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February 9, 2000 Doctor Links Diallo Death to Early ShotBy JANE FRITSCH ALBANY, Feb. 8 -- The pathologist who performed the autopsy on Amadou Diallo's body testified today that the bullet that tore through his aorta and spinal cord, and probably caused his death, came early in the barrage of 19 shots that struck him as he stood in the lobby of his Bronx apartment building one year ago. And, the doctor said, at least one bullet hit Mr. Diallo while he was lying on the floor. "Early on, he's on the way down or down," said Dr. Joseph Cohen, the final prosecution witness in the murder trial of four New York City police officers who fired 41 shots at Mr. Diallo, who was unarmed. A bullet that entered his lower right leg and lodged near his knee had to have struck him while he was down, Dr. Cohen said, and two others, including one that entered the bottom of his shoe and exited from the top, very likely did. Defense lawyers spent much of the day cross-examining Dr. Cohen in an effort to raise doubts about his conclusions. One suggested that he was grasping at straws. "No, I'm not," Dr. Cohen replied. Dr. Cohen left the New York City medical examiner's office last year and is now the chief pathologist in Riverside County, Calif. The defense plans to call its own pathologist in an effort to refute Dr. Cohen's statements. The prosecutors intended Dr. Cohen's testimony and explicit photographs of the wounds as a powerful ending to their case. They have presented 12 witness over four days who testified about the lighting at the scene of the shooting, the recovery of bullets and fragments and Mr. Diallo's appearance in the hours before he was killed. The most damaging witnesses may have been three people who lived near Mr. Diallo and heard the shooting. Each said there was a pause between two rounds of shots, and two who may have been close enough to hear voices said they did not hear any of the officers call out to Mr. Diallo or identify themselves as police officers. Because of the graphic nature of today's testimony, Mr. Diallo's mother, Kadiatou, did not attend the session. Mr. Diallo's father, Saikou, who did attend, said it was a "very difficult" day. "I said a strong prayer for my son," he said. "I said a strong prayer when I saw how he struggled before he died." In all, Dr. Cohen said, Mr. Diallo, who was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds, was shot in the aorta, spinal cord, lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, intestines, arms and legs. But there was little or no bleeding from nearly all the wounds, and "very little bleeding into the clothing," he said, leading him to conclude that the shot to the aorta, which left a hole an inch and a half wide, was among the first. Such a hole, he said, would cause an immediate and precipitous drop in blood pressure and decrease the likelihood of bleeding from other wounds. "It's the only wound of all the 19 that would account for such an immediate drop in blood pressure," Dr. Cohen said. About 45 percent of Mr. Diallo's blood was found in his abdominal and chest cavity, he added. Dr. Cohen said he could not be sure of the precise order of the shots, only that the bullet that pierced the aorta and spinal cord was among the first. That bullet went through the spinal cord but did not sever it completely, Dr. Cohen said. But it did enough damage to make Mr. Diallo a paraplegic, he added. Mr. Diallo would have fallen to the floor within a few seconds of the wound, Dr. Cohen said, adding, "He also developed, instantaneously, an inability to support himself." "Any number" of the wounds could have been inflicted while Mr. Diallo was falling to the floor, he said. And three, he said, "were consistent with him actually being on the ground." The bullet that entered his lower right leg and lodged near his knee after shattering his tibia and fibula struck him when he was "necessarily down," Dr. Cohen said. He added that hemorrhaging in that bullet's track was nearly "imperceptible," an indication that the shot came after the aorta was hit. At day's end, after the prosecution rested and the jury left the courtroom, each defense lawyer made a motion for the judge to dismiss all charges in the case or throw out the more serious charges. The officers each face two counts of second-degree murder -- one based on a theory of intentional murder, the other on a theory of depraved indifference to human life -- and one count of reckless endangerment, the least serious charge. Justice Joseph C. Teresi said that he would reserve his decision on all of the motions.
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