EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Former Las Cruces Police officer Brad Lunsford took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Lunsford faces a voluntary manslaughter charge with a firearm enhancement in the shooting death of Presley Eze in 2022.
In August of 2022, Lunsford was dispatched to a gas station in Las Cruces after reports that Presley Eze stole a beer from the store.
On Tuesday, during his testimony to the jury, Lunsford said Eze failed to identify himself during initial questioning.
“He told me that he did not have an identification. I asked him for the information. He provided me with first name of Pete, last name Ezer, spelled out his last name as E-Z-E-R. He confirmed that was the spelling. He gave a date of birth of 1990 and an address out of El Paso, Texas,” Lunsford said.
During direct examination, the defense asked Lunsford as to why he did not review the surveillance footage from the gas station.
Defense: “Why didn’t you like to look at store video to determine whether Mr. Eze had shoplifted the beer?”
Lunsford: “Because we didn’t know who he was, and he possibly had warrants.”
The state quickly objected to that line of questioning. They said that Lunsford’s statement was “a character assassination. They then asked for a mistrial.
However, Judge Jim Foy, denied the motion.
Foy told the jury that Eze did not have any outstanding warrants at the time and asked the jury to disregard Lunsford’s testimony to the extent that it would imply that Eze had warrants.
The trial is hinging on the state’s argument that Lunsford’s use of deadly force was unreasonable, while the defense maintains that Lunsford was acting within Las Cruces Police policy.
Both the defense and the state have officially rested their cases.
Jury deliberations are expected to begin Wednesday. Court is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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