GRETNA, La. — Day 2 in the manslaughter trial of two former Jefferson Parish deputies was all about prosecutors connecting the dots for the jury.
Jonathon Louis and Isaac Hughes are accused of using unjustified deadly force during a chaotic and tense confrontation in Marrero.
They were responding to a noise complaint in the early morning hours of February 16, 2022.
Defense attorneys claim the men shot 34-year-old Daniel Vallee in self-defense, fearing their lives were in danger.
JP Sgt. Donald Clogher, the lead homicide investigator, took jurors through security video from down the street of the final moments leading up to the police shooting.
It showed Vallee in a white SUV, turning the engine on and off several times.
The jury also watched a body camera video from Hughes and Louis.
They showed deputies repeatedly ordering Vallee to get out of the vehicle with Vallee becoming increasingly more agitated as he refused their commands.
About 15 minutes into the encounter, the video showed Vallee restarting and revving the engine, dropping his hands, and beeping his horn.
That’s when Hughes and Lous started shooting, striking and killing Vallee.
Sgt. Clogher testified Vallee’s vehicle never moved.
Prosecutors played the former deputies' sworn statements following the shooting.
At one point Sgt. Clogher asked Hughes why he fired his weapon at Vallee.
Hughes told him, “He’s skittish and threatening to drive off. I told him to stop reaching. I didn’t know if he was reaching for a gun or not…I saw the guy’s hand drop and I believed the car was coming toward me and I fired rounds.”
Earlier, former JPSO Deputy Chief Tim Scanlin, the lead crime scene analyst on the case, testified that the only guns fired, and bullet casings found at the scene belonged to Hughes and Louis.
He also said the evidence indicated they fired at Vallee 27 times with 7 or 8 bullets striking his body.
Under defense questioning, Scanlin admitted he could not conclude any of the bullets recovered from Vallee’s body came from Hughes’ gun.
The jury is also expected to hear from use-of-force expert Ken Katsaris.
He is expected to testify that Hughes and Louis were not in imminent danger and there was no justifiable reason to use deadly force.
WWL's Lily Cummings with a Day 2 recap below:
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