AUSTIN (KXAN) — The jury is expected to begin deliberating Tuesday afternoon in the deadly conduct case against Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, according to what was discussed during Monday's proceedings.
Taylor faces the charge in the 2019 death of Mauris DeSilva. Police shot and killed DeSilva in his downtown condo complex. They responded after 911 callers reported DeSilva walking around with a knife to his throat.
Police confronted DeSilva on the fifth floor, a common area of the complex. Taylor and another officer, Karl Krycia, fired within about three seconds of seeing DeSilva right outside the elevator. DeSilva had turned toward officers with the knife at his side when police fired.
Prosecutors said DeSilva was undergoing a "profound" mental health episode and officers did not need to shoot him. Taylor’s attorneys said he acted in defense of himself and others.
The Defense is expected to call its first witnesses Tuesday morning. The State rested last week, and proceedings were rescheduled Monday because of a sick juror. Closing arguments, per court conversations Monday, are expected after the lunch recess.
KXAN will update this story throughout Tuesday’s proceedings.
The State spent two and a half days calling witnesses in this case, including two of the four officers who confronted DeSilva alongside Taylor, Officers Joseph Cast and Phillip Zuniga. Cast fired a stun gun and Zuniga did not use a weapon, but was prepared to "go hands" if needed, according to testimony.
Both officers said DeSilva was a viable threat as police saw him outside the elevator.
Prosecutors dug into the details of the police response as a whole, asking why they didn’t wait longer for a mental health officer to arrive or speak with more people working at the condo about DeSilva's behavior. DeSilva had not turned the knife on anyone before police got there, they said, and one man said he was able to get DeSilva to turn around and walk away when the man saw him with the knife.
The condo's operations manager got emotional on the stand, saying she had hoped the 911 response would have ended differently.
Both Zuniga and Cast testified that DeSilva's behavior posed a danger to others in the condo, not just himself, and it was crucial they confront him immediately because he was in a common area of the building.
The Defense is expected to call three witnesses Tuesday.
