Investigator says ex-officer's explanation of
fatal shooting seemed 'scripted'
By Pat Reavy, Deseret
SALT LAKE CITY — Did former West Valley
police detective Shaun Cowley have enough probable cause to draw his weapon
when he approached Danielle Willard's vehicle, a minute or two before she was
fatally shot?
That was a big point of contention during the
first day of Cowley's scheduled three-day preliminary hearing in 3rd District
Court Monday. The former detective is charged with manslaughter in the November
2012 shooting death of Willard, 21, during a botched undercover drug operation.
Taking the witness stand for the state for
the majority of the day was West Valley police detective David Greco, who
assisted with the department's investigation into the shooting.
Greco testified that Cowley said he drew his
weapon on Willard as part of a "lifesaving effort" after he saw her
put a black substance into her mouth — an explanation Greco said he found odd.
"When she's placing this substance in
her mouth, he immediately went to (the) gun and ordered her to spit it
out," Greco testified.
He said Cowley further testified in December
of 2012 that Willard "was just kind of staring at him with a blank look on
her face."
But during cross-examination, defense
attorney Lindsay Jarvis noted that Cowley actually tried to first talk Willard
out of the car, as he told her, "Open the door, we'll work it out."
The testimony discussed in court came from a
deposition taken about six weeks after the shooting. Greco was present when
Cowley was questioned about what happened that day. The interview was conducted
by former West Valley police detective Bruce Champagne at the request of
Cowley's defense team. Both Cowley and his partner Kevin Salmon — who was also
involved in the shooting but not charged — voluntarily agreed to the interview,
though they had not agreed to be interviewed yet by the Salt Lake County
District Attorney's Office.
At that time, there was another West Valley
police shooting that was declared legally unjustified by Sim Gill, creating
trust issues among some members of the department.
Greco testified Monday that the interview seemed
odd.
"From the very get-go, we were
concerned. There were red flags," he said.
Greco said Cowley's interview seemed
"scripted," and even though "he appeared nervous, which is
normal," Cowley's body language was not scripted.
"He avoided eye contact with us,"
he said.
During cross-examination, Jarvis grilled
Greco about what the red flags were and why he didn't raise any of his concerns
at the time of the interview.
"We didn't want to push the
interview," Greco replied.
One of the main points of contention during
Greco's time on the stand was whether Cowley had cause to draw his weapon when
he approached Willard's vehicle. Greco said it was not a felony traffic stop
and Cowley failed to follow proper West Valley police protocol on a number of
occasions that day, including failing to call for backup officers dressed in
regular uniforms to handle the traffic stop on Willard, or at least box her in
first with another vehicle.
Jarvis, however, pointed out that narcotics
officers performed these types of drug stops everyday. She was also quick to
note that other officers violated department procedures themselves that day
when Cowley's car was improperly removed from the crime scene before it was
correctly processed and secured, and later returned to the apartment complex
parking lot after police realized their mistake.
During her cross-examination, Jarvis pointed
out that Cowley and Salmon had been investigating a suspected drug house where
drugs, weapons and counterfeit money were believed to be traded by white
supremacist gang members, giving them reason to be cautious. Furthermore,
several felonies were committed, including the suspected possession of heroin.
Cowley's defense team eventually had Salmon's
testimony from that day admitted as evidence despite the objection of
prosecutors.
Greco testified that the evidence collected
by the accident reconstruction team did not match Cowley's version of the
events. Cowley claimed his second shot was fired as he was falling, Greco said.
But the trajectory of his shot didn't show that.
The state's second witness of the day was
Michael Haag, a forensic scientist who specializes in firearms reconstruction.
Haag used 3-D computer generation graphics to illustrate that the trajectory of
Cowley's two shots came from the driver's side of Willard's car and not the
rear.
The defense is expected to launch into their
lengthy cross-examination Tuesday morning, but Jarvis noted during earlier
cross-examination that Cowley had just two seconds to react to a situation —
the car backing out — that lasted only three seconds.
During preliminary hearings, prosecutors try
to present enough evidence to convince a judge that there is probable cause to
believe the crimes occurred and were committed by the defendant. It's a low
burden of proof, and in most preliminary hearings, judges ultimately order the
defendants to stand trial on their charges. But Cowley's attorneys appear to be
putting on a full-press defense hoping to ensure it doesn't get past the
preliminary hearing phase.
"Unlike most preliminary trials, we plan
to defend Mr. Cowley vigorously during this process to prove that he was, in
fact, justified during this shooting. We anticipate that once this preliminary
trial and the information we have to present gets out there, that it will not
bind over," Brandy Vega, spokeswoman for the Cowley defense team, said
outside the courtroom Monday. "We are confident that once the facts of
this case get out, he will be vindicated."
The courtroom was split on both sides of the
aisle with supporters for Cowley and friends and family members of Willard,
including Melissa Kennedy, Willard's mother from Washington, who sat in the
front row.
Cowley, wearing a blue dress shirt, sat
attentively as he listened to Greco's testimony. Most of his supporters also
wore blue, many wearing blue T-shirts with the words "Team Cowley"
written on the back. Salmon was also in the courtroom, sitting on Cowley's side
of the aisle. He is not expected to testify during the preliminary hearing.
Last year, Salt Lake County District Attorney
Sim Gill determined the shooting was not legally justified. He said a panel of
experts helped him decide that Cowley's fatal shot was fired from the side of
Willard's vehicle, not from behind, so he was not in danger of being run over and
his life was not at imminent risk when he fired. The criminal charge was filed
because of the "reckless" nature that Cowley acted, Gill said.
