The jury in the deadly conduct case against Austin police officer Christopher Taylor continued deliberations late Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and the defense team earlier in the day.
Taylor went on trial this past week in Travis County’s 167th Criminal District Court for his role in the 2019 fatal shooting of 46-year-old Mauris DeSilva, a Sri Lankan researcher and scientist with a history of mental health problems. DeSilva was threatening herself with a knife outside the Spring Condominiums downtown on July 31, 2019, when police were called.
When officers arrived, they found DeSilva on a common floor of the Spring Condominiums with the knife still in his neck. Police took the elevator to confront him, while Officers Taylor and Karl Krycia drew their firearms. When the doors opened, moments after officers shouted orders, DeSilva came at them with the knife, prompting police to shoot.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys concluded their closing arguments Wednesday morning, and the jury began deliberating around 11:20 a.m. The trial began on September 25 and included four days of testimony and presentation of evidence.
This is the second court appearance Taylor has faced in a year over separate fatal shootings. He was charged with murder in the 2020 shooting death of Michael Ramos. The jury in that trial deadlocked on whether he committed murder, and Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced that prosecutors would drop the case after a grand jury had chosen not to return a new case. charges.
Travis County prosecutors and the defense team make closing arguments
Throughout the trial, prosecutors criticized the tactics officers used that day.
Prosecutors pointed to the officers’ decision to take an elevator instead of the stairs, not to get more information from people on the scene about DeSilva’s actions, and to put both frontline officers in the elevator with firearms to have.
Experts and other police witnesses have said the officers’ decisions were consistent with routine police training, including by the Austin Police Department.
In their closing arguments, Taylor’s attorneys Doug O’Connell and Ken Ervin said the jury was there to decide whether Taylor “reasonably” believed he was in danger and acted in defense of himself and others.
Defense attorneys argued that Taylor acted reasonably as DeSilva had “acted erratically” and failed to comply with police orders when he walked toward officers with a knife in hand.
“This case is about self-defense; it’s not about police tactics,” O’Connell told the jury. “The department is not on trial here. Chris Taylor does.”
O’Connell ultimately pointed to three things that he said proved Taylor was not guilty: the state’s witness report that found the shooting was justified; that there was no evidence that Taylor acted in self-defense; and a recording of Garza played to the jury Tuesday stating that officers would be “authorized” to shoot someone who “waves” a knife, disobeys commands and advances on officers.
Prosecutor Rob Drummond said in his closing argument that DeSilva tried to comply with the officers’ orders, as evidenced by DeSilva turning around, dropping the knife to his waist and using “two fingers” on the end of the handle held it as if he were about to drop it on the ground, showing both his hands.
The officers’ decision to take the elevator meant they would reach DeSilva quickly while in a confined space. Drummond said the defense is now blaming the circumstances leading up to the shooting for Taylor not having enough time and space, which was due to the officers’ own decision.
Drummond said Taylor did not act as a “prudent” person because he failed to obtain more information and was never led to believe that DeSilva was threatening anyone other than himself.
To find Taylor guilty, Drummond said the jury must determine that he did not act as “an ordinary, sensible person” would act if he decided to fire his weapon. Drummond emphasized this, saying prosecutors want a “community standard of what an ordinary, sensible person would do.”
“These incidents will continue to happen if you find (Taylor) not guilty,” Drummond said, adding that Taylor has since been promoted to detective. “There will be no change because there is no one who can impose an ordinary, sensible standard of person.”
What emerged during the trial of Christopher Taylor?
Throughout the trial, jurors heard from the other responding officers and experts, and watched video footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras. They watched as police responded to calls about DeSilva running around outside the condominium building with a knife in his neck just after 5 p.m. that day.
Another neighbor had also called 911 just before it was reported that DeSilva ran outside the apartments with a knife to his neck and asked for a mental health officer after hearing strange noises coming from DeSilva’s apartment and knowing he had a history of mental health problems .
When police arrived, they spoke with condominium staff and learned that DeSilva had gone back to his room on the 17th floor.
Another person working as a mover at the time also told officers he saw DeSilva with the knife to his neck and was able to get him out of the freight elevator.
Around that time, condominium police officers discovered DeSilva was on the fifth floor of the building, a common area where the gym and pool are located. On the security footage they saw that he still had the knife in his neck.
The police then decided they had to confront him and took the elevator to the fifth floor. As they prepared to go up, an officer told everyone that DeSilva would likely be right in front of them when they got off, as the footage showed him to be near the elevators.
As the four officers entered the elevator, they decided to have two people draw their firearms, one a Taser and the other prepared to handcuff him.
As he rode up the elevator, Taylor walked in front of the officer with the Taser drawn, leaving both officers at the front with firearms. Witnesses and officers stated that this was a normal police tactic, so there was no need for them to shoot people with a firearm.
When officers reached the fifth floor, the doors opened and DeSilva could immediately be seen with the knife pointed at his chest and toward his chin. Officers then pointed their weapons and began shouting various commands, such as “Drop it!” and “Show me your hands!”
DeSilva then began to turn around, lowered the knife to his waist and took two steps before the officers began shooting. The entire incident from the moment the elevator doors opened and the shooting took place lasted about three seconds.
DeSilva was a few feet away from the officers when they shot him.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Jury deliberates trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor
