It's Week Four and Day 16 of the trial of Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo. It began about 1:45 p.m. today (April 29) in front of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O'Donnell.
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8:30 p.m. Testimony concluded for the day. Court will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday (April 30) and O'Donnell says he will only be available until 3:30-4 p.m. to have court in session.
8:28 p.m. Bell finishes his cross-examine and defense attorney Shaughnessy is asking three follow-up questions now.
8:26 p.m. Under questioning, Roe says she cannot tell "with a reasonable degree of medical certainty" if Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were dead when Brelo fired at them from the hood of the Malibu.
8:19 p.m. Bell is questioning Roe on how long Timothy Russell could have been able to drive the Malibu, look out the car's window after certain shots were fired.
8:08 p.m. Bell continues to concentrate on blood loss from the gunshots. He asks repeatedly about what gunshots would produce blood loss.
7:55 p.m. Roe states that she did not see the bodies in person and has based all of her conclusions on photographs of the scene and the bodies.
7:40 p.m. Roe corrects one of her previous statements to Bell saying she "misspoke." Bell is taking Roe through her report.
7:16 p.m. The trial resumes with Dr. Roe back on the stand being cross-examined by Assistant Prosecutor Rick Bell.
5:44 p.m. Trial adjourned until 7:15 p.m. tonight to finish Dr. Roe testimony. Trial will resume Thursday morning (April 30) just about 9 a.m.
4:53 p.m. It is Roe's opinion that Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell were already dead when Brelo began shooting them.
4:18 p.m. Trial has resumed with Dr. Roe still being questioned by Shaughnessy. It is expected that the defense will only call two more witnesses after Roe.
3:58 p.m. Judge calls for a short break.
3:50 p.m. Martinelli completes his appearance and Dr. Susan J. Roe, a forensic pathologist from Fort Worth, Texas. Roe is being questioned by defense attorney Tom Shaughnessy.
Roe will be describing the autopsy photos of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell.
2:45 p.m. O'Donnell takes an afternoon break. Trial resumes at 3 p.m.
2:27 p.m. Gutierrez talks about the statement by officer Brian Sabolik that Brelo was on the hood of the Malibu the suspects were driving. Sabolik even demonstrated what Brelo was doing.
RELATED | Sabolik testifies during Day 7
2:18 p.m. Gutierrez keeps trying to prove his point that Martinelli "basically doesn't know what he's talking about." Gutierrez is trying to show O'Donnell that Martinelli's testimony is flawed.Martinelli is getting sarcastic and so is Gutierrez.
2:06 p.m. Martinelli agrees that Brelo violated one police procedure by not staying behind cover and jumping atop the hood. Gutierrez challenges Martinelli that he gave a legal opinion and he is not a lawyer.
RELATED | See Martinelli testimony from Tuesday
Gutierrez keeps pounding away that Martinelli keeps talking about what Brelo perceived and how could he know that?
2:04 p.m. Martinelli responds that he has no problem with Brelo going on to the hood of the suspects' Malibu.
2:01 p.m. Gutierrez is not letting up on his questioning of Martinelli, challenging Martinelli that "isn't that when their training kicks in, in these situations?"
Gutierrez argues that Officer Brelo went against his police training when he came from behind the police car to stand atop a car in the middle of the other officers shooting.
1:54 p.m. Judge O'Donnell asks Gutierrez and Martinelli not to interrupt each other as the questioning gets heated.
1:51 p.m. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor James Gutierrez continues his cross-examination of criminologist Dr. Ron Martinelli, of Martinelli & Associates of California.
He has been a consultant om the Rodney King case and also worked with the late Johnny Cochran's law firm.
1:35 p.m. Judge John O'Donnell is finishing a separate hearing right now and the Brelo trial should begin soon.
SPECIAL SECTION | Trial recap/Cleveland police chase
SUMMARY
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Rick Bell, Erica Barnhill, Sherrie Royster, James Gutierrez, and Sarah Denney, along with Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty, are representing the prosecution.
Defense attorneys Pat D'Angelo, Fernando Mack, Marissa Serrat and Thomas Shaughnessy are representing Brelo. O'Donnell is hearing the case himself and, therefore, there is no jury. The trial got underway on April 6.
It happened on Nov. 29, 2012. It's been about two years and five months since 59 Cleveland police cars wildly chased a car carrying two unarmed suspects across town, surrounding them in East Cleveland.
The events ended in a barrage of 137 shots fired by 13 officers. But only one -- Patrolman Michael Brelo -- stands trial for the deaths of Timothy Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30.
Brelo fired 49 shots, the most of any officer. Prosecutors say that he jumped on the victims' car hood and fired the last 15 shots after other officers had stopped shooting. Twelve other officers also fired shots that night.
Brelo, 31, is charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
Five other officers -- Sergeant Randolph Daley, Sergeant Patricia Coleman, Sergeant Paul Wilson, Lieutenant Jason Edens and Sergeant Michael Donegan -- are charged with dereliction of duty and will go to trial in the future.
The case involves many of the issues raised in a scathing report from the Department of Justice on the Cleveland Police Department's use of force and lack of accountability
