Jury deliberations will continue Thursday in the retrial of a convicted felon accused of brutally slaying a Metra police officer more than nine years ago.
Deliberations started just before 6 p.m. Wednesday in the first degree-murder trial of Jemetric Nicholson, who authorities say shot veteran Officer Thomas Cook twice in the back of the head. Jurors were sequestered overnight at a local hotel after failing to reach a decision.
Attorneys presented closing arguments earlier on Wednesday. Defense attorneys for the 28-year-old Nicholson had rested without questioning any witnesses.
More Top Picks Best Hp Laptops
Cook, a father of two, was slain in September 2006 while sitting in his squad car on special patrol near the 147th Street Metra station in Harvey.
The defense had planned to question Dietrich Henry, who has been implicated in Cook’s death by another witness but never charged. Henry, who was subpoenaed by the defense, refused to testify Wednesday after consulting with a court-appointed attorney.
On Tuesday, Henry told Cook County Judge Frank Zelezinski he wanted to clear his name because “he didn’t do it.”
Another witness in the case said Henry distracted Cook before the officer was shot.
Nicholson also declined Wednesday to testify in his own defense. This is his second jury trial for Cook’s death. Nicholson denied shooting the officer when he testified in the first trial last year. A Cook County judge declared a mistrial in October after that jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Both the prosecution and defense acknowledged in opening and closing arguments that no physical evidence ties Nicholson to Cook’s murder.
“The next best thing is an eye witness,” said Joseph Kosman, one of the Cook County assistant state’s attorneys who presented closing arguments for the prosecution.
Regardless, “all the evidence says he is the shooter,” Kosman said.
Among those witnesses was Jeremy Lloyd, who agreed to testify in a plea agreement for a lesser sentence for his role as a lookout in Cook’s murder. Lloyd told jurors he watched Nicholson point a gun at the back of Cook’s head, but only heard two shots after he turned away from the shooting.
Defense attorney Mark Kusatzky blasted Lloyd’s testimony and the testimony of other witnesses that he said changed over multiple instances in police interviews and trials.
“The uniqueness about the truth is that it stays the same over time,” Kusatzky said. And Lloyd “can’t remember what the truth is.”
The prosecution spent several days questioning witnesses about the events leading up to Cook’s death, which Kosman called his “days of rage” and a “program of violence.”
Nicholson is currently serving time in Stateville Correctional Center for multiple convictions that include the attempted murder of a Harvey police officer less than 30 hours before Cook was killed. Nicholson won’t be eligible for parole until 2145.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.