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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 defens ....
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 defe ....
Wanton and reckless disregard for human life. glenn: he went into his pockets and you started shooting. spath: i was performing my job. i got a gun call. i ran after the suspect. he came at me with his hand in the pocket and he was going to shoot me. that s the truth. mike: i believe that spath came to believe in a reality that simply doesn t add up to the forensics. if you look at this objectively, it was impossible for phillip to be shot in the back and be turning to shoot gary spath. patuto: certainly forensics can be helpful, but in my mind, my humble opinion is that they should never be conclusive. spath: this guy was going to shoot me. i had no choice but to shoot at him to save my own life. forgive me, sir. this is what i had to do. thelma: everybody knew my son that he wasn t that kind of a young man. i ll believe that till the day i die. that he was trying to make it home. reporter: there is now going to be ....
Patuto: he had to leave the police department. he had to lead north jersey. his family was traumatized and. forget the case. his actions had killed a young man and that traumatized him, too. reporter: five years after the shooting, it remained very much on his mind. spath: every day. every day. usually it s the first thing that i realize when i wake up and sometimes i still have sleepless nights about it. luis: it bothers him to this day. even though he was exonerated. but at that time, we didn t spend too much time. we just, you know, hey, how are you? is everything? you know. and i m. i m sorry we didn t talk, you know, maybe we should have. hopefully he s okay. ....
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 attorney robert galantucci, that spath may not be able to handle testifying. he had left the police department. his career was in tatters. he was also facing the possibility that he could be convicted. male: do you swear the testimony you re about to give shall be the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? patuto: some of the lawyers saying, oh, you never put the defendant on because he could be cross-examined. well, you know, i never subscribe to that, ....