A forensic video analyst says Sam DuBose's car began moving 800 milliseconds, or eight-tenths of a second, before former UC Police Officer Ray Tensing fatally shot him. Grant Fredericks testified Tensing was not dragged by DuBose's car.
Fredericks went through Tensing's body camera video frame-by-frame showing it was about two seconds between when Tensing's right hand was on top of DuBose's car and when the shot occurred. He also said Tensing didn't begin falling until after the gun fired.
UC Officers David Lindenschmidt and Philip Kidd testified Wednesday that they heard tires squealing before the shot. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said after court Thursday, "people in the heat of passion – you got a shooting going on and things happen fast – sometimes you just don't perceive things the way they were. I said yesterday, the camera doesn't lie."
Tensing has said all along that he shot DuBose because he feared for his life as he was being dragged.
Deters says Fredericks' testimony contradicts the entire defense.
Defense attorney Stew Mathews sought to create doubt during cross examination, asking Fredericks to speculate about why someone would shout "stop," as Tensing does in the video. Fredericks agreed one reason a person would say "stop" is if the car was in motion.
Mathews further asked, "No question in your mind, the car was in motion when the shot was fired, correct?"
"Correct," Fredericks replied.
Fredericks, who has not visited the actual incident location, said his forensic review shows Tensing was neither dragged nor attached to the car. He testified that Tensing's body would have fallen the opposite direction if he had been dragged. Fredericks says the video shows Tensing's hand is holding DuBose's seatbelt just after the shot.
After court, DuBose's sister, Terina Allen, said she was thankful after seeing the frame-by-frame video. "So many people keep saying (Tensing) was dragged. I think that just cleared that up."
Tensing's Police Interview
Jurors also watched a video recording of Tensing's interview with Cincinnati Police shortly after the 2015 incident. In it he is seen describing what happened. He says he reached into DuBose's car as DuBose started it and put it in drive. He said he thought he could stop the car from leaving.
Tensing then says DuBose mashed the accelerator causing him to lose his balance. He said he feared for his life as he was dragged, so he grabbed his gun and discharged one round.
The interview was conducted several days after the incident. Tensing tells Cincinnati Police Sgt. Shannon Heine he viewed his body camera video with his attorney earlier that day. While that's not standard practice for Cincinnati Police, it is for UC police under their union regulations.
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