AUSTIN, Texas —
It was the first ever conviction of a law enforcement officer in Travis County for a deadly shooting while on duty. On Oct. 5, a Travis County jury found Austin Police officer Christopher Taylor guilty on a deadly conduct charge in the death of Mauris DeSilva, a Sri Lankan researcher and scientist with a history of mental health issues.
A juror who voted to convict Taylor sat down with KVUE Defenders to explain why. The juror asked us not to show his face or name out of fear for his safety.
He said his decision had nothing to do with his political views or those of other jurors and he started by dispelling any notion that the 12-member jury was anti-police.
“The majority of police are not bad,” the juror said. “And I’m not saying that Officer Taylor was bad, but I think it was poor judgment."
“My political views are not what you think this verdict would have been,” he told the KVUE Defenders. “I’m not protesting the police. I have always supported the police. I have never supported ‘defund the police.’ I vote Republican. I and several other members of the jury as well. This jury was by no means ready to see what we saw.”
What they saw, and what this juror says they could not overcome, were hours of body camera footage that showed the events leading up to the death of Mauris DeSilva and the moment that Officer Taylor opened fire.
“I think the threat level increased by their own doing,” said the juror.
On that day in 2019, Austin police officers were called to the Spring Condominiums after DeSilva, was seen walking around the property with the knife. The juror says, in analyzing the facts of that day, they placed an emphasis on dispatch records that did not indicate DeSilva was an immediate threat to the public.
“Everybody requested a mental health officer for Dr. DeSilva,” the juror said.
He says the jury believed Taylor and other officers made missteps after arriving at the scene. Among the most objectionable missteps, he says, was taking an elevator, not the stairs, to a communal floor where they believed DeSilva was.
“By putting themselves in those confined quarters and putting themselves right in front of Dr. DeSilva, where they knew he would be,” he said.
The juror also said they felt DeSilva showed no signs that he was a threat to anyone other than himself.
He said the jurors asked: “How do you arrive at the level of threat that was imminent enough that Dr. DeSilva was attempting to commit murder?”
During the trial, Taylor’s defense attorneys argued that the officers faced an immediate threat from DeSilva because of the knife and the less-than-five-feet of distance between DeSilva and the officers.
Taylor and another officer, Karl Krycia, opened fire while a third used his Taser.
"We didn't understand why they didn't even give a chance for the Taser to work," he said.
During three-and-a-half days of deliberations, jurors watched and re-watched hours of video, while going through a chart indicating the level of risk DeSilva posed. But the juror says there was little risk of a deadlock.
“After hours of watching that and dissecting it and going frame by frame, even more than they did in the courtroom, we all came to the same conclusion that there was nothing reasonable about it,” the juror said.
He said he believes he and a couple of jurors may have waivered at times.
“It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, no doubt about it,” he said.
The juror said he also believes the jury’s final decision to convict Taylor was justice served.
“To have the authority to wear a badge and also carry a gun comes with a lot of responsibility.”
The jury did not impose punishment on Taylor. That decision will be made in the coming days by the judge. Taylor faces up to 10 years behind bars.
Officer Krycia also faces charges for DeSilva’s death. No trial date has been set.