Re: Real life murder trial

Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

. . .

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/05/14/did-a-chicago-police-officer-kill-his-girlfriend-in-self-defense-a-jury-will-decide/

Did a Chicago police officer kill his girlfriend in self-defense? A jury will
decide.               

By Madeline Buckley
Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: May 14, 2024 at 5:19 p.m.
UPDATED: May 14, 2024 at 5:37 p.m.       

Days before she was killed, Andris Wofford found a gun nestled among
clothes in her laundry basket, prosecutors said, and then made a
prophetic comment to a friend.

"If anything happens to me," prosecutors said she told her friend
shortly before her death in December 2021, "Pierre will have done it."

She was referring to Pierre Tyler, the father of her 9-month-old
daughter and then a Chicago police officer, according to prosecutors,
who said her prediction would soon come to pass.

After an argument over another woman, Tyler fired a shot that killed
the 29-year-old mother in her apartment in the 2100 block of North
Nashville Avenue in the Northwest Side's Galewood neighborhood,
according to police and prosecutors.

But Tyler, 32, standing trial on murder charges, is arguing that the 
shooting was in self-defense. He plans to take the stand later this
week, his attorney said, a relatively rare choice because of the risk 
of going up against prosecutors for questions under oath.

His attorney, Tim Grace, argued that Wofford was shot after she pointed
a weapon at the off-duty cop in a jealous rage. Prosecutors painted a    
different picture, telling jurors that Tyler fatally attacked Wofford
-- as she pressed him about his relationship with another woman --
before he launched a calculated cover-up.

The jurors, who were sworn in Tuesday, will decide which version they
believe. Family and friends gathered in a courtroom at the Leighton
Criminal Court Building, at times tearfully stepping outside when crime
scene photos and videos were on display. The trial is expected to last
until Friday.

As far as Tyler's status with the department, a Chicago police
spokeswoman Tuesday said he was "inactive" but did not have further
information. He has been held without bond since his arrest and his
name does not appear on a current list of city employees.

"Andris was a 29-year-old mother of two daughters. ... She was a   
daughter to Carl and Lisa," Assistant State's Attorney Michelle Papa        
began in her opening arguments. "She had family and friends that cared
about her."

It was early December, and Andris, a social worker, was in the midst of
preparing for the Christmas season, Papa said, taking out the stockings
and putting up the Christmas tree. She also made a consequential
decision to confront Tyler about his marital status, Papa said.     

"She believed he had been married to another woman," she said. "That
decision is what cost her her life."

Grace said Tyler wasn't married, but Andris had misunderstood something
she'd read in a court filing.

Tyler came to Wofford's apartment to talk while the children were with
relatives, Papa said, but the two began arguing. As the night grew
later, Papa said, Wofford gathered her stuff and got ready to leave, to
pick up her daughters.

"She opened the door ... and the defendant shot her one time in face,"
Papa said. "And then he left her to die in a pool of blood in the front  
entryway of her apartment."

Tyler quickly started covering his tracks, including texting her mother
that he couldn't get in touch with her, Papa said.

A detective who interviewed Tyler testified Tuesday that Tyler told him
he was meeting with a confidential informant alone during the shooting.

During his opening statement, Grace argued that Wofford became enraged
when she thought she learned Tyler was married. He said she texted
friends, telling them she was "about to go TF off." He was about to
leave, Grace said, when Wofford pointed a gun at him.              

"Pierre does what any human being would do," Grace said. "He defends
himself."

Afterward, Grace said, Tyler "made mistakes" because he felt no one         
would believe that Wofford's killing was in self-defense.            

"He's a police officer, military veteran. He's a man, she's a woman.
Nobody is going to believe him," Grace said. "These mistakes he made  
doesn't make him a murderer, it makes him a scared, panicked person, a
human being."

Later in the week, Grace said Tyler would take the stand to explain
what happened, going up against questions from "experienced        
prosecutors."

"In the end, you're going to see a broken man take that stand," Grace 
said.