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Jury begins deliberations in trial of officer charged with killing teen

Posted at 7:33 PM, Feb 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-08 19:33:53-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. – After nearly three hours, a Chesterfield jury ended deliberations Wednesday in the trial of Richmond Police Officer David Cobb for the murder of a Chesterfield teen.

The jury is deciding the fate of Cobb who is charged with second degree murder for shooting and killing Paterson Brown Jr. at a car wash by the Sunoco gas station off Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield on October 17, 2015.

The nine-year veteran was off-duty at the time of the shooting.

officer-david-cobb

Cobb's first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury could not return a unanimous verdict on the second-degree murder charge.

Experts say the case boils down to whether or not Cobb was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Brown.

Wednesday, day three of the trial, Cobb’s defense attorney presented several simulations explaining how he may have reacted based on his police training rather than out of malice.

The jurors watched four different scenarios showing how police officers respond in making split second decisions.

A retired Richmond police officer went through those scenarios that at times became hard to watch because of their graphic nature.

The jurors then heard from David Cobb's girlfriend, a 911 dispatcher.

Tabitha Roane testified that she received a phone call from Cobb while she was at the hair salon the day of the shooting.

Roane told the jury Cobb put her on speaker phone as she listened to him give repeated commands to Paterson Brown Jr. to "stop moving, how your hands, stop moving."

Paterson Brown Jr.

Paterson Brown Jr.

When Roane took him off speaker and called back, she says Cobb was in tears and told her he shot someone.

In closing arguments, prosecutors say Brown did nothing wrong, he just got in the wrong car. They told the jury that Cobb didn't investigate and shot an unarmed man.

The defense argued Cobb shot Brown in self-defense when he thought the teenager had a gun and was not responding to his commands.

The jury now has to decide whether Cobb is guilty of second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or nothing at all. They are set to reconvene Thursday at 9:00 a.m.

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