Closing arguments to begin in trial of officer who fatally shot Ramarley Graham

Monday, January 23, 2017
wabc

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Closing arguments will begin Monday in the trial of the officer charged with fatally shooting 18-year-old Ramarley Graham in 2012.

The officer, Richard Haste, took the witness stand in his own defense Friday as the last of six officers to testify in the departmental trial.

After closing arguments, Rosemarie Maldonado, the deputy commissioner of trials, who acts as the judge, will write a report with recommendations to Police Commissioner James O'Neill.

Both sides will have a chance to respond before O'Neill makes a final decision.

On Friday, Haste for the first time publicly described the events five years ago that took place in a house when he fired one shot, killing Graham.

"The absolute last thing I ever wanted to do," he testified, "was pull that trigger, other than at a paper target."

Officer Haste, department prosecutors claim, should have set up an outside perimeter and called for emergency service officers.