Denyakin's shooter facing the trial

Portsmouth police officer Stephen D. Rankin has faced a civil trial on murder of Kazakhstan citizen Kirill Denyakin, PilotOnline.com writes. The officer said that Denyakin was charging at him to attack and posed a threat explaining why he fired 11 rounds into the unarmed man. He also confirmed that he fired with the intent to "destroy" the man. He said he began firing after Denyakin took "about four strides" towards him with his hand in the pocket of his pants. Kirill was silent and ignored all the officer’s commands to stop and “get down on the ground”, officer Rankin said. Moreover he insisted that Denyakin continued silently walk towards him even after the first shots hit their target. "It just seemed to not affect him until the end," he said. Denyakin finally fell face down nailed with 8 out of 11 shot bullets, but when other police officers arrived at the site, they found that his hand was not in his pocket and, what is even more abashing, that he was laying with his pants around his knees. Officer Rankin insisted in court that he had no idea when Kirill took his hand out of the pocket or at what point his pants fell down. However, inspection showed that Rankin's bullet made a whole in his boxers, but his pants were untouched. This raises a question about whether there was a pocket on him at all to put his hand in while he was "striding at the officer". The autopsy showed that Denyakin’s blood alcohol content was 0.28 percent. To make a better impression on the judge and jury Rankin was wearing his police uniform and often turning toward the jury when answering a question. Rankin spoke evenly and unemotionally as he recounted the events of that night. He was on the witness stand about two hours over the course of Monday and Tuesday, the magazine writes. One of the Denyakins family’s lawyers Craig Gill Jr. pointed out inconsistencies in Rankin’s testimony to the jury. Fellow police Officer Nathan White testified that Rankin told him, after the shooting, that Denyakin was "walking toward him," not charging, the magazine writes. Denyakins’ lawyer said that the officer overrated the threat and used excessive force. On questioning by his own attorney, Richard Cromwell, Rankin recalled a similar case that a year ago he was trying to arrest the man who had his hand in the pocket reaching for a 12-inch bowie knife. However, the officer did not shoot back then. According to the magazine, the trial will last through Friday, March 2. 26-year-old Karaganda citizen Kirill Denyakin was shot by policeman Stephen D. Rankin in Portsmouth on April 23. Denyakin was unarmed, but the police officer made 11 shots killing him on the spot. Before the tragedy Denyakin had been working as a Portsmouth hotel cook for 2 years and had no criminal record.