A kinder, gentler prosecution in Ray Tensing's retrial

Key developments:

• In opening statements for the retrial, the prosecution removed emotion.
• Defense focused on humanizing Ray Tensing and also said he reacted "instinctively" to save his life.
• Another University of Cincinnati police officer admitted he didn't see Tensing dragged by Sam DuBose's car, despite telling another officer that he did in the minutes following the shooting.

The prosecution in Ray Tensing’s retrial took a more conservative approach Thursday in opening statements, removing emotion from its presentation and being careful not to attack Tensing.

Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Stacey DeGraffenreid’s opening remarks lasted just 10 minutes.

She began by reading, nearly word for word, the grand jury’s indictment charging the former University of Cincinnati police officer with murder and voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Sam DuBose.

Standing in front of the jury box, DeGraffenreid held up a copy, saying, “This gives us the authority to go forward.”

A new prosecution team is handling the retrial. It was Prosecutor Joe Deters who gave longer opening statements in the first trial, which ended with the jury unable to agree on a verdict.

Deters was much more forceful. “Now come Tensing’s lies,” he had said, before listing several of Tensing’s claims he said were false.

Tensing, Deters said, "claimed he was hanging on for dear life ... False."

More:Tensing retrial jury in line with county's black population

He added: "The evidence is going to show you that this tragic case, this murder was totally unwarranted, was completely intentional, and was truly unjustified."

DeGraffenreid, in contrast, didn’t try to label Tensing's statements or actions. 

After outlining the shooting, which happened as DuBose tried to drive away from a 2015 traffic stop off-campus, DeGraffenreid said simply:

“The evidence will show this is clearly a murder… Mr. Tensing pulled out his gun and shot Mr. DuBose.”

Prosecutors say the killing wasn't justified. Tensing's attorney says he was instinctively trying to save his life.

Tensing, now 27, is charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter.

Veteran attorney Mark Krumbein, who is following the retrial and watched opening statements Thursday, said prosecutors clearly “are taking a more conservative angle towards the retrial.”

The prosecution, he said, apparently “wants to let the witnesses speak for themselves, without trying to put a spin on it.”

Krumbein said prosecutors are being careful not to make a claim to the jury that they can’t back up with evidence.

Tensing’s attorney, Stew Mathews, used some of his opening remarks to humanize Tensing, Krumbein noted – a different strategy than the first trial.

Mathews talked about how Tensing had wanted to be a police officer since he was a boy, participating in a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office program for youth interested in law enforcement careers.

More:Here's what we know about jurors in Ray Tensing's retrial

He also said Tensing, during two previous traffic stops involving African-Americans that day, was “polite to everybody.” Tensing allowed the wife of a man he temporarily detained to restart the car, so she could turn on the air conditioning. There were four children in the back seat.

“He wasn’t a racist,” Mathews said. “He was an extremely human kind of a guy.”

If DuBose had cooperated, Mathews said, “his stop would’ve ended the same way.”

Also Thursday, two witnesses testified and jurors watched Tensing's body camera video that shows the shooting, which happened in less than three seconds.

UC police Officer Philip Kidd testified that he didn't see Tensing dragged by DuBose's car, despite telling Tensing and another officer, in the minutes following the shooting, that he did.

This same discrepancy came out during Tensing's first trial.

After the shooting, Kidd can be heard on his bodycam video telling Tensing, "Don't say anything." 

Assistant Prosecutor Seth Tieger asked Kidd why he said that.

"I don't know," Kidd responded.

Kidd also reiterated that UC officers were asked to increase traffic stops around campus.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, there was only one demonstrator. He held a sign reading, "SENSELESS ASININE MURDER."