CLEVELAND, Ohio - Defense attorneys asked Wednesday for Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo to be acquitted of voluntary manslaughter charges, contending prosecutors failed to prove their case.

Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge John P. O'Donnell said he'd make a decision on the acquittal, and a request to drop a gun specification, by Monday morning. He also asked defense attorneys to have their witnesses ready Monday morning.

The defense's requests came during the 13th day of Brelo's trial, shortly after prosecutors called their final witness. The 31-year-old officer is charged in connection with a Nov. 29, 2012 police chase and shooting that ended in the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.

Defense attorney Thomas Shaughnessy told O'Donnell that prosecutors did not prove which shots caused the deaths of Russell and Williams, or who fired those shots. Shaughnessy further argued that the prosecution's own expert witness on police use of force, W. Ken Katsaris, was unable to say laws were broken, only that general police practices were not followed.

Shaughnessy said the 13 officers involved in the shooting, including Brelo, were justified in their use of force. The officers believed they had been shot at, and that their lives were at risk.

Defense attorneys also asked that the gun specification be dropped from the charges against Brelo.

Gun specifications, which reflect that a gun was used in a crime, enable prosecutors to seek longer sentences. But Shaughnessy cited a recent Ohio Supreme Court case that found police officers involved in on-duty shootings shouldn't be charged with gun specifications because they are issued guns and are expected to use the weapons as part of their job.

Assistant prosecutor Rick Bell argued that the exemption does not apply because Brelo went beyond his duty as a police officer the moment he climbed onto vehicles to shoot straight down at Russell and Williams.

"He's no longer acting under the scope of authority that he's supposed to," Bell said.

Bell also argued the state had provided reasonable evidence in the case. He cited testimony from medical examiners that 28 bullets hit Russell and Williams at a steep, downward angle, and 17 of those were potentially fatal shots.

Prosecutors have said Brelo climbed onto a police car, and then onto the hood of Russell's Chevy Malibu and fired straight down at the pair. One police officer testified to seeing someone, later identified as Brelo, firing down from the hood of the Malibu. Footprints from the car were also a close match to Brelo's shoes.

Bell said prior testimony showed that "the defendant was not objectively reasonable and was not justified in his actions."

What's coming next week?

If O'Donnell rejects the request for an acquittal, defense lawyers will begin calling their own witnesses on Monday morning.

The defense is expected to call 7 witnesses, out-of-town experts in optometry, psychiatry, audio, use of force, shooting, and two medical examiners. Defense attorneys have not indicated whether Brelo will take the stand.