Closing arguments expected for man shot by police
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Attorneys were expected to offer closing arguments in the criminal trial of a black man who was shot and paralyzed from the waist down by one of three white Pittsburgh police officers during a traffic stop nearly two years ago.
Twenty-one-year-old Leon Ford, of Shaler, is charged with aggravated assault and other crimes because Allegheny County prosecutors contend he endangered the officers by trying to drive away after he was pulled over for speeding.
But Ford’s attorneys contend he was really stopped because police believed he was mistaken for a suspected gang member with a similar name, and that he didn’t intend to harm anyone – let alone try to push an officer out of his moving car. That officer, David Derbish, shot Ford five times during the incident on Nov. 11, 2012.