In Washington County, Kevin Monahan’s trial in the shooting death of Kaylin Gillis continues after the jury viewed footage captured on an officer’s body camera as he responded to Monahan’s home after an alleged shooting in his driveway.
During his first interaction with police, Monahan could be heard saying he already sought an attorney in Kurt Mausert. Lead defense attorney Arthur Frost argued having the jury hear his client invoke his right to an attorney was prejudicial; prosecutors said Monahan was not clearly invoking that right in the video.
The judge denied Frost’s request for a mistrial and instructed the jury not to make any inference of Monahan’s guilt based on his remark in the video.
The jury also heard from a number of responding law enforcement officers and viewed photos taken by the state’s forensic investigation unit. One of them showed the blood-stained passenger seat in which police say 20-year-old Gillis was shot and killed after she and a group of friends got lost looking for a friend’s party and pulled into Monahan’s long driveway last spring.
Monahan’s defense team describes him as an old man who was scared and chalks it up to a "terrible accident," calling the gun "defective."
The jury now consists of eight men and four women as one juror was dismissed due to illness. Testimony will resume Wednesday morning.