramatic account to police detectives after the shooting than he did during the psychological evaluation.
Van Dyke told investigators immediately after the shooting that McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over his shoulder. The action does not appear in the infamous dashboard camera video of the shooting or the defense team’s animated re-enactment.
Earlier in his testimony, Miller said it’s difficult for the brain to recall a life-and-death event correctly immediately after it occurs. Sometimes it takes days to fill in the gaps; sometimes the gaps can never be filled, he said.
Van Dyke and Walsh both have spoken about McDonald staring at them oddly before the shooting. Van Dyke, for example, told Miller it was like “looking into Laquan McDonald’s soul.”
“Looked into his soul,” Cullen said. “Was that during the six seconds before he began shooting?”
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11:54 a.m.: Reporter taken into custody for recording testimony in courtroom
Judge Vincent Gaughan has held a reporter in contempt of court for recording testimony in the courtroom.
Gaughan abruptly sent the jury out of the room in the middle of the cross-examination of police psychologist Laurence Miller and called Zachary Siegel to the bench.
Siegel, believed to be a freelance reporter, acknowledged he was recording — a violation of the judge’s “decorum order” — and was taken into custody.
“Trying to game the system, trying to get ahead … isn’t tolerable,” the judge said.
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11:51 a.m.: Prosecutor suggests Van Dyke exaggerated threat posed by McDonald
In his cross-examination, Cullen suggested that Van Dyke exaggerated the threat level posed by McDonald at the time.
The prosecutor asked Miller whether police officers “can often feel disrespected” by someone on the street and “lash out violently” against them.
Miller responded yes but pointed out that police officers are trained not to do so.
Cullen also suggested that people – including police officers – may lie about the situation in order to make themselves look better or justify their actions.
Again, Miller conceded that people do both.
“People can lie, and people do lie,” Miller said.
Miller said the life-and-death threat began that night when Jason Van Dyke first heard McDonald popped a police vehicle tire with a knife. The situation escalated when McDonald refused orders to drop the weapon and then looked at Van Dyke with an “atypical facial” expression, he said.
The threat – at least from Van Dyke’s perspective – continued after McDonald had been shot and fell to the street, Miller said.
“This was something that built up over time, each successive event in that vicious cycle,” Miller said.
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11:28 a.m.: Expert interviewed Van Dyke over Skype for his forensic evaluation
On cross-examination, Miller says he interviewed Jason Van Dyke for his forensic evaluation over Skype.
Lead defense attorney Daniel Herbert and an associate were in Miller’s Florida office when he was speaking with Van Dyke over the Internet, the psychologist said.
“Not ideal but acceptable,” Miller said of interviewing through Skype.
Miller acknowledged he did not perform any psychological tests on Van Dyke.
Miller said he was paid $10,000 for his initial evaluation and $10,000 per day for testifying.
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11:18 a.m.: Defense expert says Van Dyke acted reasonably in shooting
Miller testified that in his opinion Van Dyke acted reasonably in shooting Laquan McDonald based on what he perceived at the time of the shooting.
“Officer Jason Van Dyke responded to what he perceived was a deadly threat, responded in a way based on his training, in a way that was designed to neutralize that threat as he understood it,” he told jurors.
As he wrapped up his questioning, Herbert asked Miller if a reasonable officer would act the same way.
“A reasonable officer faced with the perceptual reality of what Officer Van Dyke was experiencing, the answer would be yes,” the police psychology expert said.
Prosecutors will cross-examine Miller after a break.
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11:01 a.m.: ‘Motor memory … kicking in’
Miller testified that officers commonly report that they experienced an array of “perceptual distortions” after using deadly force.
Time seems to slow down or speed up, officers suffer from “tunnel vision” and “tunnel hearing,” and ambient sounds like shouting or even gunshots seem muffled, he said.
Officers often do not remember some details of shootings, Miller said, because their brain was so focused on the emergency in front of them that they could not process nearby sights or sounds in the moment.
Police also report feeling like their bodies “went on automatic” during a shooting, he testified.
“‘It’s kind of like I could see my gun hand float up … and my gun hand knew what to do,’” said Miller, describing a typical response. “The motor memory was kicking in.”
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10:41 a.m.: Police psychologist testifying for the defense
Miller, Tuesday’s first defense witness, told jurors that the brain’s normal reaction in a dangerous situation is to flee but that first responders have a different responsibility.
“Even though their brains are telling them, run, get away, save yourself … they have to run towards the danger,” said Miller, who was testifying as an expert in police psychology.
That means their brains tend to heighten the danger and threat level, Miller said.
Miller, whom court records show had examined Van Dyke in 2016, said people in extremely stressful situations might have gaps in their memories or distorted memories of the stressful situations.
“You’re never going to get those gaps back, or you won’t get them back in a consistent way,” he said.
His testimony is expected to support the defense argument that Van Dyke’s perspective the night of the shooting was quite different from what was widely viewed on the infamous police dashboard camera video.
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MORE: The troubled life and fleeting potential of Laquan McDonald | Meet the jury, the judge and the lawyers | How the shooting unfolded | Listen to “16 Shots” podcast | Competing lawyers in the trial are strikingly different in style | Van Dyke speaks out for the first time since the shooting | Judge known for his smarts, sharp tongue and secretive style | Video of the shooting | Full Tribune coverage
Chicago Tribune’s Christy Gutowski contributed.
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