Porter County - The trial for a man accused of shooting a Metro police officer now enters its second week. The prosecution rested its case against Brian Reese Monday morning. Monday afternoon, the defense called Reese to the stand.
Brian Reese denied trying to ambush Officer Jason Fishburn during a foot chase in July 2008. He is accused of deliberately firing shots at Fishburn with intent to kill.
On the stand Monday, he told defense attorney David Shircliff that he heard "some electricity" during the chase and thought an officer had hit him with a stun gun.
"That's what I thought. As I jumped to the top of the guardrail, my gun dropped out of my waistband. I caught it in the air with my right hand," Reese said.
"Even though he tried to taze you, you didn't try to shoot him, though?" Shircliff asked.
"No," Reese responded.
Shircliff then questioned him about the moments during the shooting.
"Before I ducked in between the houses, I heard another shot. I ran through the house and shot three times with my right hand over my left shoulder," said Reese.
"Did you look back to see if you hit anybody?" Shircliff asked.
"No," Reese testified.
"Did you ever stop running?" Shircliff asked.
"No."
"Did you ever stop to ambush Jason Fishburn?"
"No. I didn't know the cop was shot until I got to the hospital," said Reese.
"You did not ambush Jason Fishburn?"
"No."
"You never shot Jason Fishburn in the chest, spun him around and shot him in the head? You never told Gary Rees that?" Shircliff asked, referring to a conversation Reese had with another inmate. Gary Rees (no relation) told jurors last week that Reese said he waited for Fishburn to approach around a corner, then shot him twice.
Reese responded "no" to that question.
Reese was also questioned by the Marion County prosecutor, Carl Brizzi.
"I wanted to turn the corner. I wanted to stop. I wanted them to stop shooting at me. When I turned that corner, I shot three times over my shoulder. I shot three times over my shoulder, I shot him," Reese testified.
"You didn't shoot up in the air," said the prosecutor.
"I shot over my shoulder at nothing," Reese maintained.
"You shot over your shoulder at Officer Fishburn," said Brizzi.
"I wasn't shooting at nothing," said Reese.
"You didn't shoot up in the air," the prosecutor said again.
"No. I didn't think there would be a cop at that corner," Reese said.
"You could have shot in the air. You didn't do that. You could have shot in the ground. But you didn't do that. You shot at a police officer," Brizzi said.
Defense attorney David Shircliff also questioned Gary Rees' credibility as a witness, saying he wasn't a trustworthy person.
When Shircliff learned that some of Gary Rees' testimony had not been admitted, he moved for a mistrial Monday. The judge told Shircliff to "calm down," saying, "I will not let you shoehorn a mistrial. You are skating very close to the end of the ice rink. You cannot create your own problems and then ask for a mistrial because of it."
The court also heard a recorded telephone call made by Brian Reese from the Marion County Jail, in which he said, "....I came around, that is when I did what I did." The prosecution maintains that Reese was referring to coming around the corner, after which he allegedly shot Officer Fishburn.
Last week, jurors heard from residents and police officers who were present at the time of the shooting.
Case background
Police were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Brian Reese in July 2008 when he fled. He is accused of firing a shot that hit Officer Fishburn in the head, causing him permanent brain damage. Fishburn is back on desk duty after a long recovery, but still has limited mobility. He was also shot in the torso.
That arrest warrant that police were attempting to serve was in connection with the murder of a 69-year-old Indianapolis man. Police believe that Brian Reese, his father Paul and his mother Barbara, along with Reese's then-girlfriend Lona Bishop, all participated in the burglary and murder of Clifford Haddix, who was shot to death during a home invasion and burglary on Newton Ave July 6th, 2008. Bishop, as well as Brian, Paul and Barbara Reese, face charges in connection with that crime.
Reese was also charged in the murders of Crystal Jenkins and Demetrius Allen on July 8th, 2008. Police believe Brian Reese went to buy crack cocaine from Jenkins and Allen. While at their North Hendricks Place home, he shot them, according to police. Officers found the home ransacked. During a statement, Brian Reese's father Paul Reese allegedly told police that his son Brian told him of the shooting.
Police say the .38 that killed one of the suspected crack dealers was the same gun used to shoot Officer Jason Fishburn.
