DETROIT (AP) - The Latest in the murder trial of a former Michigan state trooper who shot a Detroit boy with a Taser (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
Jurors have gone home for the day, a few hours after telling a judge that they don’t believe they can reach a verdict in the murder trial of a former Michigan state trooper.
The trial isn’t over. Jurors met again after lunch Tuesday, after getting a pep talk from a judge, and will return Wednesday. Judge Margaret Van Houten got another note from them before they went home, but she didn’t publicly disclose the contents.
Mark Bessner shot Damon (Da-MAHN’) Grimes with a Taser from a moving patrol car. He told jurors that he feared the 15-year-old had a gun, but he was wrong. Grimes, who was black, crashed the ATV into a pickup truck and died in August 2017.
Bessner, who is white, was charged with second-degree murder. Jurors also could consider involuntary manslaughter. Deliberations began Monday.
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1:01 p.m.
Jurors say they don’t believe they can reach a verdict in the murder trial of a former Michigan trooper who shot his Taser at a Detroit teen before the boy crashed an all-terrain vehicle and died.
But Wayne County Judge Margaret Van Houten told jurors to eat lunch, clear their heads and return to court to resume deliberations Tuesday. She urged them to talk “in a spirit of fairness and frankness.”
Mark Bessner is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Damon (Da-MAHN’) Grimes on a Detroit street in August 2017. Bessner shot Grimes with a Taser and the 15-year-old crashed his ATV. Bessner says he believed the boy was armed, although he was wrong.
The jury also could choose the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter. Deliberations began Monday.
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