Prosecutors rested their case on Thursday in the criminal trial of Brian North, a Connecticut state trooper who shot and killed 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in 2020, after nearly a week of arguments. 

North is facing a manslaughter charge for the shooting death of Soulemane, a Black man with a history of mental illness who led police on a high-speed chase on Interstate 95 in January 2020.

Connecticut Inspector General and Special Prosecutor Robert Devlin set the stage for North’s defense counsel to decide whether to have the officer testify in front of the six-member jury. 

If North were to take the stand, the state would be able to question him in an open courtroom about his actions. 

The essential question in the case is whether North was justified in shooting and killing Soulemane, who the state argues was not a threat at the time of his death.

Throughout the opening week of the high-profile criminal trial, both prosecutors and North’s defense team have been largely focused on what happened in the lead-up to Soulemane crashing a car under a highway overpass in West Haven.

They talked about Soulemane’s mental health and his diagnosis of schizophrenia. They showed video footage of him holding a knife in a store in Norwalk and later stealing a white Hyundai Sonata from a Lyft driver. They discussed how he drove that vehicle in a high-speed pursuit along I-95. 

The prosecutors presented evidence ranging from Soulemane’s blood-stained white T-shirt and dark Hollister jacket, with Taser wire hanging from the arm, to the gun North killed him with. They also showed surveillance and body camera footage, including the moment North fired his weapon at Soulemane through the rolled-up car window. 

On Thursday, Devlin called Sgt. Ross Dalling, who took part in the pursuit of Soulemane’s vehicle and was on the scene at the time of his killing; Tom Kiely, a retired trooper who questioned North on the night of the incident; Douglas Lacey, a forensic video examiner; Lisa Ragaza, a state forensic science examiner; and Jacqueline Nunez, who conducted Soulemane’s autopsy, to testify.

Soulemane’s family watched silently as the prosecutors and Nunez discussed the 19-year-old’s autopsy and showed the jury photos of his lifeless body, from the chin down, with bullet holes across his chest. At one point, Soulemane’s sister, Mariyann, moved to console their mother, Omo Mohammed, by clinging onto her right arm. 

Tensions reached a high point earlier in the day when Devlin questioned Dalling, who was alongside other officers near Soulemane during his final moments under the West Haven overpass. 

Dalling testified that he was at the State Police’s Bridgeport barracks when he learned of the incident. He had also heard over the radio that there was a carjacking and that the suspect possessed a knife. 

While in pursuit, he said he observed Soulemane driving recklessly and that there were reports of the young man colliding with other vehicles. He also said he and another state trooper, Joshua Jackson, had attempted to slow the Hyundai down but were unsuccessful. 

“The plan was to stop the threat,” Dalling testified.

Devlin, however, questioned whether Soulemane was a threat while he sat still in an immobile vehicle with locked doors and closed windows (prior to police breaking the front passenger window), boxed in by police cruisers under an overpass. 

Devlin also said that no one appeared to take control of the chaotic situation and that the officers stood by while lethal force was used in an instance where it was not necessary. 

Frank Riccio, North’s defense attorney, said that no officer took control of the situation because it was chaotic. Riccio acknowledged that police are instructed to use less-than-lethal force but argued that the events leading up to the incident called for further action.

Nevertheless, Devlin continued interrogating Dalling about it. 

“He’s sitting in the car, unresponsive, surrounded by police officers with the doors locked and the windows up,” Devlin said. “Correct?”

“Again, not listening to commands,” Dalling responded. 

“He wasn’t acting out. He wasn’t threatening you. He was sitting there in the car, staring straight forward in almost a catatonic state,” Devlin said. “Wasn’t that true?”

“So you are going to single that one incident out from the whole pursuit up 95?” Dalling asked. 

“Yeah, because in that one incident, that’s where you used lethal force,” Devlin said. “That’s right. I am.”

“That’s what he drove the situation to be,” Dalling said.