Related story: Dallas officer’s killer has lengthy record, police say
Officer Down: Senior Cpl Mark T. Nix
By Tiara M. Ellis
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A Dallas jury on Thursday convicted a 28-year-old man of fatally shooting a Dallas officer after a 2007 police chase.
Wesley Lynn Ruiz was convicted of capital murder and may now face the death penalty.
The verdict was read before a packed courtroom filled with many colleagues of Senior Cpl. Mark Nix. Cpl. Nix’s mom and sister cried as they learned the verdict.
After hearing five days of testimony, including watching a police car dash camera video of the shooting, the jury began deliberating at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
State District Judge Ernest White cleared his courtroom just before 2 p.m. so the jury could watch the police car dash camera video again. At that time, the jury had been deliberating Ruiz’s fate for about 2 1/2 hours.
The jury sent out a note at 1:45 p.m. asking to review the video, which was originally played in court the first day of the trial last week. The court was reopened and the jury resumed deliberations around 2:30.
Ruiz took the witness stand Wednesday and told the jury that he shot Cpl. Nix after a short car chase through West Dallas, because he feared for his life. He said Cpl. Nix was beating his car window and threatening to kill him.
Ruiz also testified that the officers were shooting at him before he shot Cpl. Nix.
In Ruiz’s point of view, he was protecting himself, said defense attorney Paul Brauchle.
“Mr. Ruiz thought his actions were reasonable. I think you will, too,” Brauchle told the jury during his closing argument this morning.
Prosecutors disagreed, saying that police did not start shooting until after Cpl. Nix was shot in the chest and fell to the ground. They asked jurors to look at the video and judge for themselves.
“He admits he pointed the gun and pulled the trigger,” said prosecutor Kevin Brooks during his closing argument.
Brooks held up Cpl. Nix’s police badge and told the jury that Ruiz’s claim of self defense is ridiculous.
“If you buy into that, then you’re taking this badge and you’re turning it into a target for every violent offender walking the streets today,” Brooks said.
Cpl. Nix was the 77th Dallas officer killed in the line of duty.
Copyright 2008 The Dallas Morning News