Jurors spent all day without reaching a verdict Thursday in the trial of Connecticut State Trooper Brian North.
North is accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane on Jan. 15, 2020 after Soulemane displayed a knife and he has been charged with first-degree manslaughter. North has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
On Wednesday, Inspector General Robert Devlin and defense attorney Frank Riccio presented their closing arguments. Then the case was handed over to the jury and deliberations began late Wednesday afternoon.
“Basically, what this crime requires is that the state prove that someone, the defendant, acted with extreme indifference to human life,” Devlin said.
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On Jan. 15, 2020, Soulemane displayed a knife inside an AT&T store in Norwalk, stole his Lyft driver's vehicle and led police on a high-speed pursuit, according to authorities. Troopers were able to box in Soulemane in West Haven, and an officer shattered the window.
“And within seconds, literally seconds of this window breaking, North fired seven shots at Soulemane,” Devlin said.
When North testified on Friday, he said he fired at Soulemane because he believed other officers were in danger.
“And what does it show after the window was broken? Mr. Soulemane looked to his right side, turned to his right side and moved towards his right side,” defense attorney Riccio said.
“As Trooper North testified, ‘seven shots because that’s how I was trained. Seven shots because it was one brief engagement, I shoot until the threat is over,'” Riccio said.
On Wednesday, the state called to the stand a final law enforcement expert who testified that police could have taken a pause before North opened fire.
“Are you going to tell Mr. Soulemane, ‘Let’s stop, hold on, got to get my boss here?’ We know that is not possible,” Riccio said.
Riccio asked the jurors to look at the information North was provided on Jan. 15, 2020, including the information being shared between Norwalk Police Department and state troopers.
“Norwalk is where they told, via the Troop G dispatch, carjacking with a knife,” Riccio said.
Devlin focused the jurors’ attention on body-worn camera footage and argued that if North was acting in defense of other officers, why did he not communicate that to his superiors as the footage was capturing his brief statement?
“This is a white trooper that has just shot and probably killed a young Black man. This is a big, big, big deal, OK. The bosses are going to want to know, this North’s golden opportunity to say, 'Look, I shot because I thought a cop was in danger,'” Devlin said.
