Jury deliberating in case of off-duty cop accused of slur, threats
A Philadelphia jury will continue deliberating Friday in the trial of a former Philadelphia police officer accused of hurling racial epithets and threatening to kill an African American man during a predawn traffic mishap in South Philadelphia.
A Philadelphia jury will continue deliberating Friday in the trial of a former Philadelphia police officer accused of hurling racial epithets and threatening to kill an African American man during a predawn traffic mishap in South Philadelphia.
The Common Pleas Court jury of nine women and three men - including three African Americans - reviewed the evidence for about three hours Thursday before breaking in the trial of Edward Sawicki III.
Sawicki, 36, a police officer for almost nine years, the son of a city police officer and nephew of another, is charged with simple assault, terroristic threats, and a weapons count, in an Oct. 20, 2013, altercation with Lamar Fouse, 39.
The incident happened about 2:45 a.m. at Ninth and Wharton Streets, one of South Philly's iconic intersections, the site of Geno's and Pat's cheesesteak shops.
On Wednesday, Fouse and Sawicki gave the jury starkly different versions of the confrontation.
Fouse testified that Sawicki bumped his leg while parking his car and then became infuriated when Fouse banged on the off-duty officer's car and said, "You hit me."
Fouse said Sawicki used a racial epithet toward him and added, "I'll smoke you" while pulling up his shirt to reveal a pistol.
Sawicki denied using racial slurs or threatening Fouse and told the jury Fouse was out of control. Sawicki said he thought Fouse was trying to stage a false-accident scam and then caused a scene when he realized Sawicki was a police officer.
In addition to Sawicki's testimony in his defense, defense attorneys William J. Brennan and Richard J. Fuschino Jr. called a half-dozen character witnesses, including Sawicki's supervisor in the 25th Police District, Sgt. Wali Shabazz, who is black.
In an impassioned 50-minute closing to the jury, Brennan attacked the credibility of Fouse and of Daniel Iannuzzi, then a Pat's Steaks employee, who testified that he saw the heated dispute between Sawicki and Fouse and heard the officer threaten Fouse.
Brennan referred to "that liar Fouse" and "that moron Iannuzzi" and cited Iannuzzi's trial testimony during which he said he now could not be sure which man was using racial slurs.
Brennan urged the jurors not to be swayed by the climate of racial polarization in the U.S. or headlines about police violence against African Americans.
"In the climate of this country, race is an issue, and it's always an issue," Brennan said.
Then, walking behind Sawicki and putting his hands on his client's shoulders, Brennan told the jury: "There are a lot of police officers committing bad acts. This isn't one of them. This is one of the good guys."
Assistant District Attorney Michael Bonner told the jury that both Fouse and Iannuzzi were understandably nervous testifying. But he added that the initial statements that they gave police an hour after the incident were mutually consistent even though neither man ever met.
"Both of them said Sawicki said, 'I'll smoke you,' " Bonner told the jury. "It has the ring of truth. Where else would that word come from?"
Bonner accused the defense lawyers of criticizing the quality of the investigation of Sawicki and said the lack of any video of the incident recovered from a Pat's security camera was an attempt to draw the jury's attention from "the facts of this case."
"If you don't have the facts, you must distract," Bonner added.
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