Jury Acquits Teenager In Shooting Death Defendant Claimed Self-Defense In Killing Former Roommate

A 19-year-old Spokane man acted in self-defense when he killed a former roommate and wounded another man during a street-corner confrontation last year, a jury decided Thursday.

After deliberating for six hours, jurors found Justin Rogers guilty only of firing a weapon in public.

Rogers faced a first-degree murder charge for shooting 23-year-old Christopher Lashon Thomas the afternoon of Nov. 22.

He was also charged with second-degree attempted murder for wounding Calvin White, 22.

After Thursday’s verdict, jurors said the decision was difficult, but it came down to believing that Rogers feared for his life.

“The bottom line was that we had to see the event through his eyes,” said juror Ken Blackburn.

Rogers wept briefly after the verdicts were read. He was released Thursday night from the Spokane County Jail and will be sentenced Monday for the weapons violation, a misdemeanor.

“I feel that this is absolutely the right outcome,” said defense attorney Tracy Collins. “I’m sure Justin felt in absolute fear of his life that day.”

“I just can’t tell you how relieved I am by this verdict,” said Brenda Rogers, the defendant’s mother.

Justin Rogers spent four months in jail after turning himself in to police four days after the North Side shooting.

During the two-week trial, Rogers testified that he thought he saw a pistol sticking out of Thomas’ pants, as Thomas and White approached him at a bus stop near Monroe Street and York Avenue.

He said friends told him prior to the shooting that Thomas was out to get him. The ex-roommates were feuding over a series of thefts and confrontations, authorities said.

After the men yelled at each other on the street that afternoon, Rogers said he pulled a silver 9 mm pistol from his coat to stop Thomas and White. He said the men continued walking toward him.

Rogers said he fired several shots in Thomas’ direction, but insisted he didn’t intend to kill him.

Shot twice, Thomas died within 30 minutes.

Rogers said he saw White run off and reach into his pants. He testified that he thought White had picked up Thomas’ pistol.

Rogers fired three more shots, hitting White in the abdomen. White recovered from the wound and testified at the trial, saying neither he nor Thomas were armed that day.

The acquittal mirrored the self-defense verdict a different jury rendered a year ago in a similar case.

On March 15, 1996, a Spokane County jury decided that 20-year-old Eric Swanson acted in self-defense when he killed one unarmed man and wounded another with a .40-caliber pistol outside an East Sprague strip club.

Swanson said he shot 26-year-old Robert Wolbing because he thought Wolbing was holding a pistol and would use it.

In both trials, however, there was no evidence that the person killed was armed.

The Rogers verdict won’t have any effect on how county prosecutors deal with similar cases, the head of the major-crimes unit said.

“If we had to charge this case all over, we would still argue it was first-degree murder,” said Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll.

Until several years ago, self-defense was only justified if a defendant could show he was in actual danger or harm, Driscoll said. Now, it’s more subjective.

“The jury is told to see things through the eyes of the defendant,” the prosecutor said.

“Our burden is having to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that what the person said he felt wasn’t that at all. Or we must show that he acted with more force than was reasonable.”

As with the Swanson trial, jurors said Rogers deserved to have his defense costs repaid by taxpayers. State law allows that option for people who are charged with a crime and convince a jury they acted in self-defense.

, DataTimes