Man Charged With ‘Third Strike’ Conviction On Burglary, Assault Could Result In Life Sentence

A man accused of using a sawed-off shotgun during a home-invasion robbery last winter in north Spokane faces life imprisonment without parole.

Ernie Duane Hern, 40, is standing trial for first-degree residential burglary, two counts of second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.

If convicted of either assault or burglary, Hern would qualify as a “persistent violent offender” under the state’s “Three Strikes” law, prosecutors said.

Testimony in the Superior Court trial began Tuesday.

Homeowner Kevin Conwell described hearing two men break into his home at 2224 E. Rich around midnight on Feb. 6.

Conwell said he was in his bedroom with his girlfriend, while housemate Linda Rowley and her friend, Darlene Straughen, were in the kitchen.

Prosecutors say Hern, wearing a ski mask, pushed his way into the house after a female accomplice knocked at Conwell’s door and feigned needing to make an emergency phone call.

At that moment, Hern and another man pushed Straughen aside, she testified.

Straughen identified the other intruder as Anthony Burress, a former acquaintance.

She said Hern hit her in the head with the shotgun, then marched down the hall toward Conwell’s bedroom. Burress stood over Straughen as she lay on the ground, she said.

Conwell testified he and his girlfriend, Tamia Kimball, heard Hern threaten to kill Straughen if Conwell didn’t open the door.

Conwell said he grabbed a loaded .38-caliber pistol and waited.

“Then he began kicking the door. When the door flew open, I looked and all I saw was the shotgun,” Conwell told jurors.

Conwell said he fired three or four shots, hitting Hern in the arm and shoulder. Hern retaliated with a shotgun blast that missed Conwell.

After the shooting, Burress ran from the house, Straughen said.

Conwell said he walked over to the wounded Hern, clubbed him once with the pistol butt and tore off his ski mask while Kimball held the shotgun.

Until that moment, Conwell and Kimball said they had never seen Hern before.

In closing arguments today, defense attorney Richard Sanger will tell jurors Hern did enter the house but didn’t strike Straughen or wield a shotgun.

Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll will argue that Hern was hired to invade the home as a payback for debts Conwell hadn’t paid off.

On Tuesday, Kimball testified that Hern told her, several weeks after the shooting, that he was a “tax man” - a hired gun who strong-arms people who owe money.

Hern said he was hired for the home invasion by a Spokane resident named Patty, Kimball said.

She said Hern told her Conwell owed Patty “a lot of money.”

The case took a strange turn two weeks after the Feb. 6 shooting. Straughen shot and killed the 37-year-old Burress after he allegedly broke into her home several blocks from Conwell’s house.

In an interview Tuesday, Straughen said Burress “probably came after me to make sure I didn’t say any more” about the Feb. 6 break-in.

Police are still investigating Burress’ death. No criminal charges have been filed.