First day of testimony in David Ware trial wraps

TULSA, Okla. — Monday was the first day of testimony in the murder trial of David Ware.

Ware is charged with first degree murder and shooting with intent to kill for the shooting death of Tulsa Police Sergeant Craig Johnson and shooting Officer Aurash Zarkeshan during a traffic stop in 2020. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Jury selection for the trial took two weeks, and the jury was seated on Friday.

Much of David Ware’s family was in court on Monday including his mother, father, grandfather and uncle.

Johnson’s widow was also in the courtroom.

Monday morning, the state’s opening statements took about half an hour, and the defense’s was closer to a full hour.

The state laid out what the jurors were going to see in the body and dash camera video over the next few days.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray also talked about the last conversation Johnson had with his children, about fixing their swing set.

Defense attorney Kevin Adams started with some still photos taken from the body camera video.

“They treated him like a dog,” said Adams about the traffic stop that led to the shooting. He said that Ware “did what he had to do to defend himself.”

Adams also worked to put doubt in jurors minds about Tulsa police’s policy and credibility.

>>Attorneys on both sides of David Ware trial speak about jury selection

Monday afternoon, the state called its first two witnesses, two detectives with the Major Crimes Unit.

Tulsa Police Lieutenant Stephen Stoltz told his emotional account of the events. He knew Johnson for 16 years.

Stoltz’s testimony was about three hours long as the state put nearly 150 crime scene pictures in front of him, having him explain what each one was. In cross examination, the defense attorney worked to put doubt in the jury’s mind that the scene was allegedly tampered with.

Day two of testimony continues Tuesday morning. FOX23′s Sara Whaley is anchoring coverage of the David Ware trial, and will be in court everyday.