BELTON, Texas — The trial of former Temple Police officer Carmen DeCruz continues Thurs. Feb 2 after a two-day delay caused by weather conditions.
DeCruz is accused of killing Michael Dean during a traffic stop in 2019. If convicted, DeCruz faces 20 years in prison.
During the trial, the state attorney rested her case temporarily because of scheduling issues with witnesses. She plans to continue her case once the defense rests their case.
In the defense attorney's opening statement, he argued that Michael Dean struck DeCruz's gun with his own hands. This then made the gun discharge, resulting in his death.
McCabe brought two witnesses to the stand, with one of them being a forensic analyst. The analyst was asked to analyze the body and dash camera footage frame by frame and side by side to get a more clear visual of who's hands were on the gun at the time of the gunshot.
The analyst claims that no image in the footage show's DeCruz's finger on the trigger per his review.
McCabe says one of his goals is to prove that the state misinterpreted the body camera footage and did not properly analyze what was seen on the video.
Trial resumes Fri, Feb 3 at 9 a.m. at the Bell County Justice Complex.