Jury hears closings in Atlantic City police shooting trial

Emotion led an investigation into the shooting of an Atlantic City police officer, a defense attorney argued Tuesday. And the state is hoping emotion will be what convicts two men charged with attempted murder, Robin Lord said in her closing argument. Martel Chisolm and Demetris Cross are accused of conspiring with Jerome Damon in the Sept. 3, 2016, armed robbery of three teens that led to Officer Josh Vadell being shot in the head. Damon was killed when Vadell's partner, Thomas McCabe, returned fire. "A cop was shot. The shooter was dead," Lord said. "(Police) need somebody to blame." Lord spent nearly two hours going over 22 doubts she said the state couldn't overcome. But the evidence does show that the armed robbery was the plan of all three men, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy said. "We may have lost sight of why we're here," Levy told the jurors. It's about heroism, he said. Not because Vadell took a bullet and McCabe returned fire but because they went to the aid of the teens in trouble regardless of who they were. While Lord talked about the criminal histories of the three teens who were allegedly being held at gunpoint, the Atlantic City officers didn't care about that but about stopping a crime, he said. "We will risk our lives to protect you with the law" was their message, Levy said. The state's case started with the testimony of McCabe, who talked of seeing his partner shot and then quickly returning gunfire until the threat was gone. Then, he turned his attention to his partner. Vadell testified Monday about kicking open his patrol car door to get out and help the teen he saw with a gun pointed at his head. Instead, he heard gunfire and fell, unable to get up. It wasn't until he got to the hospital that Vadell realized he'd been shot. Vadell's testimony "took my breath away," Lord told the jurors, her voice cracking with emotion. But, she said, that is not a reason to find the two men guilty. Instead, she said, following the law honors the badge Vadell wore and the oath he took to serve and protect. In between the two officers', two of the three teen victims from that night testified. But neither the now-17-year-old nor Jaquan Campos, now 20, was helpful in even acknowledging there was anyone else involved but the now-dead gunman. A third victim, K'vaun Wyatt, was shot dead eight weeks after the incident. Chisolm and Cross opted not to take the stand in their defense after Judge John Rauh ruled that some of their criminal history was admissible in cross-examination by the state. After closings, Rauh gave the jury their instructions, then deliberations are set to begin. One of the 13 jurors will be an alternate and not attend deliberations.