Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook has denied a request by a former Ottawa Hills police officer charged in the shooting of an unarmed motorcyclist for court funds to pay for an animated re-creation of the incident.
An attorney for Thomas White was seeking $18,000 to create a video that would portray the scene from Mr. White’s line of sight. The dashcam video from the officer’s patrol car “sees what Officer White could not,” defense attorney Peter Galyardt argued at a hearing in April.
Mr. White, 33, now of Marion, Ohio, is charged with felonious assault in the May 23, 2009, shooting of Michael McCloskey, who was left paralyzed. In 2010, Mr. White was found guilty of felonious assault with a firearm specification following a jury trial, but his conviction was overturned by Ohio’s 6th District Court of Appeals.
The appeals court concluded that the jury was not given proper instructions regarding police officers’ use of deadly force and ruled that law enforcement officers cannot be subject to a gun specification law.
Judge Cook said in his latest ruling that no one, not even Mr. White, can pinpoint his actual position within a range exceeding 10 feet.
“Without the ability to pinpoint defendant’s exact location at the time he fired his weapon — and without expert testimony on record indicating that such an ability could be attained — the animation defendant seeks could not possibly be any more accurate than the dashcam footage he attempts to discredit,” the judge wrote.
Such an animation, Judge Cook wrote, would be “inherently flawed” and “would serve only to confuse or prejudice the jury.”
Mr. White’s trial is scheduled for Monday, but Mr. Galyardt asked the court to continue it to a later date.
Mr. Galyardt also has asked the court to reconsider its ruling on money for the crime scene animation. He asked for $3,000 “for the consultation and testimony of the proposed animation expert” and asked for another hearing on the matter.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published June 7, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
