Retrial of Christian Bey begins after mistrial declared last week
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A second trial began Tuesday in the case of Christian Bey, who is accused in the shooting death of off-duty Pittsburgh Police Officer Calvin Hall in Homewood nearly four years ago.
The judge declared a mistrial last week after a witness revealed Bey had a criminal record and served time in prison. On Monday, the prosecution and the defense began presenting their cases all over again.
It is a new trial and a new jury, but the rules remained the same. There's a gag order in the case, meaning neither the prosecution nor the defense can make any public statements.
But once again in the courtroom, the prosecution outlined their case that Bey shot Hall three times in the back as the off-duty officer tried to settle an argument at a raucous street party in Homewood in July 2019.
But the defense painted a much more chaotic and drunken scene involving several participants and several guns. Defense attorney Carmen Robinson said Hall was drunk and unruly and was seen waving his gun and pointing it at people, indicating the facts were far from clear.
"The Pittsburgh police presented a narrative of an unarmed, off-duty officer who was breaking up a fight and was shot, it's not true," Robinson said. "The police were more concerned about his image than properly investigating this case."
For her part, Deputy District Attorney Stephie Ramaley asked the jury to, "Remember two things: First, it is Christian Bey, not Calvin Hall, who is on trial here. And second, physical evidence doesn't lie. I will present physical evidence that is overwhelming in this case."
To that end, Ramaley said a witness who arrived on the scene just prior to the shooting will positively identify Bey as the shooter. Further, she said police recovered the murder weapon with three rounds missing from the chamber with traces of Bey's DNA.
Robinson countered, raising questions about the witness's ability to identify Bey on a dark night, and called the DNA evidence "not conclusive and not reliable."
Late Monday, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Hall testified. He is of more than a dozen prosecution witnesses who will take the stand in a trial that is expected to last three weeks.
