« Ind. Decisions - "Ruling backs Indiana University South Bend in lawsuit" | Main | Ind. Gov't. - "FLOYD COUNTY: Officials look to protect important documents" »

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Ind. Courts -More on: Verdict in road-rage shooting trial in Clark County

Updating yesterday's entry, here is today's expanded story by Matt Thacker of the Jeffersonville News & Tribune. Some quotes:

Prosecutor Steve Stewart said he had anticipated a guilty verdict from the outset.

“Had this verdict not been a guilty verdict, I would have been very worried about what the future would hold for this community,” Stewart said. * * *

Stewart asked that the jury be the conscience of the community.

“This is not the Wild, Wild West, but even if this was Dodge City, you wouldn’t be able to walk away claiming self-defense after shooting an unarmed man,” Stewart said as he began his closing statements to the jury Friday morning.

Stewart said the jury would have to decide if Parrish truly believed it was necessary to use deadly force and if a reasonable person would believe the amount of force she used was reasonable. He also argued that Parrish had many other options, such as driving away to avoid Mosier or locking her doors.

"Self-defense rejected in shooting of cyclist" is the headline to Harold J. Adams' story today in the Louisville Courier Journal. Some quotes:
“I was scared for my life,” Parrish told Jeffersonville police in a taped interview that was heard during the trial, as was her grand jury testimony.
Advertisement

Witnesses called by Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart disagreed about portions of both Parrish's and Mosier's accounts.

In closing arguments Friday, Stewart told the jury of four men and eight women, “I'm not sure either one is telling the complete truth of what happened. … I think it's very clear that both of them were operating their vehicles recklessly.”

But Stewart said Parrish's first reaction to seeing Mosier get off his bike was to pull her handgun, for which she had a permit, from under the seat.

“This is not the wild, wild West,” Stewart said. “But even if it was Dodge City, the defendant would not be able to walk away claiming self-defense.”

Stewart noted that witnesses testified that Mosier raised his hands, palms up, and took a step back before he was shot — contradicting Parrish's claim that he raised his hand to punch her.

Brian Butler, Parrish's lawyer, argued that Mosier repeatedly cut in front of Parrish along 10th Street and that she was justified in being afraid when he approached.

“We don't have to wait for someone to drag us out of our car and start beating us … before we can defend ourselves,” he told the jury.

Butler also argued that Parrish's fear was based in part on the fact that she is black and saw “an angry man who happens to be white” coming at her.

“We're all kidding ourselves if we don't think that that created extra fear in her mind,” he said.

After the verdicts, Butler said that he is convinced that his client “believed that she had to do what she did.”

On July 1, Parrish's 15-year-old son pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for getting out of the SUV and kicking Mosier after he was shot. Clark Superior Court Judge Vicki Carmichael imposed a six-month suspended sentence.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 1, 2009 09:55 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions