Betty Shelby's Attorneys Call First Witnesses In Manslaughter Trial

Betty Shelby’s defense team is now getting a chance to present its case after the state rested Friday.

Witnesses who saw Terence Crutcher right before he was shot and killed say he was acting strangely and they thought he was dangerous.

Special Coverage: Betty Shelby Trial

The witnesses were the last to testify in week one of the manslaughter trial; all three witnesses testified that they thought Crutcher was on drugs.

One of them said she was afraid he might have a gun.

One of the witnesses called 911 after stopping to ask Crutcher if he needed any help and he told her his car was about to explode.

"I said, 'Well, what's going on?' He's like, 'Come here, come here. I think it's going to blow up.' And I'm like, 'Nah, I'm out. I started taking off, he took off running," you hear in the call.

She and other witnesses testified right before the shooting, Crutcher seemed zombie-like, high and acting strangely.

Friday morning, Sergeant Dave Walker testified he felt frustrated and disrespected when the district attorney filed charges without consulting, or even telling him.

Shelby's attorneys then called up law enforcement, including Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, who used to work with Shelby.

They testified she was a quality officer and always followed protocol.

Her attorneys spent a long time grilling the district attorney's investigator on his arrest report, arguing it was incomplete and missing a lot of important parts.

Prosecutors got a small victory when they questioned Shelby's drug recognition instructor. He testified Shelby was a good student, but on one occasion Shelby started yelling, screaming and crying after getting a zero on a quiz.

He said she later apologized to the whole class.

The judge also decided Friday that Shelby's attorneys will be allowed to tell the jury certain things about Crutcher's past run-ins with law enforcement. We should hear more about that Monday.