Attorneys delivered their closing statements in the murder trial of Edward Turner, who is accused of fatally shooting IHOP restaurant manager Papa Khaly Ndiaye in March 2013
NEWARK — Where the defense sees a witness manipulated by detectives into misidentifying the gunman in a fatal shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Newark, the states sees a witness who wanted to come clean and tell the truth.
Those were the two scenarios presented Wednesday during closing statements at the murder trial of Edward Turner, who is charged with killing restaurant manager Papa Khaly Ndiaye during a melee among customers at the Bergen Street eatery at about 3 a.m. on March 23, 2013.
The trial has hinged in large part on the statements of a witness named Wendell Robinson, who has indicated to police that Turner fired the weapon.
But Turner's attorney, Richie Roberts, has argued detectives coerced Robinson into identifying Turner as the shooter and threatened Robinson with the possibility of him going to jail in the murder case.
"'Tell us Eddie did it. Tell us Eddie had a gun,'" Roberts told the jury, referring to what the detectives allegedly told Robinson. "Is that reasonable doubt?
"There's enough reasonable doubt in this case to sink a battleship," Roberts added.
Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Eric Plant told jurors the detectives were "hard" on Robinson, but he maintained that Robinson was telling the truth about the identification when he met with the detectives in March 2014 and when he took the witness stand at the trial.
Robinson testified during the trial that he saw Turner with the gun immediately after the shooting, Plant said. Turner is accused of firing the weapon from inside a coat pocket.
Plant suggested Robinson initially lied to the detectives about the incident, because Turner had threatened Robinson to not talk to the police or to lie to the police.
"In his mind, he came clean and he told what he knew, and he did it again on the stand," said Plant, referring to Robinson, adding that "he wanted to do what was right."
Turner, 28, of Newark, is facing murder, attempted murder, witness tampering and weapons offenses.
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The series of events leading to Ndiaye's death began with a verbal dispute between one group, which included Robinson and Turner, and a second group in the IHOP parking lot, according to Plant.
After that brief confrontation, Turner's group left the restaurant and the second group went inside, Plant said.
Inside the restaurant, the second group got into a dispute with a third group there, which involved an argument between two women who were dating, Plant said.
As the altercation became physical, Turner, Robinson and Turner's brother returned to the restaurant and Turner called on a man from the second group to come outside, Plant said. Turner then allegedly opened fire in the man's direction, Plant said.
Ndiaye, who had been trying to break up the fight and get people outside, was shot in the head, Plant said.
Ndiaye, 30, of Middlesex Borough — a Senegalese immigrant from a prominent family in that West African country — was pronounced dead several hours later at University Hospital. Ndiaye had come to the United States to make a life for himself and was happy to have become a manager at the restaurant, Plant said.
During closing statements, Roberts argued Turner was not present for the earlier dispute and said prosecutors have not provided a reason for why Turner would open fire into a crowd.
"Why in God's name would Mr. Turner want to shoot anybody?" Roberts told the jury. "You didn't hear a reason. There is no reason, because he didn't do it."
Roberts also stressed how surveillance video footage shows the shooter wearing different clothing than what Turner was previously seen wearing. He challenged the state's theory that Turner changed his clothes before the shooting.
But Plant noted how Turner's girlfriend testified that Turner returned to his apartment after originally leaving the IHOP. Plant suggested Turner changed his clothes at that time.
Using surveillance video footage, Plant also claimed Turner was present during the earlier argument at the restaurant, saying that dispute provided a motive for the shooting when he spotted the man from the second group who had argued with Turner's group beforehand.
"Was he there when this happened?" Plant asked, referring to Turner and the earlier dispute. "Yes, he was and he was very aware of what happened."
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.