Jury begins deliberations in case of man accused of murdering Weymouth Sgt. Chesna and bystander
DEDHAM - The jury is now deliberating the case of Emanuel Lopes, the man accused of murdering Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna and bystander Vera Adams in July 2018.
Closing arguments were heard earlier on Wednesday. Chesna's widow, Cindy, was overcome with emotion as the prosecution described how Lopes attacked him with a rock before grabbing his gun and opening fire. Prosecutors said Chesna encountered Lopes after he fled the scene of a minor car crash.
"In an accelerated pace, he takes this rock and he throws it, where does it land? It lands on Sgt. Chesna's head 12 to 10 feet away," described prosecutor Greg Connor.
After shooting Chesna, Lopes allegedly fired at two responding officers, then shot 77-year-old Adams as she stood by her window, watching him flee the scene. Connor said Lopes was deliberately trying to kill a witness.
"It's done with deliberate premeditation and it's not one shot, it's three," said Connor.
Larry Tipton, Lopes's defense attorney, said his client struggled with mental illness for years and it was made worse by chronic marijuana use. Tipton said Lopes had harmed himself and was hospitalized frequently, with no evidence that he was faking it.
"There's no evidence he's malingering, feigning or fake," Tipton told the jury.
Jurors have more than 100 exhibits and thousands of pages of medical documents to consider in their deliberations, which resume Thursday morning. Lopes faces two life sentences if found guilty.