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Defendant testifies in attempted murder trial
The Associated Press
Published: May 26th, 2005
Last Modified: May 26th, 2005 at 10:47 AM
FAIRBANKS (AP) - A man charged with attempting to kill a Fairbanks police officer testified he meant only to scare the officer when he pointed a broken pellet gun at him.
Tariq Eskridge, 20, took the stand Wednesday on the third day of his trial. He is accused of pointing the gun at Officer Matt Soden in December at a South Fairbanks home and pulling the trigger several times. The gun, which was broken, did not fire.
"Killing Officer Soden was not in my mind at all," Eskridge said. "My only objective was to get out of the house. I wasn't even thinking about hurting Officer Soden."
Prosecutors contend that Eskridge thought the pellet gun was a deadly weapon, and therefore he is guilty of attempted murder.
Eskridge testified he knew he was holding a broken pellet gun as soon as he saw it up close.
It was a point defense attorney Michael O'Brien referenced repeatedly in his opening statements.
"The evidence will show there is no way Mr. Eskridge ... could think it was a deadly weapon," he said. "There will be no evidence that he ever tried to kill Officer Soden."
Soden was responding to a report that a man had attempted to force his way into a South Fairbanks home. When Soden arrived, he testified, he saw a man eventually identified as Eskridge enter another area home.
He walked up to the home, heard loud voices inside and knocked on the door, he said. The home's resident answered the door and showed him what looked like a revolver. The man quietly explained that it was a broken pellet gun.
Soden said he entered the home, saw Eskridge inside and tried to speak to him but was ignored. At some point, Soden said, the other man crossed between Eskridge and Soden and Eskridge tackled him.
"The defendant came out with the pellet gun, pointed it at me and began pulling the trigger," he said. "There was a loud clicking sound that was going on as he was pointing it at me."
Soden remembered hoping he was right in assessing the gun was not the real thing, he said.
"It went through my head that if I was wrong, I was in a very bad position," he said. "It did make me very apprehensive when I was looking down the barrel of it."
Eskridge said he went to the man's house to ask to use the phone and he believed he had been invited in. He said he noticed the police car pull up as he entered the house, that police make him "uneasy" and that he pointed the gun at Soden to scare him so that he could escape from the house.
Eskridge has a lengthy recent history of contact with police.
Eskridge also denied that he pulled the trigger. The clicking sound Soden heard may have been the officer's own Taser being fired, he said. Soden testified he fired his Taser after Eskridge fired the gun.
District Attorney Jeff O'Bryant later asked Soden to demonstrate both pulling the trigger on the gun and firing the Taser. The former made a slow, mechanical click, while the latter was a rapid-fire electrical clicking.
The case was scheduled to go to jurors Thursday.
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Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
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the idiot is lucky to be alive. i'm surprised he isnt suing the state for being tazed.
Defendant testifies in attempted murder trial
The Associated Press
Published: May 26th, 2005
Last Modified: May 26th, 2005 at 10:47 AM
FAIRBANKS (AP) - A man charged with attempting to kill a Fairbanks police officer testified he meant only to scare the officer when he pointed a broken pellet gun at him.
Tariq Eskridge, 20, took the stand Wednesday on the third day of his trial. He is accused of pointing the gun at Officer Matt Soden in December at a South Fairbanks home and pulling the trigger several times. The gun, which was broken, did not fire.
"Killing Officer Soden was not in my mind at all," Eskridge said. "My only objective was to get out of the house. I wasn't even thinking about hurting Officer Soden."
Prosecutors contend that Eskridge thought the pellet gun was a deadly weapon, and therefore he is guilty of attempted murder.
Eskridge testified he knew he was holding a broken pellet gun as soon as he saw it up close.
It was a point defense attorney Michael O'Brien referenced repeatedly in his opening statements.
"The evidence will show there is no way Mr. Eskridge ... could think it was a deadly weapon," he said. "There will be no evidence that he ever tried to kill Officer Soden."
Soden was responding to a report that a man had attempted to force his way into a South Fairbanks home. When Soden arrived, he testified, he saw a man eventually identified as Eskridge enter another area home.
He walked up to the home, heard loud voices inside and knocked on the door, he said. The home's resident answered the door and showed him what looked like a revolver. The man quietly explained that it was a broken pellet gun.
Soden said he entered the home, saw Eskridge inside and tried to speak to him but was ignored. At some point, Soden said, the other man crossed between Eskridge and Soden and Eskridge tackled him.
"The defendant came out with the pellet gun, pointed it at me and began pulling the trigger," he said. "There was a loud clicking sound that was going on as he was pointing it at me."
Soden remembered hoping he was right in assessing the gun was not the real thing, he said.
"It went through my head that if I was wrong, I was in a very bad position," he said. "It did make me very apprehensive when I was looking down the barrel of it."
Eskridge said he went to the man's house to ask to use the phone and he believed he had been invited in. He said he noticed the police car pull up as he entered the house, that police make him "uneasy" and that he pointed the gun at Soden to scare him so that he could escape from the house.
Eskridge has a lengthy recent history of contact with police.
Eskridge also denied that he pulled the trigger. The clicking sound Soden heard may have been the officer's own Taser being fired, he said. Soden testified he fired his Taser after Eskridge fired the gun.
District Attorney Jeff O'Bryant later asked Soden to demonstrate both pulling the trigger on the gun and firing the Taser. The former made a slow, mechanical click, while the latter was a rapid-fire electrical clicking.
The case was scheduled to go to jurors Thursday.
---
Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
the idiot is lucky to be alive. i'm surprised he isnt suing the state for being tazed.
