Defense attorneys began to cross-examine a police officer who shot the defendant
NEWARK -- As an assistant prosecutor played a recording of police radio traffic in a county courtroom Wednesday, East Orange Police Detective Kemon Lee quickly identified himself calling for backup on May 1, 2015, the night authorities say Andre Higgs gunned down Latrena May on the steps of her East Orange home.
Latrena May. (Facebook)"We got a victim, and a suspect inside the building -- shots fired," his voice crackled from a speaker in front of the jury box.
The officer said he shot Higgs when the man shot May in front of him, after she called out to Lee as his patrol car passed her Tremont Avenue home.
Higgs, 45, of Watchung, is on trial before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler on murder and other charges in the death of May, 27, the mother of Higgs' child and a teacher at Pride Academy Charter School.
Higgs survived his injuries, while May died of three gunshot wounds, her death ruled a homicide by an assistant medical examiner. The couple's then 4-year-old daughter was inside the home at the time of May's shooting, but was unharmed, authorities said.
The state Attorney General's Office later determined Lee's use of force was justified, but defense attorney Remi Spencer argued in openings Tuesday that her client was only charged with May's death as a result of Lee's actions -- a theory co-counsel Joseph P. Rem Jr. pursued in his cross examination of Lee in the second day of trial.
Lee testified under direct examination that when he heard May calling "officer, officer" as he passed, he made a U-turn and pulled up in front of the house with his car's overhead emergency lights on.
As he got out of the car and approached, Lee unholstered his department-issued .40-caliber pistol, his finger off the trigger, he said.
Under cross-examination by Rem on Wednesday, Lee told the jury that he did not recall May saying anything as he approached her and Higgs, who were standing on the home's top step.
Rem, pointing out that guidelines from the state Attorney General's Office clearly specify the circumstances under which an officer may unholster their firearm, asked him why he felt the need to approach the couple with his gun out.
The officer responded that because Higgs was almost a foot taller than May, the two were standing extremely close together and she had called for a police officer, he felt he needed to display his firearm to "establish and maintain control in a potentially dangerous situation."
Rem's cross examination of Lee drew numerous objections from Edwab, several of which resulted in sidebar conversations between the attorneys and the judge.
Defense shifts blame in teacher's killing
After Wigler excused the jury for the day, the assistant prosecutor told the judge that while he did not want to continue to lodge objections to Rem's cross examination of Lee, the questioning seemed to indicate Higgs' attorneys were pursuing a self-defense argument the judge had not previously authorized.
"That's our issue," he said. "If they're saying he fired his weapon because the officer fired his weapon, then they're saying self-defense."
Wigler pointed out that the state Attorney General's Office had already determined Lee's shooting of Higgs was "completely justified."
"Well, they didn't speak to my client, obviously," Rem said.
The attorney argued that he and Spencer aren't pursuing a self-defense argument, but rather challenging the narrative that Higgs purposefully shot May in front of a police officer, a theory Rem said "flies in the face of common sense."
By probing the officer's recollections of when and why he shot Higgs, he argued, he was examining Lee's credibility in an attempt to show jurors a reasonable doubt exists as to Higgs' guilt.
"That's all I have to show," Rem said.
The judge ultimately said he will allow the defense to continue to pursue that line of questioning. While Higgs' attorneys may cross-examine Lee as to his role in their client's shooting, Wigler on Tuesday barred them from raising the subject of previous shootings he was involved in as a police officer.
The jury is not sitting Thursday, and the trial is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.