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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

”Squirrel” acts as own attorney

Bryan Montez James couldn’t blame his lawyer Wednesday when a jury convicted him of two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

And the drive-by shooting verdict couldn’t have come as a surprise to the 24-year-old defendant, whose street name is “Squirrel.”

James acted as his own attorney, offering no witnesses and relatively little cross-examination.

In a basketball game, he would have been the player who scored the winning basket in the wrong hoop.

Skilled attorneys sometimes present no testimony and rely on cross-examination and closing arguments to create doubt and win acquittals. James’ strategy, however, seemed to boil down to a somewhat disarming candor.

“I have no alibi, he’s right,” James said after Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla gave a typical closing argument that summed up the evidence and called for a conviction.

“You-all seen the facts,” James continued. “You-all heard the witnesses. You-all heard the victims. You-all have the evidence.”

Then he cut to the chase: “I’m not going to waste nobody else’s time. I’ll let you-all get to it. Whatever decision you-all do, I’m still going to hold my head up high regardless. Thank you-all for your-all time.”

Cipolla was entitled to a rebuttal after James’ closing argument, but he just smiled. “Nothing more from the state, your honor,” Cipolla said.

Perhaps a testament to James’ bewildering performance, the jury took about 51/2 hours to reach a verdict. In addition to two counts of attempted first-degree murder, the jury convicted James of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

The jury also found that he used that firearm, a semiautomatic pistol, in the attempted murders. The finding adds a mandatory five years to each of his consecutive attempted-murder sentences.

Cipolla said Wednesday that he hadn’t calculated James’ standard sentencing range but that his sentence probably will be in excess of 40 years.

James was found guilty of shooting two men, Richard Payne and Nicholas Schelin, about 3:20 a.m. on June 27 last year.

Payne and Schelin said they were walking in the 2600 block of North Crestline when James drove alongside them, pointed a pistol at them and said, “Hey, homies.” Then, the victims said, James fired about a half-dozen rounds, hitting Payne in the thigh and Schelin in the arm and side.

Faces more charges

James will have a chance to improve his legal technique: He plans to defend himself again next month, when he is to be tried on charges of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm in a separate crime.

A co-defendant in that Nov. 16 home invasion, 41-year-old Robert Tracy “Shorty” Spencer faces the same charges as James, plus first-degree kidnapping, first-degree promoting prostitution and second-degree assault.

Spencer allegedly went to an apartment at 128 N. Division St., where several occupants said Spencer tried to coerce a woman to work as a prostitute with him as her pimp. According to court documents, James A. Johnston, 40, intervened and Spencer slashed at him three times with a knife, missing each time.

Witnesses told police they managed to calm Spencer and get him to leave, but he returned about three hours later with James, and someone let them in. Spencer allegedly hit Johnston on the head with a metal pipe. Then, court documents allege, James pulled out a pistol and shot Johnston to death while Johnston was wrestling with Spencer.

The crime is similar to one in which James stabbed a man in November 1999 and nearly killed him. James and several other men – armed with guns, knives and bats – forced their way into a home in the 2400 block of North Cincinnati and robbed a small gathering of people.

According to court documents, James became upset when he found no money in Nicholas G. Cochrane’s wallet, so he put Cochrane in a headlock. James drew the blade of his knife slowly over Cochrane’s throat until one of James’ companions told him to stop.

James released Cochrane but stabbed him in the back, slicing Cochrane’s liver, puncturing his diaphragm and collapsing a lung.

James was charged with first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

As an adult, James also has been convicted of conspiracy to deliver drugs. He has a half-dozen convictions as a juvenile – including assault, robbery and drug possession – dating from 1993 when he was 13 years old.

If James was unhappy with the outcome of his latest court case, he didn’t show it. Taking his cue when Deputy Prosecutor Cipolla thanked the jury for its service, James nodded to jurors and said, “Thank you-all for showing.”