Expert: Ohio cop on trial in shooting wasn’t dragged by car

CINCINNATI – Analysis of body camera video shows that a white University of Cincinnati police officer was not being dragged by the car of the unarmed black man he fatally shot during a traffic stop last year, an expert for prosecutors testified Thursday.

Video analyst Grant Fredericks told jurors during Ray Tensing’s murder trial Thursday that the victim’s car moved slightly before the shot was fired.

The testimony contradicted Tensing’s statement to investigators that he was being dragged by the car driven by Sam DuBose and that he feared for his life. DuBose was shot in the head. Tensing was later fired from the police force.

In that videotaped statement, played for jurors Thursday, Tensing said, “I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m being dragged by this guy’s car. I don’t want to die today.’”

Fredericks, of Spokane, Washington-based Forensic Video Solutions, conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of Tensing’s body camera footage for jurors.

Defence attorney Stewart Mathews has contended that Tensing felt he was in danger as DuBose tried to speed away, using his car as “a weapon.”

Prosecutors say Tensing lied about being dragged and acted contrary to police standards and the law.

Also Thursday, Tensing was heard in his videotaped statement saying he didn’t detect drugs or alcohol in DuBose’s car.

Mathews has told jurors the 43-year-old DuBose was desperate to get away because he had enough marijuana in his car to face a felony conviction.

DuBose had a long history of traffic and marijuana-related convictions, but his family says he wouldn’t have been a threat to police.

Testimony in the trial in Cincinnati has concluded for the day.