PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth police officer is on trial for shooting a burglary suspect in 2017.
Portsmouth police officer Jeremy Durocher, 37, is facing a lesser charge. Six years ago, police confirmed Durocher shot Deontrace Ward on Tatem Avenue. Now, Durocher is charged with malicious wounding, having previously been charged with aggravated malicious wounding.
Day two of the trial started with watching a frame by frame of Durocher’s body camera with the Virginia State Police First Sgt. Shawna Griffith, who was the VSP special agent that investigated the incident until January 2018.
Durocher could be heard on his body camera video saying “he scared me so bad” and he “came out the window and had a gun pointed at me.”
The video does not show Ward with a gun in his hand. The defense attorney, Nick Renninger, questioned if the view of the body camera was covered by his arm.
Following Griffith’s testimony, the Commonwealth rested.
The defense then made a motion that the Commonwealth failed to prove ‘aggravated’ malicious wounding, or that the officer permanently injured Ward.
Judge Williams Shaw III agreed and changed the charge to malicious wounding.
The defense then called two former Portsmouth police chiefs to testify — Tonya Chapman and Angela Greene.
Chapman was questioned on the Portsmouth Police department’s use-of-force policy at the time of the shooting. Chapman maintains deadly force is “justified” if the officer’s life or life of another officer’s life is in danger, “even if they are running away.” Greene was asked to explain the use-of-force continuum. Greene said officers are trained to “match the threat.”
The Commonwealth questioned the policy on whether deadly force should be used when a suspect is running away. Portsmouth Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Warman said the policy shows that, at least three times, an officer should not shoot at a fleeing suspect unless it is a last resort. He also adds the officer did not order the suspect(s) to come out of the house, which may violate the policy.
After the lunch break, the man who made the initial 911 call for a burglary explained that he was visiting his mom on Tatem Drive. He said he saw two people wearing dark hoods and appearing nervous.
On the stand he said, “these gentlemen looked out of place.” After the officers arrived, he heard the officer yelling then four gunshots. Durocher could be heard saying on the body camera video “he’s got a gun” twice.
A woman driving to work near Tatem Avenue testified that she saw a person jump out of the window, pulled out what looked like a gun, then ran away.
The woman said she heard gunshot and ducked down in her car afraid to get up and look.
A Portsmouth police officer with 19 years of experience was recognized as an expert in firearms identification. After looking at pictures of the suspect’s weapon, he confirmed Ward was carrying a semiautomatic gun with a laser and 13 bullets. That officer also recalled Ward saying he is a “solider” and the shots did not hurt.
The first officer on scene, and the other officer that arrived with Durocher, also took the stand as the courtroom is filled with law enforcement officers there to support Durocher.
The defense attorneys, Renninger and Del. Don Scott, believe Durocher was doing his job responding to a burglary call. The defense argued Durocher followed the police department’s policy and only used deadly force after seeing Ward had a gun.
However, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Atty Haille Hogfeldt, along with Warman, argue shooting at Ward four times awhile he was running away, striking him in the back, arm and shoulder, is considered malicious. The state called on the jury to determine if the shooting was justified.
On Tuesday, one juror did not return to court and another juror was removed from the case after saying several comments about the case in court.
The following 12 jurors will visit the burglary location tomorrow morning.
WAVY.com will continue to follow this story.
