Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – Patrick Tuter, the former Garland Police officer accused of manslaughter in the death of a man in August 2012, says he was afraid he was going to die that night.
He told the jury in 204th District Court he thought Michael Allen was trying to kill him and fellow officers with his pickup. Bastrop County sheriff Maurice Cook, who was testifying not in his capacity as Sheriff, but as an expert witness in use of force law, says vehicles are deadly weapons, too.
“My evaluation would be that that vehicle became a deadly weapon,” Cook told the jury. “It’s being driven on the wrong side of the road, an officer has an obligation to the public if he can take it out safely.”
Tuter told the jury he feared for his life, and the lives of his fellow officers and residents of the neighborhood where the chase ended. In the process of trying to stop Allen’s truck, Tuter’s patrol car got entangled in the pickup, which began pushing it backward. That’s when Tuter opened fire.
He fired dozens of rounds into the truck, hitting Allen three times…Allen died from those wounds. During cross-examination, the prosecution asked Tuter if he thought maybe Allen was just trying to get away from the shots being fired. The defense objected numerous times and called for four or five sidebars. Often the judge sided with the defense.
The trial continues Friday, and could go to the jury.
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