CINCINNATI — Witnesses described a chaotic scene in court as the murder trial of Rodney Hinton Jr. continued in Cincinnati, with testimony focusing on the crash that killed a Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy.
Hinton is accused of driving into Deputy Larry Henderson while Henderson was directing traffic on a traffic island near Martin Luther King Drive in Clifton. One witness told jurors Henderson was thrown 20 to 30 feet, and another driver said the car struck a light pole before hitting the deputy.
Family members who were with Hinton shortly before the crash testified that he did not make unusual statements that day. His attorneys have described him as a grieving, unmedicated man experiencing a mental-health crisis at the time, and they questioned witnesses about whether he was aiming for the pole rather than the deputy, noting he passed other officers first.
Prosecutors are presenting eyewitness accounts of Hinton accelerating toward the island after turning through heavy traffic near the University of Cincinnati, where graduation and move-out activity had crowded the streets that Friday.
Testimony is scheduled to resume Tuesday, Oct. 13. The courthouse was closed Monday, Oct. 12, for the holiday, pausing the trial after its first week of witness testimony.