NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave their closing arguments Tuesday in the trial of a man charged in the 2024 shooting death of New York City police officer.
Video evidence and testimony from officers showed that defendant Guy Rivera pulled out a concealed handgun and intentionally shot Officer Jonathan Diller during a March 25, 2024, traffic stop, prosecutor John Kosinski said.
Instead of taking retribution, the wounded Diller holstered his own firearm and assisted others in disarming Rivera to make sure no one else got hurt, he said.
“Diller chose life. The defendant chose differently,” Kosinski said as he held up the bullet taken from the body of Diller, who was promoted to detective posthumously.
Rivera’s lawyer, Jamal Johnson, argued that prosecutors failed to prove that the shooting was intentional, which is a key requirement to secure a first-degree murder conviction. Instead, he argued that the gun accidentally discharged as another officer struggled with Rivera.
“This is not intentional. This is not targeted,” Johnson said.
Trial testimony from officers on the scene that day also contradicted their own body camera footage, he argued.
Speaking before a courtroom packed with uniformed officers and Diller’s family, Johnson urged jurors to “question everything” in the police narrative and suggested that the officers who testified had a “motive to lie.”
“They want you to disbelieve what the bodycam shows,” he said.
Kosinski rejected that notion. He said the evidence showed that Rivera intended to use the gun that day because he loaded the clip, chambered a round and switched off the safety before he stuffed it in his pocket.
“We don’t tell a story to fit the facts, the facts tell the story,” Kosinski said. “He pulled the trigger. It was in his hands. That’s what happened here.”
The jury is expected to begin deliberating Wednesday in the trial, which has lasted about three weeks.
Rivera could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder. The 36-year-old also faces other charges, including attempted murder.
The shooting happened while Diller and other officers were on patrol in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Authorities say one of the officers spotted a suspicious object bulging from Rivera’s hoodie as he and another man walked to a parked car and got in.
Police say the officers were questioning the driver when Rivera, who was in the passenger’s seat, suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Diller.
The bullet struck the officer below his bulletproof vest, mortally wounding him. Another officer then shot and wounded Rivera.
Memorial services for the 31-year-old in his hometown on Long Island drew thousands of visitors, including Donald Trump as he was campaigning to reclaim the White House.
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