INDIANAPOLIS — The defense is making its case in the trial of IMPD officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez. The two officers were indicted on charges of reckless homicide, involuntary manslaughter and battery by a grand jury in the death of Herman Whitfield III in April 2022.
13News reporter Rich Nye spent the day inside the courtroom as the trial continued in its fourth day on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.
Ahmad was on the witness stand. He said he could not maintain a consistent dialogue with Whitfield after arriving at the house. Ahmad testified that Whitfield was initially running around the house and screaming incoherently.
Ahmad said Whitfield then went into his bedroom and sat on his bed. Ahmad said Whitfield was dead silent and staring into space while sitting on the bed. Ahmad said Whitfield did not respond to either his parents or police. Ahmad said that when he shone a flashlight in Whitfield’s eyes in the dark room, there was no reaction of any kind.
Ahmad said then Whitfield ran into the kitchen and was making noise with pots and pans. Whitfield then ran into the dining room. That is when Sanchez used his taser on Whitfield. Ahmad said he was certain from the reaction that the taser was ineffective.
Ahmad said after that, police restrained Whitfield and cuffed him to try and get him to the hospital for mental health treatment. Ahmad said Whitfield was cuffed so medics could take him.
Ahmad said that it was hard to cuff Whitfield. When Whitfield went down, he grabbed the dining room tablecloth and became entangled with it.
Ahmad said that he and other officers never pushed down on Whitfield after he was handcuffed. Ahmad said they never held Whitfield down on the floor. Ahmad said Whitfield was not completely prone but head and shoulders at an angle because of how Whitfield’s head and shoulders were position.
The jury was shown videos from 5 officer’s body cameras, with audio synced with Ahmad’s camera. In the video one officer asks if they should roll Whitfield over.
“No, I don’t want him to get up again,” Ahmad says.
Ahmad said he had seen Whitfield go abruptly from “nonsensical” running around to complete silence in the house. Ahmad said he was concerned Whitfield’s silence while being handcuffed could abruptly change again & he didn’t want another fight.
Ahmad was asked if he ever saw Whitfield in medical distress.
“I did not observe any signs that indicated that at all,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad said his actions in the incident followed his training and best practices.
During cross examination, the prosecutor said that Whitfield told police “I can’t breathe.”
“I did not hear that,” Ahmad said.
The prosecutor asked if Whitfield was breathing while he was handcuffed and silent.
“I assumed so,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad said he did not check Whitfield’s pulse.
Ahmad repeated that while Whitfield was handcuffed, Ahmad never used any force to keep Whitfield on the floor. Ahmad said he did choose to keep Whitfield on his chest. Ahmad said that, while his hands were on Whitfield, he could not feel if Whitfield was breathing or not.
Ahmad completed his testimony by telling the jury that leaving Whitfield prone gave officers the best opportunity to respond if Whitfield suddenly became agitated or resistant again.
Ahmad spoke very confidently throughout his testimony that he and fellow officers acted in a reasonable and appropriate way as trained throughout the incident with Whitfield. Ahmad even accused the prosecution of trying to misconstrue his statement during cross examination.
The next witness for the defense was Dr. Bill Smock. He is a Police Surgeon and the director of the Clinical Forensic Medicine Program for the Louisville Metro Police Department. He testified for the prosecution of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.
Of the more than 100 trials Smock has testified in, he has testified for the prosecution 99% of the time. This is the rare case where he is testifying for the defense.
Smock said Whitfield’s enlarged heart was a “timebomb.” Smock said the primary cause of Whitfield’s death was a high level of THC that sent him on a “bad trip” and caused his heart to suddenly stop during exertion because of his existing health problems.
Smock said the officers did nothing to cause Whitfield’s death. Smock said the “bad trip” caused Whitfield’s already at-risk hear to suddenly stop. He also said it wasn’t Whitfield’s first “bad trip.”
Smock said the prone restraint wasn’t what killed Whitfield.
“It happened while restrained, but that’s not what caused it,” Smock said.
Smock said the taser also had nothing to do with Whitfield’s death.
Smock says Whitfield had a history of adverse reactions to THC. In 2020, he says Whitfield had to be admitted to a hospital and restrained after a bad reaction to THC.
Medical records show that in May 2020, police took Whitfield into custody with psychotic behavior. The hospital determined he had an adverse reaction to THC. Whitfield’s father picked him up when he was discharged with instructions to avoid THC & get mental health treatment.
Smock said there is plenty of research that shows THC can cause sudden cardiac deaths in some people. Research at the National Institutes of Health indicate it does happen, if rarely, though other research disagrees.
Smock says from watching the video, he believes Whitfield suffered sudden cardiac arrest caused by the high level of THC in his system while he was being handcuffed. Smock said Whitfield likely died 20 seconds before handcuffing was completed.
“Mr. Whitfield died before the handcuffing was completed,” Smock said.
During cross examination by the prosecutor, Smock confirmed that he was a sworn law enforcement officer. He said sometimes goes out on calls as a doctor with SWAT teams in Louisville and Floyd County, Indiana.
Smock says Whitfield exerting himself to avoid getting handcuffed combined with adverse reaction to THC caused cardiac death.
“There’s nothing that the officers could do,” Smock said. “It’s unfortunate that he died, but the officers didn’t force him to take that marijuana. He took it himself.”
Smock says Whitfield was not in the prone position long enough before his death for that to have caused positional asphyxia from prone restraint.
After Smock’s testimony, the defense for Ahmad and Sanchez rested. The prosecution is calling rebuttal witnesses.
The first rebuttal witness was Dr. Alon Steinburg, a California cardiologist. He has testified in several cases, including one surrounding Michael Jackson’s death.
Steinberg said that prone restraint, and pressure while prone, both reduce breathing and circulation. Both are further complicated when someone has a large abdomen. Steinberg said that the longer you are in prone restraint, the more your breathing and circulation are reduced.
Steinberg disagreed with Smock’s theory that Whitfield died from a THC induced arrythmia. Steinberg said that THC played no role in Whitfield’s death.
“I’ve never seen a THC arrythmia,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg said Whitfield was a “set up” for prone restraint death. Steinberg said that Whitfield was sweating and breathing hard from exertion after the struggle. Steinberg said Whitfield was obese and needed a lot of air and circulation that was restricted by being in prone restraint.
