CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A seventh police officer invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Thursday in the voluntary manslaughter trial of fellow Cleveland officer Michael Brelo.

Officer Erin O'Donnell, who participated in the Nov. 29, 2012 police chase and shootings that resulted in charges against Brelo, entered the courtroom with her attorney, Mark Stanton. Prosecutors asked her if she had told investigators the "whole story" of what happened on the night of Nov. 29, 2012, at which point O'Donnell invoked her Fifth Amendment right.

After brief discussion, Judge John P. O'Donnell agreed that since the officer was present and fired her gun, she is in a "similar position to Brelo" before he was indicted, and therefore answering could potentially incriminate her.

Judge O'Donnell and Erin O'Donnell are not related.

Brelo, 31, is charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams inside a 1979 Chevy Malibu. Russell led police on a prolonged chase from Cleveland to East Cleveland with Williams as a passenger.

Prosecutors have said 13 police officers fired 137 shots at Russell and Williams, who were in Russell's 1979 Chevy Malibu.

Erin O'Donnell, who fired 12 shots, had told investigators after the incident that she believed she saw Russell shooting, and Williams reloading a weapon, according to a transcript of her remarks. She also told investigators she yelled cease fire, and did not mention seeing another officer on the hood of any cars that night.

O'Donnell was partnered with Officer Michael Demchak the night of the shooting. Demchak invoked his Fifth Amendment right last week. Five police supervisors charged with dereliction of duty in the same case also invoked their Fifth Amendment right earlier this week.

Here are highlights from the rest of the day.

1. Many of the shots that hit Russell and Williams had a downward trajectory

Dr. Joseph Felo, who performed the autopsy on Malissa Williams, testified that a total of 24 gunshot wounds were found on her body. Of those, 13 had a downward trajectory, and four would have been fatal, according to Felo, a deputy medical examiner with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office.

Timothy Russell was hit a total of 23 times, and 15 of the shots had a downward trajectory, and five would have been lethal.

Prosecutors have focused on the downward trajectory of some shots to bolster their contention that Brelo stood on the hood of the Malibu and shot down at Russell and Williams.

Lawyers for Brelo say their client can't recall whether he stood on the Malibu's hood.

2. Only one trajectory can be tracked to where a shooter might have stood



Felo and colleagues at the medical examiners office used rods in a mannequin to display the direction of shots inside each body. But the angles were determined based on bodies on an autopsy table, not moving inside a car.

"How they were in the vehicle is different," Felo told the court.

Given that, Felo testified that only one bullet trajectory can be tracked from Malissa Williams' body to where the shooter might have been standing.

Felo said a deformed bullet that hit Williams' chest would have had to come from the direction of the hood of a nearby police car and passed through part of the Malibu.

The shooter could have been standing anywhere on that path, though footprints were recovered from the hood of the police vehicle. In his interview with investigators, Brelo said he had crawled on the hood of that car to get a better angle.

3. Medical examiners can't determine bullet order, or which were the "kill shots"

Felo testified that based on bruising, he can determine which shots hit Russell and Williams before or after they were dead. But, beyond that, he said, he cannot determine the order of the shots. He also testified that since the bullets came in rapid succession, it's difficult to determine which shots might have killed the two.

4. This isn't the last we've heard from medical examiners

The defense is expected to call additional medical examiners to testify. Defense attorney Thomas Shaughnessy suggested Thursday that some medical examiners might disagree with some of Felo's findings.

5. Coming up Friday: ballistics

Prosecutors say they plan to call a ballistics expert from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to testify about the shell casings found at the crime scene.