Defendant in Monroeville police shooting testifies that he was wrongly accused

A man accused of shooting a Monroeville police sergeant as he responded to an armed robbery last year took the witness stand on Tuesday and told the jury he didn’t do it.

Jamal Brooks said he didn’t rob Crumbl Cookie the night of Jan. 3, 2024, and he didn’t fire 16 shots at Sgt. James MacDonald — hitting him twice.

Instead, Brooks said he was wrongfully arrested that night as he walked down Stonecliffe Drive.

“They told me to come out with my hands up,” he told the jury. “I was so scared. Police don’t have the best record for arresting people.”

Brooks, 33, of Aliquippa, was charged with attempted homicide, assault of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and firearms counts.

His trial on the shooting charges began Oct. 8 before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Elliot Howsie.

Investigators said that MacDonald was shot in the left elbow and left buttock just after 9 p.m. that January night as he responded to the armed robbery at Crumbl. The shooter wore a reflective orange construction vest.

As part of the case, the prosecution presented testimony from MacDonald, as well as video taken from dashboard and police body cameras that day that they argue show Brooks was the shooter.

On Tuesday, the jury also heard closing arguments. They began deliberating late in the day and are expected to return Wednesday morning.

Brooks, who chose to represent himself, spent about 50 minutes on the witness stand in the afternoon. Between his testimony and his closing argument, Brooks told the jury he was a peace-loving man who would never harm another living creature.

Questioned by standby defense counsel Ben Jackson, Brooks began by describing an average day. He said he wakes each day before the sun and spends 20 to 30 minutes “sungazing,” before doing yoga.

On the afternoon of the shooting, Brooks said that he went to a parking lot on Stonecliffe Drive to work on a friend’s car — putting on new brakes and rotors.

By about 9 p.m., Brooks said he stopped working on the car because he worried he’d make too much noise and might disturb the residents in the area.

In recounting that night, Brooks confirmed he was wearing an orange construction vest so he would be visible by drivers at night. He said he began walking down Stonecliffe when he happened upon a black bag. Believed by investigators to be the proceeds from the Crumbl robbery, it contained $969 — including 18 rolls in quarters, as well as black gloves and electrical tape.

But Brooks testified that it looked to him like someone had dropped the bag outside of their car, so he picked it up, he said, with plans to try to find its rightful owner.

“I just threw it on my shoulder,” Brooks said. But then, he continued, police descended on him. “I’m assuming I was, like, set up.”

Brooks said he was so afraid, “I was almost paralyzed.”

“Did you rob the Crumbl Cookie on Jan. 3, 2024?” Jackson asked.

“No, sir, I did not,” Brooks responded.

“Did you discharge a firearm 16 times into the police car Sgt. MacDonald was in?” Jackson concluded.

“Absolutely not, sir.”

On cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur, Brooks testified that he was not the man that MacDonald claimed to see walking on Monroeville Boulevard just before the shooting — who was also wearing an orange reflective vest.

“Obviously, that wasn’t me,” Brooks said. “I never made it to Monroeville Boulevard.”

Brooks also told the jury he didn’t hear any gunfire that night, despite testifying that he was less than a few hundred feet away from the shooting scene.

The defendant, who chose to wear his lime green jail uniform instead of street clothes during the trial, spent his 30-minute closing argument focused on three distinct themes: that the criminal justice system is rigged against him; that the police and prosecutors lied; and that he is a peace-loving man.

“In the United States of America, you’re supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Brooks said.

But, for 21 months, he continued, he has been held in jail.

“I have been guilty until proven innocent,” Brooks said.

Twice during the defendant’s closing, the prosecution objected — including when Brooks said he’d been assaulted in the jail and when he referenced being transported to the courtroom in shackles.

“They bring me up like I’m a serial killer,” Brooks said before the judge struck the comment from the record.

As he continued, Brooks told the jury he was being transparent with them, while the prosecution, he said, “was a scam artist.

“I have no desire to manipulate anyone,” he said. “Everything they’ve done during this trial has been deception.”

Brooks accused the officers who testified — including MacDonald — of lying.

Officers initially said that the suspect in the shooting was a dark-skinned Black man with a goatee, dreadlocks and hat. But Brooks is brown-skinned with a full beard and was not wearing a hat or dreadlocks when he was arrested, he told the jury.

“I don’t match the suspect description,” he said.

Brooks also accused the officers who responded to the scene of moving evidence and misstating where evidence was located.

But just as quickly, Brooks transitioned back to his theme of love and family.

“I preserve all human life. I preach love. I preach unity. I preach harmony,” he said. “No matter the outcome of this case, I love every single individual in this courtroom, without exception.”

Zur spent exactly three minutes of his closing addressing Brooks’ argument — telling the jurors the defendant was gaslighting them.

“I’m begging you, please, use your common sense here,” the prosecutor said.

The idea that the prosecution and law enforcement were colluding to frame Brooks, Zur said, made no sense.

“What is the motivation? What benefit does MacDonald get from prosecuting a person who didn’t actually shoot him?” Zur asked.

He urged the jurors to recognize that it was Brooks who has an interest in the outcome of the trial.

“He doesn’t want to be convicted of this crime,” Zur said.

Then, the prosecutor turned to the evidence in the case — noting that the shooting and arrest were captured by police dashboard cameras and body cameras.

He reminded the jurors that the shooter was wearing an orange construction vest, and Brooks was, as well, when he was arrested moments later.

Plus, Zur continued, the defendant’s hands tested positive for gunshot residue.

“Every single piece of evidence in this case points to one person,” Zur said. “It’s as simple as that — because he did it.”