Jury has case in murdered cop trial

AKRON, Ohio - The jury now has the case in the trial of Ashford Thompson, the man charged with the aggravated murder of Twinsburg police officer Josh Miktarian.

Closing arguments were given Wednesday morning, and the case was handed over to the jury just before noon. The jury was unable to reach a verdict Wednesday and will return Thursday morning.

On Tuesday, the defense rested its case after calling just one witness: Thompson's girlfriend.

Danielle Roberson testified Thompson was "an arm's length away" when he fired the first shot. She did not want to be videotaped while she was on the witness chair.

Defense attorney Kerry O'Brien asked Roberson, "Where did Ashford shoot the officer first?"  Roberson said, "I believe the forehead."

Roberson said Thompson then shot two more times. Roberson said she knew Thompson had a gun, but didn't see it on the night of the killing.

She said she was a passenger in Thompson's car when he got stopped for playing loud music just before 2 a.m. on July 13, 2008.

Roberson said she heard a verbal exchange between the officer and Thompson and, at one point, saw Thompson fall to the ground.

Roberson testified she saw Miktarian put a handcuff on Thompson and then the officer started pushing him towards the cruiser. After that, Roberson told the jury, "He (Miktarian) kind of slammed him (Thompson) on the hood of the car."

Prosecutors said Roberson never mentioned that version of events when she was questioned by police hours after the murder.

Roberson testified she was outside of the car when she saw Thompson fire the first shot.

During cross-examination, Roberson said she asked Thompson, "Why did you do that?"

If the jury convicts Thompson of aggravated murder, he could get the death penalty.

The defense is trying to convince the jury to convict Thompson of murder instead of the more serious charge of aggravated murder.

The jury should begin their deliberations around noon on Wednsday.  If the jurors don't reach a verdict by the end of the day, they will be sequestered.