A federal judge made a preliminary ruling Thursday that state police will be able to use video animations to support their defense in an upcoming civil trial probing the 2002 shooting death of an unarmed 12-year-old boy in Uniontown.
Michael Ellerbe's father, Michael Hickenbottom, sued two troopers after his son was shot on the afternoon of Christmas Eve 2002 as he ran down a city alley from a stolen Ford Bronco.
The defense team hired Precise Inc. of Pittsburgh to render three-dimensional animations of the scene, based on measurements and angles recorded by PennDOT.
But one of Hickenbottom's attorneys, Robert M. Giroux Jr., argued the animations are prejudicial, inaccurate and lacked a foundation for presentation to a jury at the February trial.
Giroux even criticized the colors in the animations, saying police officers and their vehicle were cast in blue light, to which "people react favorably," but Ellerbe was shown in red, to which people react less favorably. Defense attorney Andrew K. Fletcher said he would agree to alter the color scheme.
While U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti noted some differences in trees and fences in photographs of the scene and the animations, she said animations documenting one side's theory of a case are a permissible form of evidence as long as jurors are informed.
In considering its use, Conti said the animations must be authenticated and relevant and not present any "undue" prejudice against a party.
"The idea is to give the jury perspective on where the events happened," said Fletcher, who represents officers Juan Curry and Samuel Nassan.
Fletcher said the animations show the width and length of streets and the height of buildings. The defense contends that a purported eyewitness, now 15, could not have seen the shooting from his Cleveland Avenue window.
Curry testified at a January 2003 inquest that his gun accidentally discharged as he climbed a 4-foot fence and fell. Nassan said he heard the shot and saw Curry fall.
Thinking his partner was shot, Nassan said, he fired a round at Ellerbe.
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