Auburn cop's murder trial starts: Defense confirms he'll testify, 1 juror dismissed over undisclosed witness connection

The long-awaited murder trial of Auburn Police Officer Jeffrey Nelson got off to a rocky start Thursday.

Nelson is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the 2019 death of Jesse Sarey, 26.

King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps briefly delayed opening statements Thursday after defense lawyers raised concerns about a juror.

Phelps ultimately dismissed that juror for failing to disclose her acquaintance and social media contact with Elaine Simons, a witness in the case and Sarey's former foster mother.

“The court does not trust her at this point in time,” Phelps said of the juror. “If she has not been able to tell us this much, what else is she hiding?”

“This is not the case to take risks,” Phelps added.

In 2019, Nelson tackled and ultimately shot Sarey while trying to arrest him for disorderly conduct outside a corner store in Auburn.

The two charges against Nelson reflect one shot to Sarey's head and a second, fatal shot to his abdomen.

Nelson has said that he believed Sarey was reaching for the officer’s handgun.

“This is a case about an unnecessary death," Prosecutor Angelo Calfo told the jury once proceedings got underway Thursday morning. "It’s a case about a police officer who didn’t follow his training. Who acted unreasonably. It’s about a police officer, the defendant, Jeff Nelson, who unnecessarily shot and killed a homeless person named Jesse Sarey, a person who was unarmed.”

Defense attorney Emma Scanlan later confirmed that Nelson will take the stand.

“Everyone in this courtroom can agree on one thing: What happened is a tragedy, " Scanlan told jurors in her opening statement.

"You’re going to hear from Officer Nelson. He’s been waiting for five years to explain what happened and tell you what actually occurred.”

Nelson was the first police officer to be charged with murder under Initiative 940, Washington’s new legal standard for police misconduct.

Approved by voters in 2018, I-940 removes the requirement to prove that a police officer acted with “malice,” and instead says prosecutors must show Nelson’s use of force was not reasonable or necessary when he shot and killed Sarey.

But Nelson’s trial has been delayed several times. Meanwhile, the first courtroom test of I-940 came last year, in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manny Ellis. Those officers were acquitted.

Nelson’s trial testimony will exclude information about the officer’s tattoos, which could be read as endorsing police violence, and about Nelson’s previous deadly force encounters. The court has also excluded information about Sarey’s history of drug use and public intoxication.

This is a developing story and will be updated.