Prosecution expected to rest in trial of accused cop killer Rahmael Holt

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Tuesday against alleged New Kensington cop killer Rahmael Holt, but it remained unknown Monday whether Holt would take the stand in his defense.

Holt is accused of killing New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw after a traffic stop on the city’s Leishman Avenue on Nov. 17, 2017. He could face a death penalty sentence if convicted.

Holt’s trial started Nov. 4 before Westmoreland County Common Pleas President Judge Rita Hathaway. No proceedings were held Monday because of the Veterans Day holiday.

On Monday, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said he plans to rest his case against Holt when the trial resumes Tuesday morning.

Peck declined to say whether he intends to call any more witnesses. The final witness to testify Friday was former New Kensington police Chief Jim Klein, under whom Shaw served. Klein read the oath of office Shaw took just 4½ months before he was fatally shot.

Several Alle-Kiski Valley area police chiefs and officers have attended each day’s proceedings in support of Shaw’s family members, who also have been present.

Holt has maintained his innocence.

Tim Dawson, Holt’s lead defense attorney, said he met with Holt over the weekend. Dawson said he explained what Holt’s options are regarding testifying in his own defense, but the attorney said he did not make any recommendations to his client.

“He will decide tomorrow if he’s testifying or not,” Dawson said. “That’s his decision.”

Dawson said he and attorney Jim Robinson are considering calling defense witnesses, including two who came forward during the trial. He would not identify them.

The witnesses would offer testimony in support of Holt’s defense and call into question the credibility of certain prosecution witnesses, Dawson said.

The defense also could focus on whether Holt had an injury to one of his hands. That has become an issue in the trial, with some witnesses testifying to seeing Holt bleeding from a hand the night of the shooting and others saying they saw no such wound.

Testimony has raised the issue that Holt might have suffered what is known as a slide-bite wound between a thumb and index finger from firing a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Such an injury happens when a person is not properly holding a semiautomatic gun and the slide hits the hand after the gun is fired, according to trial testimony.

How long it would take for such a wound to heal would be a medical opinion, and Dawson said he’s not in a position to get a witness to testify to that point this late in the trial. It will be a question for the jury to decide, he said.

Six bullets were fired at Shaw, with three hitting the officer and two causing his fatal injuries, according to testimony.

Shaw did not fire his weapon.

The weapon that was used to kill Shaw hasn’t been found.