MIAMI – Jurors resumed deliberations Friday morning in the attempted manslaughter trial of a suspended North Miami police officer.
Officer Jonathan Aledda is charged with two counts of attempted manslaughter and two counts of culpable negligence in the 2016 shooting of Charles Kinsey.
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Jurors on Friday asked to re-watch three videos that showed Kinsey on the ground prior to the shooting and also asked to rehear part of Aledda's testimony, in which he talked about what he did after the shooting.
Authorities said Kinsey, a mental health therapist, was shot in the leg as he sat on the ground with his hands up next to his autistic patient, Arnaldo Rios, who was playing with a silver toy truck, which a 911 caller thought was a gun.
Aledda, 32, testified Wednesday that Rios "was moving around the whole time" and pointed the toy, which Aledda also believed was a gun, in the direction of another officer before turning around and pointing it at Kinsey.
He said he fired at that time, believing Rios was going to shoot Kinsey.
"You ever aiming at (the) black male?" Aledda's defense attorney, Jay Kolsky, asked him.
"No, sir," he said.
"Were you surprised when you got out there and he was injured?" Kolsky asked.
"I was devastated," Aledda said.
"Why?" Kolsky asked.
"I was trying to do everything in my power to help him," Aledda said, fighting back tears.
Authorities said Aledda fired three shots at Rios, but missed and struck Kinsey once in the leg.
"Based on the fact that he used deadly force, under these facts, he is guilty because of his conduct," Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Attorney Don L. Horn said.
The last time a police officer faced a jury over a shooting in Miami-Dade County was about three decades ago. Horn was a prosecutor in the case.