Jury begins Ellington deliberations

Jurors began deliberations Wednesday afternoon to decide whether Jonathan Wade Ellington intentionally ran over an Athol woman and rammed the vehicle her daughters were in after a high-speed pursuit on New Year’s Day.

Ellington, accused of second-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Vonette Larsen, sat with his defense team and watched stone-faced as Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Art Verharen told jurors that the Hayden man was not fleeing for his life Jan. 1.

“His anger is his motivation for doing what he did,” Verharen said. “He committed battery on those two women. He committed murder upon Mrs. Larsen. It’s time that Mr. Ellington was held responsible for his conduct.”

Now in its 10th day, Ellington’s trial has had a wealth of dramatic moments, including eight mistrial motions by the defense, a motion for acquittal after the prosecution rested, arguments over what Judge John Luster called “gruesome” photographs of Vonette Larsen’s bloody body in the roadway, and extensive audio and video records of the incident.

The audio records include 18-year-old Joleen Larsen’s call to 911 reporting that Ellington had passed Joleen Larsen and her sister, 21-year-old Jovon Larsen, on Ramsey Road, gotten out of his car at an intersection, threatened and challenged them to fight, and punched the driver’s side window.

Joleen Larsen called 911 again when they saw Ellington a second time on the road after a Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy left them with witness statements to search for Ellington’s large gold and white vehicle. The recording of the call covers the chase between the entire Larsen family and Ellington leading up to a confrontation on Scarcello Road.

Verharen told jurors that Ellington purposely rammed the Honda Accord being driven by Jovon Larsen because he was angry at them for pursuing him, and then he ran over Vonette Larsen and fled. Defense attorneys, however, contend that Ellington was fleeing for his life after the pursuit and being shot at by Vonette’s husband, Joel Larsen.

“Mr. Ellington’s whole action was an escape action,” Deputy Public Defender Anne Taylor said in her closing argument Wednesday. “… And then a gun was brought into the mix. His only choice was to try to escape.”

Joel Larsen testified during the trial that he did not shoot at Ellington until after the man began to ram his daughter’s car. He shot again after Vonette Larsen was run over, Joel Larsen said.

Audio engineers who testified on both sides agreed that no gunshots could be heard on the 911 tapes before what seems to be the sounds of the Blazer hitting the Honda. But there was disagreement between the sides regarding how many shots could be heard after the crash.

Taylor said her expert testified that only two sounds after the crash were consistent with gunfire, so there was reason to believe that Joel Larsen could have shot at Ellington earlier on and was not defending his family. She said that leaves room for jurors to believe that Ellington was forced to flee for his life, accidentally hitting Vonette Larsen with no time to react.

“Twenty to 25 seconds is not enough time to make decisions to kill somebody,” Taylor said. “There simply wasn’t enough time for him to intend to hit her.

“You can listen to that tape 100 times and wish it turned out different. You’ll wish things were different, but they’re not,” Taylor said. “This case has to be decided on the facts.”

Jurors are scheduled to continue deliberations today.