JURY HEARS 2 VERSIONS OF SHOOTING BY OFFICER

Testimony begins at Mattingly trial

Was former Louisville Metro Police Detective McKenzie Mattingly in a "fight
for his life" with an "aggressive, armed drug dealer," or an undercover
officer who made "fatal" mistakes that led him to shoot to death a fleeing
teenager?

The jury heard conflicting views as a defense attorney and prosecutor made
opening statements yesterday in Jefferson Circuit Court, where Mattingly
faces charges of murder and wanton endangerment in the Jan. 3 fatal shooting
of 19-year-old Michael Newby.

If convicted, Mattingly could be sentenced to life in prison.

After three days of jury selection, the courtroom was packed as Mattingly's
trial got fully under way yesterday, with the opening statements and
testimony from three people, including the owner of a liquor and food store
where the shooting took place.

The owner, Greg Hill, testified that he saw Newby running away from
Mattingly, without hesitation, when he was shot.

The courtroom was emotionally charged throughout the day as Mattingly's
family and a handful of uniformed police officers sat on one side of the
court, with Newby's family and supporters on the other.

The first witness yesterday was Newby's mother, Angela Bouggess, who wept
when prosecutors asked her to identify a color photograph of her son in a
crisp black tuxedo and neat bow tie.

"My baby, my baby, my only son," Bouggess said when she saw the photo.

Defense attorney Steve Schroering did not ask Bouggess any questions.

The defense statement

In his opening statement, Schroering argued that the photograph, used
frequently in media reports of the shooting, did not represent the person
Mattingly ran into at 46th and Market streets just before midnight on Jan. 3

On that night, Schroering said, Newby was a drug dealer, carrying a gun and
looking for a customer. He found one in Mattingly, an undercover detective
who was being monitored by a platoon of officers while waiting for another
drug dealer.

During a struggle after their impromptu deal went bad, Newby nearly wrestled
control of Mattingly's gun from the detective, even fired a shot from it
before the two men broke apart, Schroering said, adding that the officer
thought his foot had been hit by the bullet.

(Members of the Newby family groaned loudly in the courtroom when Schroering
said Newby fired the initial shot from Mattingly's gun.)

Continuing his opening statement, Schroering said that as Newby moved away,
he was looking back at Mattingly with his hands reaching toward his side,
where a gun was later found. Schroering said Mattingly already suspected the
teen had a weapon.

"At that instant in time, (Mattingly) had to make a decision: Live or die,
right now," Schroering said. So Mattingly did what he was trained to do,
Schroering said - he fired four shots, killing Newby and stopping the
threat.

The prosecution case

Prosecutors painted a different picture in their opening statement, saying
Mattingly made "fatal" decisions and had several opportunities to avoid the
shooting.

For one thing, prosecutor Rob Bonar said, Mattingly did not have to buy
drugs from Newby, who was not the intended target that night. And with other
officers swarming in, Mattingly did not have to get out of his vehicle after
Newby and three other men snatched the drugs and money and began to run
away.

Bonar also told jurors that Mattingly never told officers he saw a gun on
Newby.

"In fact," Bonar said, "the only time officers say anything about Newby
having a gun" was after the teen was handcuffed and rolled over by other
arriving officers.

During his testimony later in the day, store owner Hill said he watched
Newby and Mattingly struggle out his store window. He said Newby soon broke
away from Mattingly and ran straight toward Hill, with his back facing the
detective.

Newby took a left in front of a car, and Mattingly "raised his weapon and
fired," Hill testified.

Prosecutors asked Hill to stand in the courtroom and show jurors what he saw
that night. Hill ran and moved his arms up and down like a sprinter.

He said he saw Mattingly's eyes, aiming, as he fired the shots. The
detective then ran to a car sitting in the store drive-through and pointed
his weapon at the people in the vehicle, ordering them to put their hands
up, Hill said.

Hill, who acknowledged under questioning by Schroering that he knew Newby
and his family, also testified that he was in shock when the shooting
occurred and had grabbed his own weapon from behind his counter.

Asked repeatedly by the defense about whether Newby was turning toward
Mattingly or reaching for something, Hill said, "He was in a running
position the last I seen him."

Colleague testifies

Detective Joe Lamb, who worked with Mattingly and was monitoring the drug
deal on the night of the shooting, also testified yesterday, saying he heard
Mattingly in a struggle and moved in.

He said he chased after two suspects that had fled the scene and did not see
the shooting.

Mattingly was fired in April from the police department after Chief Robert
White said an internal investigation had found the officer didn't face an
"immediate threat" and had other options besides shooting Newby.

The trial will resume today. It is expected to last through next week.

The jury seated yesterday morning, which includes two alternates, is made up
of 10 women, including two African Americans, and four white men.