PITTSBURGH — Prosecutors and defense attorneys are clashing over recorded statements given by two men charged in a shooting that paralyzed a Pittsburgh-area police officer during a robbery and home invasion last year.
Emilio Rivera, 27, of McKees Rocks, and Marcus Andrejco, 19, of Rankin, are accused of having posed as FBI agents in April of last year while looking for money and drugs at a home in Clairton.
Officer James Kuzak responded to the call and was near the Miller Avenue home's back door when he was shot. He is now paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair.
Police arrested Andrejco days later, but didn't charge Rivera until six months later, after police said he was caught on a wiretap planning a similar crime.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Fitzsimmons told Allegheny County jurors on Tuesday that he didn't have physical evidence but did have recorded confessions from both men.
Defense attorneys said the statements were coerced, and they stressed that two other men were initially identified as suspects but later cleared.
Several photos from the crime scene were shown in court on Tuesday including pictures of a police officer’s radio found outside the home and a gun recovered at the scene.
The trial continues Wednesday.