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State's expert: Tensing was not dragged by DuBose

886 views · Published 10 November 2016 · 3:21 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2016 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Nearly 48 hours after he killed Sam DuBose by shooting him in the head, Officer Ray Tensing told homicide detectives he feared for his life.

"Just the way he was acting made the hair on my, on the back of my neck stand up," Tensing said.

Tensing claimed in the interview that DuBose was acting aggressively and not answering his questions. He said he reached into the vehicle to take DuBose's keys out of the ignition.

"He put the vehicle into drive and just mashed the accelerator as he pulled out and my hand, my left arm, it somehow got caught or tangled up in the steering wheel."

Tensing said he drew his weapon to "stop the threat" and went for "the head shot."

"At this point I'm thinking 'Oh my gosh, I'm being dragged by this guy's car. I don't want to die today. I'm in fear for my life.'"

But video analyst Grant Fredericks said the video contradicts Tensing's story. Fredericks, a former police officer, broke down the video down to the millisecond. He showed several freeze frames to the jury and said DuBose's vehicle moved at the most a couple of feet less than two seconds before Tensing fired. Fredericks said the video showed Tensing grabbing DuBose's seat belt with his left hand and firing his gun with his right hand.

Voice of Mark Piepmeier: "At the time of the shooting, had Officer Tensing been dragged by that vehicle?"

Grant Fredericks: "No he hadn't."

Tensing's attorney tried to paint Fredericks as an expert who shapes his opinion based on who's paying him. Stew Mathews asked how much he was paid.

Grant Fredericks: "It would be a guess, I don't know."

Stew Mathews: "I think you're guessing about a lot of stuff on this video so guess about how much you're getting paid."

Prosecution: "Objection."

After court ended, Mathews doubted Frederick's testimony.

“He’s an expert but his opinion is no better than the 12 people on the jury."

Rodney Harris of the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati felt the evidence presented strengthened the State's case. He believes Frederick's testimony backed up Alicia Napier's account. She witnessed the encounter between Tensing and DuBose and said the car was not moving at the time of the shooting.

"I think the State really gained some ground," Harris said. "I didn't think yesterday wasn't such a great day for them. I think they made up a little bit of ground today."

Meanwhile, DuBose's family said the video analyst's testimony confirmed their thoughts about what happened.

“This is a straight up execution. He held his seat belt so that he couldn’t move while he’s doing this and he shot him in the head. And he said he took the head shot on purpose. That’s murder," said DuBose's sister, Terina Allen.

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