COLUMBUS, Ohio — Witness testimony continued Thursday in the murder trial of a former Columbus vice squad officer charged in the 2018 fatal shooting of a 23-year-old woman.
Andrew Mitchell is charged with murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Donna Castleberry.
On the night Castleberry was killed, Mitchell had picked her up as part of an alleged prostitution sting. Mitchell was not in uniform at the time, and Castleberry reportedly asked to see proof of his badge, which he could not provide. Police said the two fought and Mitchell fatally shot Castleberry after she stabbed him in the hand.
Use of force expert Jamie Borden was at the center of debate in the courtroom Thursday.
Borden, who is a retired police officer, contended in court Thursday. there was so much time between the shots Mitchell fired. He added that it showed a deliberative action and not self-defense as the defense claims.
“What guided my decision is the increments in time in which assessment should have happened. Evidence showed there was no continued attack. The failure to note the change in circumstance in real time by the officer,” Borden said.
Defense attorney Mark Collins questioned Borden’s methods of coming to their conclusion, arguing that Mitchell acted as any reasonable officer would have done so in that situation.
Collins: “In your own statement you put you hear him say she cut me, he cut me, you hear that, correct?”
Borden: “Correct.”
Collins: “But you say he never said a concern about weapons after that. She never answered his questions about weapons. correct? He point-blank asked, ‘do you have any weapons on you? She was deceptive.”
Borden: “She didn’t say anything. He asked if she had weapons. She omitted.”
Witness testimony is scheduled to continue Friday morning.
Mitchell is also facing federal charges for allegedly forcing women to have sex with him under the threat of an arrest, pressuring others to cover up crimes and lying to federal investigators when he said he'd never had sex with prostitutes.
Last year, Columbus City Council approved a settlement of more than $1 million in Castleberry's death.