Use-of-force expert defends officer
He testifies shooting at suspect was reasonable
An expert witness for the defense testified Friday that Officer Wesley Cagle acted as any reasonable officer would when he shot at a burglary suspect already wounded by two other officers at an East Baltimore convenience store in 2014.
Emanuel Kapelsohn, an expert in police use of force, discussed his independent review of the evidence, which he said showed Cagle’s firing was an “objectively reasonable” response and would fall under nationally accepted practices for use of force.
Cagle, 46, is on trial in the nonfatal shooting of Michael Johansen, 47, the suspect in the burglary of a corner store in the 3000 block of E. Monument St. on Dec. 28, 2014.
Cagle faces charges of attempted firstdegree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and a firearm violation in connection with the shooting.
Johansen testified Tuesday that he had already been shot by other officers when Cagle approached him. He told jurors he told Cagle he was in pain and asked Cagle whether he had been shot by a beanbag.
Johansen said Cagle told him, “No, it was a .40-cal, you piece of [expletive],” before the officer shot him.
Cagle disputed Johansen’s account in court Thursday, saying he was giving commands to Johansen to show his hands and saw a “shiny silver object” he thought could have been a weapon.
Cagle’s lawyers have also tried to call into question whether the bullet he fired hit Johansen.
Kapelsohn testified that Cagle acted reasonably, given the nature of the call, the potential for additional suspects and the threat posed by Johansen, who had not yet been secured.
In addition to reviewing evidence, Kapelsohn said, he visited the convenience store with Cagle and his attorneys for a walk-through during which Cagle described what happened. Kapelsohn said he also test-fired Cagle’s gun to determine a pattern of where the gun’s bullet casings would land. From that test, he determined that Cagle’s bullet casing at the crime scene was in a position from which he could not have been standing over Johansen, as prosecutors have alleged.
At one point, Cagle’s defense attorney, Chaz Ball, lay on the floor of the sixth-floor courtroom to re-create the shooting scene. Ball posed as Johansen, while Kapelsohn stood feet away, posing as Cagle. Kapelsohn pointed a stick over his right shoulder, to show where he believed the casing landed. He argued that the casing’s position at the scene showed Cagle was standing far enough away to have easily mistaken Johansen’s movements for reaching for a weapon.
The two other officers who first fired at Johansen — Keven Leary and Isiah Smith — have been cleared in the shooting.
Leary testified Wednesday that Cagle didn’t need to shoot as Johansen lay in a doorway. Smith said he heard “an exchange of words” between Cagle and Johansen before Cagle fired, but said he could not make out what they were saying.
Cagle is the first city officer to be charged in an on-duty shooting since 2008. His trial continued the same week that city prosecutors dropped all charges against the remaining three city police officers accused in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. None of the officers was convicted.
Emanuel Kapelsohn says Wesley Cagle could easily have thought the suspect was reaching for a weapon.