First defense witness in APD officer’s deadly conduct trial delayed due to sick juror

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The deadly conduct trial for Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor is delayed until Tuesday because of a sick juror.

Judge Dayna Blazey said Monday the trial is in recess until 9 a.m. Tuesday. The defense had been expected to call their first witness Monday, after the state rested Friday.

Taylor faces the charge in the 2019 death of Mauris DeSilva. Police responded to DeSilva’s downtown apartment condo complex after receiving multiple calls that he was walking around with a knife to his throat.

Prosecutors said he was undergoing a “profound” mental health episode and officers did not need to shoot him. Taylor’s attorneys said DeSilva was close enough to officers with a weapon at the time of the shooting to pose a threat and that Taylor acted in self defense.

Body camera video of the moment police shot DeSilva is below.

The State called about 10 witnesses last week, including DeSilva’s father, who spoke about his son’s academic and career achievements on the stand. He cried briefly when prosecutors presented a photo of DeSilva in a button-up shirt and tie.

Other witnesses included APD officers, 911 callers, a ballistics expert and people who worked at the condo complex and also saw DeSilva with the knife.

Prosecutors questioned the three other officers who responded with Taylor about why they did not wait for a mental health officer to arrive and why they planned to confront DeSilva with weapons. All of the officers said DeSilva’s behavior not only posed a threat to himself, but to other people in the complex because DeSilva was in a common area.

Taylor originally faced a murder charge in this case, but the district attorney’s office dropped that charge earlier this month, so he only faces the deadly conduct charge. One other officer, Karl Krycia, also shot DeSilva. According to online court records, he still faces a murder charge.

Last year, Taylor stood trial for murder in a different case, the 2020 death of Michael Ramos. That trial ended in a hung jury . This June, a grand jury no-billed the case , so Taylor no longer faces any charges in that incident.

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