Deliberating to begin
Final testimonies given; closing statements set for todayDAVE CALDWELL, Staff Writer dcaldwell@minotdailynews.com
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The jury in the case of a man accused of murder in Minot's Eastwood Park neighborhood on July 29 is expected to begin deliberating this afternoon.
Antonio Stridiron, 32, of Minot, is accused of shooting 27-year-old Minot resident Joshua Velasquez to death early that morning. Another man, Bradley Davis, 27, of Minot, is accused of aggravated assault for allegedly striking Velasquez with a bladed garden implement during the fight that ended in Velasquez's shooting. The two separate but related cases are being tried in front of the same jury.
Closing arguments by the attorneys are scheduled to begin this morning at 9 a.m. in Northwest District Court in Minot. Ward County State's Attorney John Van Grinsven told Judge Doug Mattson that he anticipates his closing for the two cases will take about 90 minutes, while Bob
Martin, Stridiron's attorney, requested "at least an hour."
There were more than 30 witnesses "and a plethora of exhibits in this case," Martin said.
Davis' attorney, Josh Rustad, said if he were also allotted an hour, it would be enough.
The jury will deliberate Saturday if it does not reach a verdict today, and also will be instructed to keep deliberating until it has reached a verdict in both cases before notifying the court it has done so.
"I don't want reception on the first verdict to have an influence on the second verdict," Mattson said.
In Thursday's only testimony after Martin opened proceedings by announcing to the jury that Stridiron rested his case, Van Grinsven called Cynthia Gerber as a rebuttal witness. Gerber, who works with Wal-Mart asset protection, testified that she found Alicia Boyce to be a dishonest person. Boyce testified Wednesday about Davis' previous altercations with Velasquez, which Martin told the jury pointed to Davis' "wounded pride, shame and rage" as motives that Davis, not Stridiron, would have for murdering Velasquez. Martin, throughout the trial, has been attempting to put the gun in Davis' hands the night of the shooting.
The three attorneys wrangled for a short time about the instructions the jury will receive. The jury instructions serve as a rulebook of sorts that the jury must use to render a verdict.
Rustad was concerned about the inclusion of language concerning motive in the packet, saying the state didn't present any evidence of motive concerning Davis. Van Grinsven told Mattson that the language should be included to demonstrate that the state was not required to demonstrate motive for the aggravated assault charge. Mattson ruled that the motive language would stay in.
Van Grinsven also asked for self-defense language to be removed from instructions about Stridiron. Martin volunteered to strike any reference to self-defense from jury instructions, saying he didn't "even want to go there."
Martin also requested and was granted that language referring to bodily injury, serious bodily injury, substantial bodily injury and dangerous weapon. Martin at first objected to the phrase "extreme indifference to human life" being included, but after searching unsuccessfully for the definition of the phrase between sessions, dropped his request. Language concerning the word firearm will remain.
The jury took a short bus trip Thursday to the neighborhood where the alleged offenses occurred. They were accompanied by Ward County Clerk of District Court Susan Hoffer, two bailiffs and two uniformed Ward County Sheriff's Deputies. They were not permitted to talk about the case amongst themselves or with anyone else, and did not exit the bus.
Before they departed, Mattson instructed the jurors not to go back to the scene until after their deliberations have finished.
