Detroit — A man accused of shooting and killing a Melvindale police officer was kicked off the witness stand as he testified Monday during his trial in Wayne Circuit Court, saying that he felt like he had no choice but to shoot Melvindale Cpl. Mohamed Said if he wanted to survive.
Before Michael Lopez took the stand, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mary Bridget Hathaway warned him not to speak about certain issues during his testimony, including a traffic stop involving his daughter and a complaint his family had against Said. The judge said if he did, he’d immediately be removed and wouldn’t be allowed to continue testifying.
More than 50 minutes into his testimony, as Lopez was being cross-examined by prosecutors, he mentioned the traffic stop.
As Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Rana Hadied asked him questions, Lopez said, “I knew this man was targeting me… This man assaulted my daughter.”
Hadied said that was a lie and Lopez knows it, for which she later apologized to Hathaway.
Hathaway ordered Lopez to be removed. Lopez continued to speak as the jury was led out of the room, saying, “It’s unjust. This is my right.”
“Thanks for nothing, John. You hear me?” Lopez said as he was taken out of the courtroom, speaking to his attorney, John McWilliams.
Lopez is on trial for the first-degree murder of a police officer, nine weapons charges and two drug charges. The prosecution finished its case Monday, and Lopez took the witness stand on Monday afternoon to testify in his own defense.
Defendant had prior outbursts, attacks on lawyer in court
His removal from the stand and comments afterward weren’t his only outbursts in court. He was kicked out of the courtroom after several outbursts and was watching the trial via a livestream from a cell. On Thursday, he told the jury McWilliams no longer was his attorney and Friday he again criticized his attorney, according to WDIV-TV (Channel 4).
“What else is new?” he said to McWilliams, according to WDIV. “You ain’t gonna object to (expletive). You’re not gonna help me fight it, are you?”
Said’s first interaction with Lopez in July of 2024 was when he pulled over his patrol car to order Lopez to pick a cigarette butt he’d flicked to the ground. When Said later asked for Lopez’s ID, he ran.
Lopez said he thought he was shot in the back when he was tased
Lopez testified that when he ran away from Said, the cop followed him. Though body camera footage shows Said used his Taser on Lopez, Lopez testified that he thought he’d been shot in the back.
Lopez had his gun in his hand, as he said he was trying to find a chance to get rid of it so he wouldn’t be caught with an illegal weapon. Said tased him, and Lopez fell to the ground.
When he turned to face Said, the defendant said he saw what he thought to be Said’s black gun. Lopez said he believed tasers were yellow, not black as Said’s was.
“I felt like I was about to die back there in that yard, when he was standing over me with what I thought was a gun in his hand,” Lopez said. “He was standing over me, and I thought he was going to shoot and kill me. I’d thought he already shot me once in the back.
“As soon as I had the opportunity, I protected myself. I thought he was going to kill me back there in the yard.”
Lopez said even during Said’s initial stop of him, when Said ordered him to pick up a cigarette butt Lopez had dropped to the ground, he felt worried for his own safety. Said told him several times to stop “reaching” as Lopez moved to find his license and pull up his pants, Lopez said.
Lopez sniffled and cried as he spoke about shooting Said.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my life,” Lopez said. “I don’t wish it on anybody. I felt like I was forced into a position to have to choose, taking a person’s life.”
“And you made the decision to what?” McWilliams asked as he questioned his client.
“To survive,” Lopez said. “To not get killed.”
Prosecutors argue Melvindale police officer was killed for doing his job
Hadied said during opening statements that Said was killed for doing his job and for protecting his community.
“This defendant, as he’s running away, pulls out a revolver from his pocket and he’s holding it,” Hadied said. “He directs it point-blank at the officer’s face. Officer Said backs up and puts hands up. He says ‘We’re good, we’re good.’ What does this defendant decide to do? He shoots him in the face, instantly killing him.”
During her cross-examination of Lopez, Hadied walked him through years of his history of running from police when he was about to be arrested. In one instance, he grabbed an officer’s gun and threw it, Lopez said so the officer wouldn’t shoot him.
In another instance, he threatened to shoot an officer. But Lopez said it was because “I was trying to die.” He also was tased in another instance and said he knows what a taser feels like.
“So fair to say on three occasions in your lifetime, anytime you feel like you’re going to get caught by the police, you run away, correct?” Hadied asked.
“Yes,” Lopez said.
McWilliams said during opening statements that the jurors have to decide if what Lopez felt — even if his belief was wrong — was a reasonable fear for his life.
Lopez spent most of the last 14 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections, serving a 10 1/2 to 30-year sentence for a carjacking offense. He was discharged from parole on June 22, 2024, about a month before he allegedly shot and killed Said.
Said had been with the Melvindale Police Department for just over a year before his death.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Man who killed Melvindale cop kicked off witness stand mid-testimony
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
