Andre Hill’s trial in the slaying of ex-Columbus police officer Adam Coy continues Monday

Former Columbus police officer Adam Coy, 47 charged with murder, aggravated assault and manslaughter in connection with the shooting of 47-year-old Andre Hill on December 22, 2020.

Here’s what we learned from week one of Coy’s trial and a look at what to expect in week two.

What did we learn from the first week of the Adam Coy trial?

The first week of Coy’s trial revealed new information, including that Coy spoke to Hill before the shooting.

In introductory statements, both prosecutors and Koya’s lawyers told jurors that Coy spoke to Hill when he first arrived on Oberlin Drive.

A neighbor called Columbus police around 1:30 a.m. on December 22, 2020, to report that an SUV had been driving down the street and stopped for about three hours. Coy and Officer Amy Detweiler were dispatched to respond.

According to attorneys, Coy arrived at the scene first and approached Hill. The SUV drove two doors into a house on the other side of the address where the shooting later occurred.

Caitlin Stevens, one of Coy’s attorneys, said Coy walked up to the SUV and before he could say anything, Hill showed him a text message that said he was waiting for someone from the house to come outside.

“He seemed like he was hiding something, looked dismissive, wide-eyed and nervous,” Stevens said.

Coy got into his cruiser and saw Hill get out of the SUV, go to the house where the shooting later took place, not the house he had parked in front of, and knock on the door twice. Stephens said Hill returned to the SUV and began rummaging around the driver’s side before walking back into the driveway.

Stevens said Coy yelled and asked Hill to talk to him about what was going on, but Hill ignored him.

According to Stevens, Coy fired after seeing Hill raise his right hand from his coat pocket with a key ring that looked like a revolver in size and shape.

“He saw the glint of steel pointed in his direction, he believed it was a gun, and the evidence will show that the mistake was a reasonable one,” Stevens said. “In hindsight, no one in this courtroom disputes that the events that unfolded on December 22, 2020, were tragic. We do not lose that someone lost their life, father and friend.”

During testimony Friday, jurors saw photos of the crime scene keychain.

Detweiler testified Thursday that Coy told her when she arrived at the scene that the license plate on Hill’s car did not come back as registered to any address in the area.

Detweiler said she shined a flashlight into the dark, open garage where Hill entered and saw him in the back of the garage. She said Hill came back to her with a cell phone in his left hand and she couldn’t see the right side of his body.

Detweiler testified that she heard Coy yell, “Gun, gun, he’s got a gun in his other hand” before hearing the shots. She testified that Detweiler did not fire the weapon, which was also drawn.

Detweiler said she raised her weapon when Coy yelled “gun” but did not fire because she did not see a weapon on Hill.

“If you felt threatened with death, would you shoot?” asked Mark Collins, another of Coy’s defenders.

“I would shoot,” Detweiler said.

“Do you have any doubt that Adam Coy believed (Hill) had a gun,” Collins asked.

“No,” replied Detweiler.

Jurors also heard testimony Friday from another Columbus police officer who responded and an Upper Arlington paramedic who treated Hill after the shooting.

What evidence was presented at the trial of Adam Coy?

Crime scene photos and evidence were shown to jurors Friday, along with information from Hill’s autopsy.

Evidence collected on Oberlin Drive was shown to jurors Friday, including a key Hill had at the time.

The key ring, which was measured on the witness stand, stretched more than 8 ½ inches in length with the car key fob and other object removed.

Jurors also saw other evidence, including shell casings, Coy’s gun used in the shooting and Hill’s cell phone.

The medical examiner also testified Friday about Hill’s four gunshot wounds and the bullets recovered during the autopsy. Hill suffered four stab wounds, including one to the chest, which resulted in significant internal bleeding and blood loss.

What’s in store for the second week of Adam Coe’s trial?

Testimony in Coy’s trial is expected to continue on Monday. Prosecutors did not say how many witnesses they plan to call to testify.

Coy is expected to testify in his own defense after the prosecution concludes.

Police use-of-force experts are also expected to testify for both sides. Prosecutors said they would call Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who also testified in court former Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Mead.

Stoughton has testified in several high-profile police cases, including the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of killing George Floyd Jr. in May 2020.

Coy’s defense team is expected to call former Akron police officer Kevin Davis and former Columbus police officer Jim Scanlon.

Davis testified in other police use-of-force cases, including the Mead trial and the trial of former Columbus police officer Andrew Mitchell.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What we learned from the first week of the trial of a former Columbus police officer