Self-Defense or Road Rage? NJ Cop's Trial Under Way in Annapolis

Was a fatal roadside confrontation between a Maryland man and an off-duty New Jersey police officer a shooting in self-defense or a crime?

That’s the decision Anne Arundel County jurors have to make. Opening statements were made Monday in the trial of a detective for the Hudson County, NJ, prosecutor's office, who shot Joseph Harvey 36, of Lansdowne three times.

Police charged Joseph Walker, 40, of East Ampton, NJ, in the death of Harvey of Smith Avenue in Halethorpe, in a June 2013 incident on the Route 3 ramp to I-97 in Gambrills. Walker is a detective with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey.

Walker is accused of shooting Harvey after Harvey and a passenger approached Walker’s gold Kia Minivan when both vehicles stopped on the shoulder of the road, police said.

In court Monday, defense attorneys for Walker argued the off-duty officer shot the victim to protect his family, but prosecutors said the only thing he was trying to protect was his bruised ego, reports WJZ TV.

Harvey's passenger, Adam Pidel, said Harvey became angry when Walker's van cut off Harvey's car as both turned left from Route 175 onto Route 3, reports The Baltimore Sun. Both vehicles swerved at each other, and Walker pointed a gun at Harvey's car.

As the men approached, Walker got out of the car, said he was a police officer, then fired a shot that struck Harvey, according to a news release.

"The shooting resulted from a reported road rage incident that had occurred between the drivers of the two vehicles," police said in the release.

Harvey died at Baltimore Washington Medical Center. He was a truck driver for a Jessup-based alcohol distributor, grew up in Millersville and had moved to Halethorpe about a month before he was killed, reports the Capital-Gazette.

Walker was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

According to WBAL TV, Walker’s attorneys claim he fired in self defense. They also claim Harvey screamed racial slurs at Walker -- something Harvey's friends disputed.

Many of Walker’s fellow police officers support him and have raised $100,000 for his defense.

“It’s been really hurtful for us to see the way he’s been depicted as this aggressive, bullying-type thug cop when he’s anything but that. He’s a devoted family man that was protecting his family and [himself],” William Caicedo, New Jersey Police Local 232, told the TV station.

Law enforcement groups worry a guilty verdict will have a nationwide impact.

Walker remains free on $1 million bail and has been suspended without pay from his job.