Defendant Kenneth Boss tries to show jurors how Amadou Diallo was facing the officers before he was shot 19 times. (Court TV)

				DIALLO SHOOTING TRIAL
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ALBANY, N.Y. (Court TV) — Backing the prior testimony of their co-defendants, the last two cops linked to Amadou Diallo's killing told jurors Tuesday they fired because they thought the victim had a gun and had wounded one of their fellow officers.

Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy were the last two of the four NYPD officers accused of Diallo's murder to take the stand. Along with officers Sean Carroll and Edward McMellon, they gunned down Diallo in the vestibule of his home in the Bronx. Carroll and McMellon fired 16 shots each; Murphy fired four, Boss five.

The officers claim that Diallo's shooting was a reasonable mistake, not a murder. The defense has suggested that officers approached Diallo because they believed he was behaving suspiciously.

Carroll and McMellon testified Monday that they identified themselves and that Diallo did not heed their command to halt. When Diallo reached for something on his right side, Carroll and McMellon said, they thought he was going for a weapon. Feeling threatened, they began firing. It turned out that Diallo was unarmed, having only a beeper, a wallet and his keys. Officers Carroll, McMellon, Boss and Murphy did not realize that the victim was unarmed until after he had been struck with 19 of the 41 fired bullets.

Boss was driving an unmarked police car on the night of Feb. 4, 1999. He and his three partners in New York's Street Crime Unit were searching for a serial Bronx rapist when they encountered Diallo. According to Boss, he was driving the car slowly — approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour — down Wheeler Avenue in the Bronx when they first encountered Diallo. Initially, Boss said, he passed Diallo's residence at 1157 Wheeler Avenue and didn't notice any suspicious activity.

According to Boss, Carroll noticed Diallo and told Boss to stop driving. Carroll told jurors Monday that he thought Diallo was acting suspiciously because he kept looking up and down the block, and repeatedly ducked his head in and out of the vestibule, as if he didn't want to be seen.

Boss told jurors that Carroll and McMellon left the car to approach Diallo; Boss and Murphy did not follow them right away. From the car, Boss said he heard either Carroll or McMellon say to Diallo, "Police! Can I have a word?" Murphy recalled McMellon taking out his police shield as he was leaving the car before he began approaching Diallo.

Boss testified that Diallo turned abruptly into the entrance of the building and did not acknowledge the officers. At that point, Boss said, McMellon and Carroll began to run toward Diallo. After that, Murphy said he left the car because he thought Diallo was about to flee into the building.

Realizing that his fellow officers were involved in a potential chase, Boss said he started to get out of the car. He testified that he heard loud voices, but he could not make out what they were saying.

Murphy remembered someone — he believed it was Carroll — yell, "He's got a gun!" Almost simultaneously, Murphy said, McMellon yelled, "What are you doing?"

Then there was gunfire.

Both Boss and Murphy recalled seeing McMellon lose his footing and fall off the steps during the shooting. Both said they believed McMellon had been wounded. According to Boss, McMellon kept firing from the sidewalk and tried to crawl his way out of the line of fire. Boss and Murphy also remembered Carroll frantically running down the steps sideways, firing his weapon and trying to get out of the vestibule.

Boss told jurors he looked into the vestibule and saw that Diallo was still standing. Seeing a black object in Diallo's outstretched right hand, Boss said he believed the West African immigrant has a gun.

"I see Mr. Diallo, he's crouched, I see a gun," Boss said. "I think, 'Oh my God, I'm going to die.' I start firing. ... I was in the line of fire."

When Murphy started firing, he said Diallo was upright. Murphy claimed Diallo had his left side to him and his right arm extended. The officer said he thought he saw a gun.

Richard Murphy told jurors he truly believed Diallo was going to shoot him. (Court TV)

"I had this empty feeling, this sick feeling in my stomach that I was going to be hit," Murphy testified. "I pulled the trigger, jumping out of the way."

Both Boss and Murphy said they initially thought they had fired only twice. They also remembered checking on McMellon individually, asking him, "Where are you hit? Where are you hit?" Boss and Murphy testified that they could not believe that McMellon was not wounded.

Boss told jurors that he felt "destroyed" and "distraught" when he realized that Diallo did not have a gun.

"I said, 'Where's the f--g gun? Where the f---g gun?'" Boss said. " I knew I had to get help. .... I was distraught; I think I was going into shock."

Murphy told the jury, "I said over and over, 'I can't believe there's no gun. I saw a gun ... I can't believe there's no gun.'"

Boss said he then ran towards Westchester Avenue and searched for a street sign because he did not know where he was. As soon as he got an address, he summoned a supervisor and an ambulance to the scene over his police phone. [Boss said he mistakenly gave the address 1159 Wheeler Avenue because that was the only address he could see.]

On cross-examination, Murphy and Boss denied firing at Diallo when he was down. While conceding that they didn't see the barrel of a gun or a trigger when they encountered Diallo, they insisted that they thought he was pointing a gun at them. They stressed that the shooting happened so fast they truly believed they were about to be shot. In addition, Murphy and Boss told jurors that Diallo did not react at all while they fired at him.

The officers' defense could wrap up their case Wednesday. They may call various experts to refute prosecution allegations that the officers acted with depraved indifference. According to court documents, ballistics expert and former officer James Fyfe may tell jurors how long it takes to fire 16 rounds from a semiautomatic pistol. John Cerar, another former officer, could testify about general police department training and tactics, particularly those of the Street Crime Unit. Psychologist Lynn Cooper may discuss the different ways people react in stressful situations and how the eyes can play tricks on the brain.

After the defense rests, prosecutors are expected to present rebuttal testimony. Jurors may start deliberating as early as Friday.

— Bryan Robinson