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Sep 24, 2018 31 tweets 14 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Prosecutors are finished. Now it's the defense's turn. Attorneys for #JasonVanDyke will begin presenting their case this morning. Follow along here or check in for full trial coverage @wttw: news.wttw.com/tags/jason-van…
@wttw Van Dyke's trial is expected to resume shortly. Inside the courtroom, #LaquanMcDonald's mother, Tina Hunter, just took a seat
@wttw Defense's first witness: Dr. Shaku Teas, a forensic pathologist who previously worked for Cook County
@wttw Cook County's chief medical examiner last week testified that each of the 16 gunshot wounds contributed to #LaquanMcDonald's death.
Teas will say it was one shot in particular - a GSW to McDonald's right chest - that caused his death
@wttw It should also be noted that neither Teas nor Cook County chief medical examiner Ponni Arunkumar actually conducted #LaquanMcDonald's autopsy.
That was Denika Means who now works in Texas and won't be present at this trial
@wttw Teas says she has spoken with Arunkumar about McDonald's autopsy, saying she was confused about why toxicology was tested multiple times
@wttw Jurors now again being shown autopsy photos of #LaquanMcDonald but Judge Gaughan calls for a break due to some technical issue
@wttw Dr. Teas, discussing a gunshot graze wound on #LaquanMcDonald's head: "Looking at this wound i would not be able to say if he was alive or dead."
Cook County medical examiner Ponni Arunkumar previously testified all 16 wounds contributed to teen's death
@wttw Tina Hunter is hunched over, looking at the floor as images of her son's body show on screens around the courtroom. She did the same when the shooting video was shown to jurors last week #LaquanMcDonald
@wttw Teas describes another gunshot wound on #LaquanMcDonald's left arm as being "superficial," saying it didn't contribute to his death
@wttw Teas testifies that the gunshot wound to the right chest of #LaquanMcDonald is what caused him to die "so rapidly"
@wttw How fast would this wound cause #LaquanMcDonald to die?
Teas: "I would say within 1 to 5 minutes"
@wttw Teas also says the angle of this entrance wound is consistent with #LaquanMcDonald facing officers when he was struck
@wttw Dr. Teas now testifying that gunshot wounds #6 and #11, which overlap on the back of #LaquanMcDonald's right arm, could have been caused by one single bullet, not two as the autopsy states
@wttw Teas has described several of these gunshot wounds as "superficial" and without significant blood loss that would contribute to the death of #LaquanMcDonald
@wttw Teas ruled McDonald's death was "multiple gunshot wounds." But she believes that if it wasn't for 2 shots in particular, McDonald would not have died within 30 minutes
@wttw Teas is then asked to clarify, saying that even when finding a death is caused by "multiple gunshot wounds," it's possible only one single shot actually caused the death
@wttw Teas testified that #LaquanMcDonald was standing for nearly all of the 16 shots that struck him.
But FBI expert who testified last week said McDonald was on the ground in 1.6 seconds after shooting started.
@wttw Jurors last week also viewed an FBI video showing that it would take a "professional shooter" nearly 4 seconds to get off 16 shots using the same weapon as #JasonVanDyke
@wttw Teas said 1 shot caused McDonald's death. On cross, special prosecutor Jody Gleason asks if she believes the 15 shots that struck McDonald didn't matter.

“I won’t say anything didn’t matter," Teas said.
@wttw Judge Gaughan warns the gallery he won't tolerate any noise after sheriff's deputies twice tell people here to be quiet.
"Anybody makes an outburst, i don't care who you are, you're going to be taken into custody."
#JasonVanDyke
@wttw Back from lunch, defense has called second witness: Joseph Plaud, a Cook County Sheriff's deputy who is testifying about a violent/profane interaction with #LaquanMcDonald in juvenile lockup in 2013
@wttw "He was resisting. He didn’t want anything to do with us," Plaud said. McDonald was being led into a cell when he began swearing at another juvenile. Plaud's partner struck McDonald in the stomach after the teen raised his arm to them
@wttw “(McDonald) cocked back thinking my partner was trying to grab him," Plaud said. "That’s when my partner hit him in the stomach.”
@wttw On cross, prosecutors note that Plaud never knew #JasonVanDyke and never spoke with him about this incident
@wttw Following Plaud, defense calls Tyler Sage, who worked at the Cook County juvenile detention center.
Sage is testifying about an incident in which he and his coworkers had to take McDonald to the ground and handcuff him after he and others were "acting disorderly"
@wttw Sage said #LaquanMcDonald wrapped his arms around another detention center employee
@wttw Miguel DeJesus, another juvenile center employee, testifies that #LaquanMcDonald admitted being high on PCP and struck DeJesus in Jan. 2014 when the guard tried to restrain him
@wttw As with all these incidents, prosecutors are quick to note that #JasonVanDyke had no knowledge of them the night of the shooting
@wttw Judge Gaughan says testimony is completed for today. Short day compared to the schedule we had running last week #JasonVanDyke
This was implied last week, but attorneys for #JasonVanDyke expect to continue presenting their case into next week

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