Prosecution rests in trial of man accused of murdering CPD Cmdr. Paul Bauer

The prosecution team, from left, of Risa Lanier, John Maher and Anne Kelly listen to opening statements in Shomari Legghette’s trial for the murder of Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer on March 3 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. | Chicago Tribune via AP Pool

Cook County prosecutors Wednesday rested their case against Shomari Legghette, the gunman who allegedly murdered Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer in 2018.

Cook County Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar was the final witness called by the state, and spent about an hour on the stand cataloguing Bauer’s six gunshot wounds.

Jurors saw a handful of autopsy photos that were flashed on a courtroom monitoring screen. The three aisles in the courtroom gallery reserved for Bauer’s family were empty.

Shomari Legghette appears at his murder trial on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

Bauer, 53, was shot twice in the head, once in the neck and twice in the torso — each bullet causing injuries that could have proved fatal on their own, Arunkumar said. The police veteran also was struck in the arm. All but one of the gunshot wounds were “through-and-through” injuries, Arunkumar said.

Arunkumar said none of the wounds appeared to have come from gunshots that were fired at close range — an apparent blow to the defense’s claim that Legghette shot Bauer as the two men struggled in a stairwell outside the Thompson Center.

Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer

In opening statements, defense attorney Scott Kamin said Bauer put Legghette in a chokehold after chasing Legghette as he fled from officers who had spotted him urinating on a column on Lower Wacker Drive.

Arunkumar conceded during cross-examination that the multiple layers of clothing Bauer had been wearing might have prevented the tell-tale powder burns that would have appeared on his skin if he had been shot in at close range.

Legghette, 46, is expected to take the witness stand when the trial resumes Thursday.