MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Day five of testimony in jury trial of former Warren police officer James Burke was yesterday. He's accused of slamming his marked patrol vehicle into a white Dodge Durango, killing 34-year-old Cedric Hayden Jr. and 33-year-old Dejuan Pettis.
Watch Ryan Marshall's report below
The prosecution rested their case. However, they maintain that Burke was grossly negligent as he drove 115 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-zone without emergency lights or sirens.
Watch our previous coverage of the James Burke trial
“This was not an emergency run," Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Cory Newman argued. "We’ve heard the testimony. And, it does not exempt him from putting lights on. It only exempts him from making an audible signal.”
Burke's defense attorney Marc Curtis argued that Burke was assigned to track down a stolen Jeep detected by flock cameras, and that officers were trained not to turn on emergency lights until absolutely necessary.
The defense called Warren Police detective David Villerot to the stand. He testified that former Officer Burke acted as he was trained to do.
“I would do everything I can to save, to gather as much information as intel to not give away specifically my position in that situation," the detective said.
Toxicology expert Dr. Curt Harper also took the stand as a defense witness. Previous medical examiner testimony established that Cedric Hayden Jr. blood alcohol level was 0.198, twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Dr. Harper testified that he independently reviewed Hayden's toxicology reports and subsequently calculated his alcohol intake.
“Based on the height, age, weight and sex of the individual, I estimated that it would take approximately seven to eight drinks to reach a 0.198 percent. That is a theoretical calculation assuming that all those drinks are consumed instantaneously," Dr. Harper said.
The defense used Dr. Harper's expert testimony to argue that Hayden was severely intoxicated, which drastically impaired his perception and motor skills. In fact, Michigan law considers any driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 percent or higher as super drunk and legally classified as operating while intoxicated with a high blood alcohol content.
Day six of testimony continues later today.
