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Philip Brailsford update: Opening statements set for ex-officer charged with murder of Daniel Shaver

Posted at 5:11 AM, Oct 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-25 13:32:02-04

Lawyers are scheduled to make opening statements Wednesday at the trial of a former Mesa police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man at a hotel.

Philip Brailsford maintains the shooting was justified because he believed Daniel Shaver was reaching for a gun during the encounter. 

RELATED: Mesa officer describes moments before shooting

In the end, no gun was found on Shaver's body. 

Brailsford and other officers went to the hotel in January on a call that someone was pointing a rifle out a window. 

The shooting occurred after Shaver exited his hotel room and was ordered to lay face-down in a hallway.

Prosecutors say the shooting wasn't justified. 

Authorities say Shaver wasn't voicing threats and begged police not to shoot him.

Brailsford was later fired for policy violations.