A Hummelstown, Pennsylvania police officer is on trial in the fatal shooting of a man earlier this year.
Officer Lisa Mearkle shot and killed 59-year-old David Kassick after he fled a traffic stop in South Hanover Township in February, according to The Patriot-News.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Baer argued on the first day of the trial Tuesday that Mearkle shot the unarmed man twice in the back without good cause.
Mearkle is charged with third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
The shooting was captured on a camera in the officer's Taser, which the prosecution called the "the most critical piece of evidence in this case."
Defense Attorney Brian Perry urged the jurors to consider Mearkle's side of the story. He said that when Kassick got out of the car and ran, five times he reached into "the red zone" -- the torso area where weapons usually are concealed -- and ignored the officer's repeated orders to stop and show his hands.
Mearkle gave the commands 23 times, before unsuccessfully using her Taser on the man before she opened fire.
"She's out there by herself. Her backup is 3 to 5 minutes away," Perry said, stressing that Mearkle feared for her life when she pulled the trigger.
