Sergeant Stalker started testifying by taking jurors back to August 2001 when he and Telen approached a Dunlap home. He said, "I pounded on the door, and yelled, 'Fresno County Sheriff's Department come out!'"
Ramadan Abdullah broke in and hid inside the home. Stalker demonstrated for the jury his partner's final moments as Telen rounded a corner inside the home. Stalker said, "He again had his knees down. His gun out. He just started to move very slowly. And as he was rounding the corner, I remember he only took maybe one or two steps."
That's when Abdullah fired shot guns towards the deputies.
Stalker said, "I'm yelling Erik, Erik get out, get out." Telen was fatally wounded.
Emotions also poured outside the court room. Both the victim's and defendant's mothers embraced each other after the dramatic testimony.
Abdullah's defense team agrees the 26-year-old killed the deputy. His attorneys believe Abdullah was insane at the time.
The toughest part of Thursday's testimony came when Sergeant Stalker remembered seeing his partner lying lifeless on the floor. He said, "…and he wasn't responding. At that point ... I knew he was dead."
The defense will begin presenting its case on Monday. If Abdullah is convicted of first degree murder and found sane at the time of the crime, then he could face the death penalty.
