MIAMI (WSVN) - The trial of a North Miami Police officer who allegedly shot an unarmed behavioral therapist while he tried to help an autistic patient has entered its third day.
Charles Kinsey, the behavioral therapist who was shot, testified Thursday against Jonathan Aledda, the police officer who allegedly shot him, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami.
This is the first time in nearly 30 years that a police officer has gone on trial for an on-duty shooting in Miami-Dade County.
In July 2016, cellphone cameras captured the moments before Kinsey was shot. In the video, which gained national attention, Kinsey could be seen lying on the ground with his hands up and feet away from a 23-year-old man with autism before an officer opened fire.
“All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behavior therapist at a group home,” Kinsey said in the viral video.
When asked what he was doing when he got shot, Kinsey said, “I was actually laying down on the pavement with my hands up.”
Kinsey had been trying to comfort the patient, who had left a group home nearby.
“I still have little fragments in my leg right now,” Kinsey testified. “When they pulled up, I see them jump out the car, trunks popped open, and they went into their trunks and pulled out an assault rifle.”
When Kinsey was asked if he or his patient were armed when he got shot, Kinsey replied, “No, sir.”
Kinsey’s client was holding a silver toy truck at the time, and police initially said it was a gun, but the officer who pulled the trigger was eventually arrested.
Prosecutors said Aledda wasn’t justified in the shooting from 150 feet away because the officers closest to Kinsey weren’t in fear for their lives, and other officers said over the radio that it wasn’t a gun.
“This trial is about an unarmed and essentially disabled boy with a toy and the one and only police officer who tried to kill him but shot his unarmed caretaker instead,” Assistant State Attorney Reid Rubin said.
However, the defense has pushed back and said Aledda was just trying to protect other officers on scene.
“Now, remember, Jonathan Aledda is in uniform and is a sworn law enforcement officer trained to do exactly what he was doing,” defense attorney Douglas Hartman said. “This scene was chaotic. This is not some normal procedure.”
Aledda faces charges for felony attempted manslaughter and culpable negligence.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.