“If you looked in his eyes, no one was home,” he said in the interview, the first comments from the paramedics to be made public since they were charged.

The fatal encounter on Aug. 24, 2019, began when a 911 caller reported that a man looked “sketchy” as he walked down the street wearing a ski mask and raising his hands in the air. However, it now appears that McClain, who was headed home after buying some iced tea, was moving to the music he later told police he was listening too. Prosecutors say surveillance video of him leaving the store shows him dancing as he walked through the parking lot.

During previous trials, two of the officers who confronted McClain were acquitted. The third officer was convicted of negligent homicide and third-degree assault.

The two paramedics have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and several counts each of assault.

The trial is scheduled to continue through most of December, exploring largely uncharted legal territory because it is rare for medical first responders to face criminal charges.

However, court officials said late Wednesday that the trial wouldn’t resume as expected on Thursday and was in recess until Friday due to “unforeseen circumstances.” The announcement followed a courtroom disclosure that one juror had tested positive for COVID-19 using an expired at-home test.

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