Joel Jenkins is expected to testify on his own behalf Friday as he fights charges that he murdered a driver after a 17-mile chase in March 2015.
Deputies say Robert Rooker, 26, was evading officers until the chase ended on Fields Hollow Road, west of Waverly. Witnesses have testified that Rooker's car, after ramming at least one cruiser, was backed up to a creek and had a cruiser pinned against one side.
That's when prosecutors say Jenkins, 31, fired nine bullets into Rooker's vehicle. A deputy coroner testified this week that two of the shots were fatal.
Jenkins says he feared for his life and thought Rooker may have been reaching for a gun. No weapons were recovered at the scene.
Jenkins also faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and tampering with evidence in another 2015 shooting. Jenkins called 911 that December to say a gun had accidentally gone off and shot his neighbor. Jason Brady died from his injuries. Prosecutors say Jenkins had been drinking just before the shooting.
