Day One: Patrolman Brian French Testifies

French tells the proseuction he has been with the UPD for 3 1/2 years, and is currently assigned to patrol division.

French says he worked 4 p.m. - Midnight on that day in April when Lindsey was shot. The City of Utica is divided into a series of zones, we're told. He was in Car 51, which is Zone 51 - Downtown Utica.

French says he was on patrol around 9 p.m. at Eagle and Kembell Streets that night. That night, he says, he saw Car 57, which he knew to be Lindsey in that car that night.

French says he knew Thomas Lindsey. French says that at the scene, he saw Lindsey's car at Kembell Street at a light, with another car in front of him. French then followed them both onto Park Ave from Eagle Street.

He said he did so just in case Lindsey needed backup, as it is an area that might ordinarily need backup. He says that Lindsey and the other vehicle then went on to Rutger Street. When it appeared to French that Lindsey was not going to pull over the vehicle, French headed onto Hopper.

As the prosecution (A.D.A. Coluzza) decides to show evidence, the Judge explains what "entering in" evidence means to the jury.

Coluzza shows the Patrolman an overhead map of the City of Utica. On the map, Patrolman French is asked to point out where he first encountered Lindsey's vehicle. After readjusting focus so the officer could read the street names, the officer indicates Eagle and Kemball on the map, and then shows the route Officer Lindsey's car took after the light.

French says that a radio call from Lindsey indicated a vehicle stop some time after he French had seen him at the light.

French says that Lindsey gave the number of occupants in the stopped car, and French then proceeded to the scene of the stop to offer backup assistance, even showing on the digital map the route he took to get to Officer Lindsey at the time. He is having some slight trouble, as the map doesn't have all the street names on it.

French says that as he went by, he made eye contact with Officer Lindsey, who turned around and saw that it was French. French says Lindsey did not seem in distress at all, and shook his head to indicate French could continue on his way, that no help was needed.

French then proceeded onward, and noticed another patrol car coming down the street as well - driven by an Officer Rizanovic.

French says that as he continued onward, he got an urgent call about shots fired in the 1100 Block of Nielson Street where he just was. He then turned around to head back to the scene. While he was driving, French says, he heard another officer call "Officer Down," which caused him to drive even faster to the scene.

French says that he was on South Street when he heard an investigator on the radio say Nielson Street needed to be shut down, and once they gave out the license and registration number of the vehicle Lindsey had jsut stopped, the address came back as an owner at Seymour Ave. Officer French then headed to Seymour Ave, but then heard that another Officer had the vehicle stopped elsewhere.

Upon arriving, French says several units were already there, and an investigator was there with a female, who was placed into handcuffs and put into a patrol car.

French says he had learned Officer Lindsey was dead, but does not quite recall how the knowledge came to him exactly.

The prosecution saw Sammy Rivera at the police station, but because he had not gotten a clear look of Sammy Rivera when he drove by Officer Lindsey's traffic stop, he did not recognize him.