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
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
misunderstandings that were going on, just beneath the surface. william: i always said to people that teaneck s greatest strength is its diversity and its greatest weakness is its diversity. when you live in a community that s homogenous, it s easy for everybody to get on the same page real fast. when you live in a community like teaneck, it s a lot harder, takes a lot more work. mike: you know, a lot of people talk about whether or not teaneck is a model community. and i think it is a model community. however, it s really a mirror of the nation, just as this nation is not perfect. we re continuing to struggle with all kinds of issues, particularly of issues of race. i think teaneck really represents that national mirror as opposed to being a model. walter: phillip s death, i think,
because thelma pannell was outside of that courtroom in a hallway, sobbing, just terrible, deep sobs. natacha: my mother was really hysterical and she broke down and she was saying, why, why? why, lord? bernie: i remember phil s mom s face and the hurt that she was dealing with in that moment and the cheers that the police officers let out. to this day, it s tough because you re celebrating the release of your fellow police officer. but the reason for the verdict is my child s death, and you cheering that. so, there was just no empathy there. walter: hearing the anguish of phillip s mother, put into proper context the reality of black life in america. that you can kill a black person. a jury can hear the evidence and let the person walk. and the family has to deal with it. and so what? batron: the system didn t work. the system s broke. you know the system s not for a black man.
(music) in early 91, there was a tree planted in triumph park, down the street from intervale road where he was killed, and someone dug the tree up. and then they not only dug it up, they burned the shrub. so my mom and i, we wanted to be able to laugh and smile again. so the only way we figured that we could do that is to replant the tree. god bless you, clint, and the community of teaneck whether they want to remember you or not, they re going to remember you. (music) male: we are here to honor the life, humanity, love of family, friends, and the connection young phillip had on all of us. phillip s birthday is today, and he s 47 years old. batron: i think about phil every day.