he was indicted for a criminal offense, manslaughter. reporter: witnesses say the teen had his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender at the time of the shooting. thelma: it s proven evidence. he surrendered. that s murder. he just shot him when he gave up. paul: listen, this was a tragedy, but phillip was a kid who had a gun who shouldn t ve had a gun. gervonn: it just didn t fit the narrative of a young boy that grew up in this community. i mean, this was teaneck. walter: to me, the facts in the case are so obvious, at least in this instance. we re going to get justice (music) reporter: we reported this morning defense lawyer robert galantucci surprised everyone in the courtroom, especially the prosecution team, by calling the defendant himself to the stand. let s go to the courtroom now live, where gary spath is testifying in his own behalf. mike: we didn t know that gary spath would testify as the trial began. there was some concern on the part of spath s defense atto
but first. our major cities did not get the merry christmas citizens wanted this year, for some it was a downright scary christmas there. were many cities where santa stayed in the air. we report isolated crime events throughout the year particularly in l.a. and new york but the national crime picture often gets ignored. when you look at the year it was it takes your breath away or at least it should. this is video of linda fricke, a 73-year-old grandmother from new orleans who was in her car when four teens rushed it, forcing her out. she got caught in the safety belt and they dragged her, it severed her arm from her body and she bled to death in the street. at least they capture her four attackers but so many times these cases go unsolved. this is just one of the more than 260 homicides in new orleans since the start of the year. my hometown of new orleans is set to become the murder capital of the country this week with a 52% in homicides since 2019. today another man was
did not get the merry christmas citizens wanted this year. for some , it was a downright scary christmas. there were many cities where santa stayed in the air. he was afraid of getting sleigh jacked. i think we report isolated crime events throughout the year, particularly in l.a. and new york. but the national crime picture often gets ignored. and when you look at the year it was, it takes your breath away, or at least it should. this is video of linda frickey, a seventy three year old grandmother from new orleans. who was in her car when four teens rushed it, pushing her out. frickey got caught in a safety belt and they dragged her for about a block, severing her arm from her body. she bled to death in the street. at least they captured her for tackers. but so many times these cases go unsolved. this is just one of the more than two hundred and sixty homicide in new orleans since the start of the year. my hometown of new orleans is set to become the murder capital of
courtroom for the trial of new jersey versus police officer gary spath. mike: it is extremely rare for police officers to be put on trial. this was a police officer who claimed he was doing his duty. and in the course of doing his duty, he was indicted for a criminal offense, manslaughter. reporter: witnesses say the teen had his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender at the time of the shooting. thelma: it s proven evidence. he surrendered. that s murder. he just shot him when he gave up. paul: listen, this was a tragedy, but phillip was a kid who had a gun who shouldn t ve had a gun. gervonn: it just didn t fit the narrative of a young boy that grew up in this community. i mean, this was teaneck. walter: to me, the facts in the case are so obvious, at least in this instance. we re going to get justice (music) reporter: we reported this morning defense lawyer robert galantucci surprised everyone in the courtroom, especially the prosecution team, by calling the defendant