Debbie Rivera, Amadou Diallo's former neighbor, told jurors she saw four men - presumably the officers on trial - approaching the well-lit entrance of the victim's residence before the shooting. (Court TV)

				DIALLO SHOOTING TRIAL
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ALBANY, N.Y. (Court TV) — A former neighbor of Amadou Diallo told jurors Thursday that the alleged crime scene was well-lit right before the victim was gunned down by four New York police officers.

The lighting of the vestibule in front of Diallo's apartment building continued to be the central focus as prosecutors attempted to prove that the four officers on trial could clearly see whether or not he was holding a weapon — when they killed him last February. Diallo was killed in a hail of 41 bullets when, the defense says, the undercover officers thought he was reaching for a gun. The victim was struck 19 times. Officers Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss claim the darkly lit vestibule and Diallo's movement made them think he was reaching for a weapon.

But Diallo did not have a weapon; he was armed only with a beeper and a wallet. Charged with second-degree murder, each of the officers face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Diallo resided at 1157 Wheeler Ave. in the Bronx, and Debbie Rivera lived across the street at 1162 Wheeler on the night of the shooting. She testified that she was waiting for her husband to come home from work and would often look outside her bedroom window (which faced the street) if she heard any noises or suspected her husband was coming up the street. According to Rivera, during one of her trips to the window, she saw four white men [presumably the defendants] approaching the sidewalk towards 1157 Wheeler Ave. They appeared, the witness said, to have come out of a parked Burgundy car. Rivera said she could only see the backs of their heads. At least one was wearing a hat and all of them were wearing casual clothes, she testified.

Rivera claimed that the light to the vestibule was on and she could see the entrance to the building clearly.

Then, Rivera said, she went away from the window. Soon afterwards she said she heard a lot of noise — gunshots. Tapping the witness stand, Rivera simulated the pattern of the shots she heard.

"Pow, pow, pow, pow," Rivera said. " .... (Pause) Pow, pow, pow, pow. There were several shots, then a pause, then another string of shots."

Rivera said she then gathered her relatives into the living room after hearing the shots. Soon, she went back to the window and saw one man, who was wearing his shield, throw his hat down and mutter an expletive as he leaned up against a car in front of her building. [Various reports say that this man was Officer McMellon.] Ultimately, Rivera said, other police and paramedics arrived and taped off the scene of the shooting. The street was eventually closed off.

Defendants Kenneth Boss (right) and Sean Carroll (left) prepare for Thursday's testimony. (Court TV)

During cross-examination, the officers' defense tried to poke holes in Rivera's testimony. James Culleton, Murphy's lawyer, suggested that Rivera may have heard noises from her television (which she admitted was on at the time), not necessarily from outside. Culleton also focused on whether Rivera had heard the news accounts of the shooting before investigators first interviewed her the following day. Rivera's cross-examination will continue Thursday afternoon.

Rivera's testimony was the latest by a string of prosecution witnesses who claimed Thursday that the vestibule in front of Diallo's building was adequately lit. Donald Riley, an emergency medical technician who tended to Diallo at the scene, testified that he had no problem seeing Diallo or the various things he perceived as evidence at the scene. He told jurors he did not bring a flashlight with him and observed seeing a wallet and a plastic object (later identified as a beeper) on the floor on Diallo's right-hand side.

According to Riley, Diallo was not laying entirely flat when he arrived at the scene. The victim's head was tucked into his shoulders and he was propped up slightly. Riley cut open Diallo's shirt and noticed wounds in his chest. He also noticed blood on Diallo's right hand — presumably it hand trickled down a wound in his arm.

During cross-examination, Riley conceded that he had met with the prosecution four or five times and the pictures of the shooting scene had revived his memory about details such as the location of the wallet. He said the scene was not taped off when he got there, but was when he left. Riley said he saw investigators put Dixie cups over the shells to secure the scene.

Riley insisted that the prosecution had not told him to say that the shooting scene was well-lit. When a detective asked him whether the vestibule was well-lit, he simply agreed. The EMT said that he saw the light coming from the vestibule when he arrived.

A medical investigator, Craig Angard, testified that he could see a light coming from the vestibule from the street where he parked. According to Angard, he had no trouble seeing; he was able to see Diallo and noticed that the beeper next to the body had a hole in it.

— Bryan Robinson