Former Michigan state trooper Mark Bessner listens to Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Matthew Penney delivers his opening argument in Bessner’s trial, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, Detroit. Bessner is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Damon Grimes in 2017. It’s the second trial after a jury last fall couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. (Clarence Tabb Jr./Detroit News via AP)
DETROIT (AP) — A former Michigan State Police trooper charged with murder in the death of a Detroit teen says he won’t testify in his own defense.
Mark Bessner is on trial for the second time after a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict last fall. He testified at the first trial but told a judge Tuesday that he will remain silent this time. It’s a major shift in strategy.
Damon (Da-MAHN’) Grimes was 15 years old in 2017 when he crashed an all-terrain vehicle and died after Bessner shot him with a Taser on a Detroit street.
Prosecutors say the Taser was unnecessary and created a high risk of danger. At the first trial, Bessner told jurors that he believed Grimes was armed . The teen had no gun.
By ED WHITE
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