Retrial begins for man accused of killing off-duty Pittsburgh police officer in 2019

For the second time in a week, the two sides in the trial of Christian Bey — the man accused of killing off-duty Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall in July 2019 — gave their opening statements to a jury.

The do-over resulted from a prosecution witness improperly testifying that she met Bey after he got out of prison, leading to a mistrial and giving both sides an opportunity to refine their case from last week.

For defense attorney Carmen Robinson, that meant giving the jurors more information than she did in her first opening. She told jurors Tuesday that Hall had his gun out that night and was waving it around and putting it in people’s faces.

“You will hear witnesses say that Calvin Hall did introduce deadly force into this case,” Robinson said.

Bey, 34, is charged with shooting Hall in the 7300 block of Monticello Street in Homewood around 1:30 a.m. July 14, 2019. Hall, 36, died three days later.

Hall was on the street that night visiting Darnell Coates, a distant cousin, and his wife, Dawn Coates, Deputy District Attorney Stephie Ramaley told the jury in her opening. The women across the street were hosting a block party, and Hall stopped by the Coates’ home two or three times.

The party across the street was rowdy, and Hall left when he saw it getting out of hand, Ramaley said. However, he returned and ended up in an argument with the women hosting the party.

Related:

• Mistrial declared in case of man charged with killing off-duty Pittsburgh police officer
• Man charged in fatal shooting of Pittsburgh officer Calvin Hall

When Hall went to leave, one of the women was sitting in the middle of the road. When Hall approached her to get her to move, the group argued, Ramaley said. Bey, who lived at the house hosting the party, walked over and engaged with Hall, the prosecutor said.

After Hall left, Ramaley said the Coateses called 911 to say that they’d been threatened by a man who left on a motorcycle.

Hall returned a short time later and argued with the women again, Ramaley said.

It was then that Ramaley said a man approached Hall from behind and shot him three times.

The gun used to kill Hall was found the next day by a K9 officer in an overgrown yard in a nearby alley. Bey’s DNA was found on it, Ramaley said.

“Physical evidence doesn’t lie, and the physical evidence in this case is overwhelming,” she said.

Repeating a statement she made last week, the prosecutor told the all-white jury that Hall is not the one on trial.

Robinson countered in her opening by telling the panel that the case against her client was a rush to judgment.

“The evidence will show the Pittsburgh police should not have investigated this case,” Robinson said. “They were loyal to Calvin Hall to a fault.”

She told the jury that the Pittsburgh police were more concerned about Hall’s image than objectively investigating, and that they repeatedly shaped a narrative presenting Hall as an unarmed, off-duty officer breaking up a fight.

“The evidence will show — it’s not true,” Robinson said.

Instead, she continued, Hall had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit and was waving his gun around.

Robinson said that when the first officer responding to Hall’s shooting arrived on the scene, he noticed immediately that Hall’s firearm was missing when he saw the man’s empty holster on his waist.

The officer repeatedly asked the Coatses where Hall’s gun was. Eventually, Dawn Coates looked in the back seat of Hall’s car and said it was in the seat pouch.

“She knows where the gun is. You know how she knows?” Robinson asked. “She put it there.”

Robinson also dismissed the DNA evidence the prosecution said they have.

“This DNA they’re talking about isn’t the kind everyone on this jury is thinking about,” Robinson said.

She said the Allegheny County crime lab couldn’t find a complete profile to make a traditional match, and the sample found on the gun was insufficient.

Instead, Robinson said, the DNA evidence will come from a computer scientist and an algorithm.

“I just want to dispel it’s the traditional science you’ve come to understand,” Robinson said. “Don’t check your common sense at the door. Use your judgment.”