ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Latest on the trial of two former Albuquerque police officers charged in the shooting death of a homeless man (all times local):
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9:45 a.m.
A former officer charged in the on-duty shooting death of a homeless camper says the man had time to react to repeated commands to get down on the ground and instead reached for his knives.
The testimony from former SWAT Officer Dominique Perez counters arguments that James Boyd was preparing to surrender or didn't have enough time to follow officers' commands before he was shot.
Perez took the stand for a second day Wednesday as his defense team's final witness, saying Boyd posed a threat to a K-9 officer standing near the camper. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have finished questioning him.
Perez and now-retired Detective Keith Sandy are standing trial on second-degree murder charges in Boyd's March 2014 death.
Sandy's attorney will begin calling witnesses to the stand Wednesday.
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12:10 a.m.
A former Albuquerque police officer standing trial on a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a homeless camper will testify in his own defense for a second day Wednesday.
Dominique Perez was one of nearly 20 officers to respond to a 2014 police standoff with James Boyd — who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and pulled knives on two officers who were first to respond to reports of his illegal campsite.
Perez told jurors Tuesday that he opened fire because a K-9 officer who did not have a weapon in hand appeared to come within arms' reach of Boyd and his knives. Perez was standing downslope from the K-9 officer and Boyd during the standoff in the Sandia Mountain foothills.
An analysis later determined that the K-9 handler was roughly 9 feet from Boyd.
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