Motorcyclist Posed a Threat, Miami Officer’s Partner Says

A policeman shot a motorcycle driver from only a few feet away as the vehicle raced directly toward him, the officer’s partner testified Friday to open the defense in the racially charged manslaughter case.

However, prosecutors were able to poke some holes in the testimony of Officer Dawn Campbell, showing photographs of her apparently conferring on the scene with the defendant, Officer William Lozano, despite her denials.

The Colombian-born Lozano, 31, is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of the motorcyclist, Clement Lloyd, 23, and his passenger, Allan Blanchard, 24, both black. The Jan. 16 shooting touched off three days of rioting, and police and city officials have prepared for more disturbances should Lozano be acquitted.

Campbell, the first defense witness, told jurors she had worked with Lozano for five months when they were called to a minor domestic squabble in the predominantly black Overtown section. As they stood near their patrol car, she said she heard a police siren, then saw the speeding motorcycle.

“I saw the motorcycle come into the southbound lane, heading straight for Officer Lozano,” she testified. “As the motorcycle got right up on him, I heard a ‘pop,’ and saw Officer Lozano give a twisting movement.”

She said the motorcycle was only about a foot away from her partner, and his movement seemed aimed at getting out of its way.

But Campbell testified she was behind Lozano and looking at the motorcycle, and never saw him draw or fire his semiautomatic pistol because of her angle.

Assistant State Atty. Don Horn sharply questioned her account. Some prosecution witnesses have stated she was ducking down on the sidewalk, not standing behind the squad car as she testified.

The prosecution told jurors in its opening statement that the motorcycle was in the opposite lane from Lozano when he shot, and never threatened him.

Horn asked Campbell if, despite departmental rules, she had talked to Lozano immediately after the incident. She denied discussing the case and said she did not recall a conversation with Lozano and a friend, Officer Manny Gonzalez.

Horn then showed photographs of the three officers apparently talking and making gestures just after the shooting. In one, Lozano appeared to be standing in the position the defense says he occupied at the time of the shooting, but Campbell denied they were re-enacting the scene. She and Lozano were together, she said, because they had been ordered to find the spent shell casing.

Campbell also testifed that she had felt pressure not to help Lozano.

“I heard that if I came to testify I was going to be arrested,” she told the court. But she agreed on cross-examination that those reports were rumors, and no superiors had ever threatened her.