Jan. 16--A Park Forest police officer took the witness stand Thursday in his own defense, telling a judge he fired beanbag rounds from a shotgun at an elderly man wielding a knife out of fear for his life and that of four other officers with him.
Craig Taylor, an officer since 2004, testified that he was following the instructions of his superior when he fired five beanbag rounds from a shotgun before John Wrana Jr. dropped the knife.
Taylor said that after the first shot or two failed to knock the knife out of Wrana's hand, he felt he had the authority to use lethal force -- opening fire with his handgun -- but chose not to in part because of Wrana's advanced age.
The Tribune had interviewed Taylor for a front-page story last month, but this marked his first public comments on the shooting itself.
Taylor testified that he feared for his life as soon as officers opened the door to Wrana's apartment at a retirement center and saw him holding a knife and threatening to kill police.
"I was afraid for me and I was afraid for my fellow officers," Taylor said. "I felt I needed to do something to stop that threat."
On cross-examination, a Cook County prosecutor tried to play up the difference in size between the diminutive Wrana, 11 days shy of his 96th birthday, and the beefy Taylor.
Emotions were rising on the third day of the high-profile trial. Before testimony began Thursday, Wrana's grandson, issued an emotional statement, criticizing Taylor's lawyer for "disparaging our grandfather under the cloak of providing the best defense."
Then attorneys sparred during the testimony of a nurse who was working at Wrana's retirement home when he was shot in July 2013. Taylor's lawyer, Terry Ekl, complained that the prosecutor was "just playing to the media" by asking the nurse to recount how Wrana would talk about his World War II service and his beloved wife.
"Are you kidding me?" responded Assistant State's Attorney Regina Mescall, saying Wrana's state of mind that day was an issue in the case.
"I've heard enough about World War II," Ekl said. "It's nothing but an attempt to create more sympathy for Mr. Wrana."
After more bickering, Associate Judge Luciano Panici ordered the attorneys to stop fighting.
"I don't want to hear any more side comments," the judge said.
Panici, who is presiding over the trial, could decide Taylor's fate as soon as Friday. Testimony is scheduled to end after an expert on police techniques takes the stand. Closing arguments would then take place.
In testimony Thursday, an Illinois State Police investigator who reviewed the shooting at the request of the Park Forest Police Department said he found no evidence that Taylor had acted unreasonably or recklessly.
"He followed a plan that was put into place (by a superior)," said Special Agent Michael Minniear.
Tom Mangerson, the grandson who delivered the statement as other Wrana family members stood behind him, paused often as he struggled to keep his composure.
"The truth is that the statements made that John Wrana and his family refused surgery and chose to allow him to die are not only reprehensible but disgusting," said Mangerson, his hand shaking as he addressed reporters at the Markham courthouse. "To us they are also completely false. Our grandfather was 11 days shy of his 96th birthday and loved his family and his life.
"We know that the truth is that he decided some years ago not to be put on life support in the event of his ever falling ill. He made that choice well-known and documented, but he never in his wildest dreams could have imagined that he would have fallen as he did at the hands of the police officer shooting him five times at close range at his assisted living facility.
"He did not want to die in the way the Park Forest police chose for him," Mangerson said.
Prosecutors rested their criminal case Wednesday after calling six witnesses over two days.
Francis Murphy, a former Secret Service supervisor who is the expert at the heart of the prosecution's case, testified Wednesday that the veteran cop acted recklessly by firing the beanbag rounds at Wrana, calling the actions "unreasonable and unnecessary."
But on cross-examination, Murphy acknowledged that other possible options to subdue the knife-wielding Wrana posed serious threats to his health.
The defense started with testimony from two of Taylor's colleagues, who both said they feared for their lives as Wrana refused to drop the knife.
Taylor, a Park Forest officer since 2004, is charged with a single count of reckless conduct. Panici, who is presiding over the bench trial, will decide his fate.
With little dispute over what happened that night at Wrana's retirement home, the trial could hinge on competing testimony from experts on police tactics.
Murphy testified that the team of five officers that responded to a call of a threatening resident at Victory Centre needlessly escalated the situation by confronting Wrana, referring to it as "officer-created jeopardy." Officers entered his room three times over a short period, he said.
"They didn't start by giving it some cooling-off time," Murphy said. "They kept going into his room and agitating him."
Murphy said the officers should have used a ballistic shield to knock Wrana to the floor in order to disarm him.
"He was an old man," Murphy said. "They had five police officers to take down this 5-(foot)-5, 160-pound person."
According to trial testimony, at least three of the officers were near 6 feet tall or more and weighed in excess of 200 pounds each.
Murphy also disputed that Taylor faced an imminent threat when he opened fire, arguing that the 2-foot-wide steel shield provided the officers protection if Wrana had tried to throw the knife.
But on cross-examination by Ekl, Murphy acknowledged that Wrana could have been seriously injured if the officers had tried to use the 35-pound shield to overpower him. Even using pepper spray could have caused problems for Wrana, he conceded.
Murphy also maintained that Taylor should have fired at Wrana's arms, legs or buttocks rather than his chest. Photos displayed in court Wednesday showed two large welts on Wrana's abdomen and another on the right side of his chest.
In separate testimony Wednesday, a Cook County assistant medical examiner testified that Wrana had an enlarged heart.
After the prosecution rested, the defense asked the judge to throw out the charges against Taylor, but Panici declined.
In arguing their points, attorneys for both sides gave a glimpse of their likely closing arguments.
Tracy Stanker, another Taylor attorney, said the criminal charge rested on nothing more than the opinion of a paid prosecution expert witness.
"All the factual evidence clearly established that Craig Taylor acted reasonably under the circumstances," she said.
But prosecutors said Wrana was a "confused and scared and elderly gentleman," not a threat to five armed police officers.
"This wasn't some thug out on the street threatening police officers," Assistant State's Attorney Clarissa Palermo said. "This was an elderly gentleman alone in his room who just wanted to be left alone."
Taylor's attorneys began putting on their case Wednesday afternoon, calling two of the officers who responded to Wrana's room with Taylor and witnessed what happened.
Both said Taylor followed protocol when he shot the rounds, pausing for a few seconds between shots, after Wrana ignored orders to drop the knife.
"We were amazed that he was still standing (after the first round)," testified Park Forest Officer Charlie Hoskins, who said he initially thought he could talk Wrana into going to a hospital.
Taylor's supervisor, Cpl. Lloyd Elliot, testified that officers would have been justified in opening fire with a handgun after Wrana repeatedly threatened them. "I thought deadly force was authorized, and we were using reasonable force under the circumstances," he said.
Police were called to the retirement home after Wrana resisted efforts by staff and paramedics to take him to a hospital for a urine test and psychiatric evaluation.
sschmadeke@tribpub.com
Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
