FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Testimony just wrapped up for the day in the murder trial of a metro Atlanta attorney accused of killing a prominent real estate investor.
Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was inside the Fulton County courthouse as the state rested its case.
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The state finished late Tuesday evening, but not before jurors heard from the lead detective.
The family gave Channel 2 Action News permission to share photos of the incident.
“The victim had sustained what we refer to as ‘raccooning’ of the eye, above and around the right orbital socket, which is indicative of a massive skull fracture,” said Sandy Springs Detective J.T. Williams.
Prosecutors showed the photos to members of the jury Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Bryan Schmitt.
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Schmitt, a metro Atlanta attorney, is accused of intentionally running over and killing Hamid Jahangard.
The prominent real estate investor and father of two died three days after he was hit by Schmitt’s Mercedes in what investigators say started with an argument over a golf ball.
Jurors also saw surveillance video from the July 30, 2019 incident.
Police say they obtained it from a neighbor’s security camera located just across the street from the crime scene, on River Valley Road in Sandy Springs.
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Detectives say in the video, Jahangard is seen outside on his driveway talking on his phone with a golf ball in his hand.
“He bounces it twice prior to the defendant driving by as he’s on the phone,” Williams said. “And the defendant, that’s Mr. Schmitt’s car, you see him hit the brakes, so you see his hand come down right before he enters the screen.”
It’s unclear if the ball hit the defendant’s Mercedes, but you eventually see him turn around and stop in the middle of the road.
That’s where prosecutors say he had a heated exchange with Jahangard right before he rammed into him.
Schmitt’s attorneys dispute that and say what happened was a tragic mistake.
They say their client not only hit the brakes, but had no intent of killing or injuring the victim, and was trying to pull into the driveway to get out of the way of traffic.
The defense has scheduled its first witness in the morning.
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