Andrew Mitchell defense witness: Police trained to shoot until threat is over

Prosecutors rested their case Friday morning after calling a total of six witnesses and attorneys for Andrew Mitchell began presenting their case in defense of the former Columbus police vice officer in his criminal trial in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Mitchell, now 58, is charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 23, 2018, shooting death of 23-year-old Donna Dalton Castleberry.

Andrew Mitchell's audio recording played: 'Please help me!' Final moments of Donna Castleberry's life heard in Mitchell murder trial

Columbus police Officer John Gagnon and Sgt. Mike Evans were called to testify on behalf of Mitchell.

Mitchell had firearms training shortly before picking up Castleberry

Gagnon led a firearms training that Mitchell and other vice officers had completed within an hour before Mitchell picked up Castleberry, a prostitute suffering from drug addiction, about 11:30 a.m. on Sullivant Avenue in the Hilltop and drove her in an unmarked car to the rear of an apartment building on South Yale Avenue in Franklinton. Less than 10 minutes after Mitchell picked Castleberry up, she had been shot three times and was lying slumped over in the back seat.

The training, Gagnon testified, included scenarios where officers had to make decisions about whether a person posed a threat or not and if there was a threat, shooting until that threat was eliminated.

"You train to shoot them until the threat is over?" defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens asked.

"Yes," Gagnon replied.

Under cross-examination, Gagnon testified when asked by prosecutors that officers can violate their firearms training.

Prosecution rests: Prosecutors nearly done with case against former Columbus police officer Andrew Mitchell

Sgt, Evans testified that he oversaw Mitchell's portion of the vice unit at the time of the shooting in August 2018. He said protocol for the unit was to have another officer within a few minutes distance, or close proximity, when picking up a prostitute.

Evans said the vice unit had not heard about anyone kidnapping prostitutes at the time, something Castleberry accused Mitchell of in an audio recording of the encounter from Mitchell's city-issued cellphone.

Before calling their witnesses Friday, Mitchell's attorneys had requested that he be found not guilty by Judge David Young. A motion for acquittal, commonly called a Rule 29 motion, is usually made after the prosecution rests its case.

Will Andrew Mitchell be convicted?: Former Columbus police officers facing murder charges are a rarity. Convictions are rarer.

"Based on their own theory … that Ms. Castleberry was acting defensively, they haven't come close to meeting their burden," said Mark Collins, Mitchell's lead defense attorney.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Sheryl Prichard countered Collins' assertion, saying the audio shows Mitchell was angry and provoked when he was cut by Castleberry during a struggle.

"There's evidence he would be impassioned by that provocation," Prichard said.

Young denied the motion and said there was enough evidence to proceed.

Prosecution expert: Mitchell's shooting of Castleberry not reasonable

The prosecution finished its case Thursday afternoon with questioning of Jamie Borden, a retired Nevada police officer and expert in police tactics, training and decision-making.

Borden, who was paid $4,950 for his review and analysis of the case and had his airfare and room and board in Columbus paid for by the prosecution, said he didn't believe Mitchell's actions were reasonable in shooting Castleberry.

Other Columbus vice officers in court: Federal jury splits verdicts in the trial of two former Columbus police vice officers

On a timeline shown to the jury, Borden broke down the intervals between four of the six shots Mitchell fired during a 12.85-second interval before his gun jammed. Borden's analysis of the audio showed nearly a second lapsed between the first and second shots Mitchell fired.

An additional 2.43 seconds lapsed between the second and third shots and 3.87 seconds between the third and fourth shots.

Collins engaged in a contentious and tense cross-examination of Borden Thursday afternoon about the legal standards used to evaluate whether an officer is being reasonable in their use of deadly force.

Help for women: Sullivant Avenue drop-in centers offer hope to victims ensnared in human trafficking

Borden conceded that Castleberry was "absolutely" a threat to Mitchell when she sliced his hand with a knife, but that additional assessment of the situation did not necessarily mean Castleberry was an ongoing threat.

"I don't know if (Mitchell) knew where the knife was or not," Borden said when asked about whether Mitchell could have perceived Castleberry as a continuing deadly threat.

According to the audio from Mitchell's cellphone, Castleberry questioned whether Mitchell was a police officer because he did not have his badge or police radio in the car with him — both violations of city police policy. Mitchell showed Castleberry his handcuffs, his division-issued ID card and a blank arrest form, but that did not convince her of his identity.

'He knows he'll get away with it': Former sex workers talk about reinstated Columbus police officer Randall Mayhew

Mitchell then swore at Castleberry, according to the audio, and attempted to handcuff her. Castleberry used a pocketknife and slashed Mitchell's right hand — an injury that required 34 stitches and a blood transfusion. She then put her foot against Mitchell's throat — either in what the defense argues was an attempt to choke him or what the prosecution argues was an attempt to keep him away — and clambered into the backseat of the vehicle. The audio shows Castleberry was not able to escape because the car's rear child safety locks were engaged.

Settlement reached: Columbus intends to pay family of Donna Dalton Castleberry $1 million in wrongful death case

The defense is expected to call a use-of-force expert from the Akron area to testify on Monday. Mitchell could take the stand in his own defense as well.

If convicted, Mitchell faces a potential sentence of life in prison without a chance of parole for 15 years on the murder charge. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison if Mitchell is convicted.

Regardless of the outcome in the case, Mitchell will remain in custody on federal charges accusing him of forcing women to engage in sexual conduct in exchange for not being arrested.

@bethany_bruner

bbruner@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Andrew Mitchell could testify next week in his own defense