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State rests, defense begins case in Brandon Bradley murder trial

Man accused of shooting, killing Brevard County Deputy Barbara Pill

VIERA, Fla. – The state rested its case in the murder trial of the man accused of shooting and killing a Brevard County deputy.

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Brandon Bradley, 24, is on trial for murder in the death of Brevard County sheriff's Deputy Barbara Pill, who was shot and killed in March 2012.

The state rested just after 10:30 a.m. Thursday, and the defense started its case after lunch. Andria Kerchner may be called as a witness on Friday, depending on what a judge rules about her testimony.

Court on Thursday started with a friend of Bradley taking the stand.

Amanda Ozburn said that Bradley told her if he ever got pulled over he would go out "like a soldier." Ozburn cried as the state asked her to identify Bradley.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab analyst then took the stand and said she found DNA from Bradley on the trigger of the murder weapon.

After the lunch break, the defense called its first witness, a nurse who drew blood from Bradley after the shooting. 

A toxicology supervisor later testified that Xanax was found in Bradley's blood and marijuana and hydrocodone and cocaine were found in his urine.

Court dismissed before 3 p.m. Thursday and will resume at 9 a.m. Friday.

In court Wednesday, jurors watched an interrogation conducted 8 hours after prosecutors say Bradley shot Pill.  Bradley was interviewed by Brevard County sheriff's Agent Wayne Simock.

"What happened next?" asked Simock.

"I shot," said Bradley.

"How many times did you shoot?" asked Simock.

"Twice," Bradley replied.

"Twice? OK, what kind of gun did you have?" asked Simock.

"I can't tell you," responded Bradley.

The gun turned out to be a Glock semiautomatic pistol, according to crime lab analyst Amy Siewert.

Prosecutors say Pill didn't have time to get her gun out of her holster before Bradley shot her four times.

Bradley also confessed in the interrogation that he knew he had warrants out for his arrest and that he did not want to go back to jail.

"Did she actually get the gun out of the holster?" asked Simock.

"She was trying to pull the gun out," Bradley replied.

"So, she was trying to, but she didn't actually get the gun out, did she?" asked Simock.

Bradley replied, "No."

Jurors also heard from Dr. Sajid Qasier, chief medical examiner for Brevard County. He did the autopsy on Pill and testified that one shot to Pill's head was from less than 2 feet away.

Jurors were also shown graphic pictures that Qasier took of Pill's body.

Court resumes Thursday afternoon and will be streamed live on ClickOrlando.com.


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