PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Monday began week two of the murder trial of former Portsmouth Police officer Stephen Rankin.
Rankin is on trial for shooting and killing 18-year-old William Chapman in the parking lot of the Portsmouth Walmart in April of 2015. After an investigation, Rankin was indicted on first degree murder charges.
Four construction workers who saw the shooting took the stand on Monday. The men, who were working approximately 100 yards from the shooting, gave their recollections of what happened.
An assistant chief with the Portsmouth Police Department also took the stand Monday and talked about use of force policies.
The trial began last Wednesday with the jury selection process and continued Thursday with opening statements from the prosecution and defense, as well as testimonies from police officers, firefighters, Virginia State Police investigators, and a person shopping at the Walmart that day.
On Friday, the judge, jurors and lawyers took a trip to Walmart to give the jury a better perspective of where the shooting took place.
When the group returned to court, the jury was shown the taser video taken the day Chapman was shot and killed. The video was taken from the taser that Rankin was wearing and shows what happened before the shooting.
A Walmart security guard also gave his testimony Friday and was cross-examined by both the Commonwealth and Rankin's defense. The security guard described the shooting and the verbal confrontation that occurred between Rankin and Chapman.
After the cross-examination, the Commonwealth rested their case.
News 3 will be live streaming parts of the trial on WTKR.com and on the WTKR News 3 Facebook page. Stay tuned for updates!
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