Andrew Davison cross-examines Elyria police sergeant, takes stand in his own defense (VIDEO)

ELYRIA — Lorain County Common Pleas Court jurors on Tuesday heard from two men who each said they were literally fighting for their lives in a courtroom one floor below them months earlier: One a police officer, the other a convicted felon. Andrew Davison, 43, is on trial on two counts of felonious assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of assault on a law enforcement officer, also a felony. He already is serving 18 years in prison for attempted murder, a conviction that is on appeal, plus a separate drug trafficking conviction. Davison, who is representing himself in court, cross-examined Elyria police Sgt. Mike Walker about the fight between the two of them and other law enforcement officers June 12, after Davison was sentenced to prison in the attempted murder case. After Walker testified, Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo rested his case and Davison then called himself to testify as his own first witness. The veteran Elyria officer testified he intervened after Davison threw punches at two smaller Lorain County sheriff's deputies who tried to take him into custody in Judge Christopher Rothgery's courtroom that day. Walker said he believed Davison would overpower the two men and try to go for a deputy's gun. Rothgery had just ordered Davison to prison for 10 to 15 years for attempted murder. Davison — 6 feet 3 inches tall and more than 300 pounds — told deputies Christopher Schmidt and Jeff Smith they'd have to kill him before he'd go. Walker has not returned to full duty while recovering from the injuries he suffered that day, he told a jury in Judge Giovanna Bremke's courtroom. He needs glasses after Davison put his thumbs in both of his eyes and has lingering joint and limb injuries. Ten women and four men are on the jury, with two to be randomly selected as alternates when testimony concludes. Walker testified he helped investigate Davison for attempted murder and was in Rothgery's courtroom for the June 12 verdict and sentencing. Davison, who said he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed the victim in that case, also has argued self-defense for fighting Walker, Smith and Schmidt. "It was my belief at that point in time that Mr. Davison was going to do anything he could not to go back to prison," Walker said in response to questions from Prosecutor Tony Cillo. "He told us he would be willing to die before going back to prison." Walker said Davison tried to gouge his eyes out with his thumbs. "I thought my eyeballs had exploded in my eyes," Walker testified. "I couldn't see. It was like I was under water." Thinking he had just been blinded, Walker bit Davison on the head and wrestled him to the floor before backup arrived. Smith got Davison into a restraint hold from behind, and then Schmidt shocked Davison — and Walker by accident — with a Taser as Walker punched Davison in the head. Walker said he wanted to make sure Davison stayed down and couldn't fight. "If he (Davison) was able to get up I was not going to be able to defend myself," he testified. It took seven deputies and probation officers to finally get Davison into handcuffs and into custody. Walker left Davison with a bloody bite mark and a swollen black eye. Davison, Smith and Walker all were hospitalized — Smith with four fractured ribs and a cracked sternum, he testified Monday. Walker now needs glasses to see, had a dislocated finger and a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that required surgery, as well as arm and knee injuries. He is on "light duty" for several more months, he testified. Sheriff's Lt. Gary Howell, chief of security at the county Justice Center on Court Street in Elyria, testified that an internal sheriff's office review found no excessive force was used to subdue Davison. "I think biting would be something that a police officer would do if his life is being threatened," Howell testified. Davison takes the stand After Walker stepped away from the witness stand and the prosecution rested, Davison called himself as a witness in his own defense, waiving his constitutional right not to testify. Davison wove a long tale, something he was repeatedly asked to stop doing by both Cillo and Bremke, which he argued showed that both Walker and the Lorain County justice system in general had conspired to see him placed in prison. Bremke sustained dozens of objections made by Cillo throughout Davison's cross-examination and testimony, which Davison told the jury was further evidence that police, prosecutors and judges were working in collusion against him. Bremke has ruled many of Davison's lines of questioning irrelevant and has had to explain to him that he is not allowed to give commentary to the jury, only to ask questions. Davison refused to allow attorney Matthew Bobrowski, his stand-by counsel, to take over his defense for him. In response to this argument, Cillo pointed to Davison's lengthy criminal past and said Davison seemed to think that the law was whatever he wanted it to be. In his recounting, Davison said that after his arrest on drug charges in 2024, Walker was waiting outside of his house "every morning." On one of those mornings, Davison told jurors, he was attacked by a man whom he knew to be a "snitch," and that after he defended himself he was tricked into going to the Elyria Police Department, where he was arrested. Davison was arrested and charged with attempted murder, the charge for which he was found guilty on June 12, because the other individual was left with a massive cut across his face and another knife wound to the back of the head. On cross-examination from Cillo, Davison admitted that after he was found guilty he told those in the courtroom that they would have to kill him before he would go back to jail. Davison said that he did not start fighting with deputies until he saw Walker rise from his chair and "coming at me in an aggressive manner." He said that because of prior interactions with Walker, this made him fear for his life. After Cillo showed still images from courtroom footage of the incident, Davison admitted that he had placed his hands on Smith's right wrist prior to Walker rising from his chair at the prosecution table. Cillo pointed out that Smith's right side was the side on which he carries his firearm, and Davison responded that Smith's wrist was at his shoulder level when he grabbed it. "Yes, but he can't use his weapon anymore if you have got your hand on his wrist, can he?" Cillo asked. "He should have just pulled his weapon from the beginning," Davison said. "He should have pulled his weapon from the beginning … and put a bullet in you because that is what you wanted?" Cillo said. "Yes," Davison replied. Davison also agreed with Cillo that the deputies had been under a lawful order from Rothgery to take him into custody. After admitting this point early in his cross-examination by Cillo, Davison attempted to walk it back later, saying the order was not lawful and then refusing to answer when the question was asked again. Eventually though, he again agreed that the deputies and judge had acted lawfully before he placed his hands on deputies. After the fight began, Davison said that he had never punched Schmidt nor stuck his thumbs in Walker's eyes and that both men had lied about him doing so on the stand. Directly addressing the jury – one of the several things which Davison was chided for repeatedly by Bremke – Davison pleaded with them to see the conspiracy against him formed by the "gang" he said consisted of all law enforcement in the county. "You are a gang, and you work together," Davison said. "Like I stated from the beginning, I can say objection and you are going to hear 'overruled,' you (Cillo) can say objection and it is going to be sustained. I can ask the judge something, she is going to go the opposite way. You can ask the judge something, she is going to do whatever you ask her because you are all in collusion." The prosecutor pushed back hard against Davison's repeated claims that there was a conspiracy against him. "Because you are the world's unluckiest person, this is three times that you have done nothing wrong, and people just keep putting you in prison?" Cillo asked. "You all are trying to put me in prison. Lorain County courts are," Davison replied. "You shouldn't violate the law. Maybe you should try that," Cillo said. Davison also called Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh, who was the prosecutor on the case during which the fight occurred. Leigh testified that what she saw in the courtroom that day was "extremely scary," and that she saw Davison punch Schmidt without provocation and continue to fight with deputies and Walker while he was on the ground. The trial will continue this morning, with Davison saying he hopes to call more witnesses, but he is unsure if subpoenas had reached them. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.