HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors told jurors Wednesday that a man convicted of murder after claiming Texas' version of a stand-your-ground law allowed him to fatally shoot a neighbor he had confronted about a loud party is dangerous and unpredictable and deserves a life sentence.
But attorneys for Raul Rodriguez described him as a family man who served his country in the military and as a Houston-area firefighter. They asked that he be sentenced to a minimum term of five years.
Jurors began deliberating Rodriguez's sentence after closing arguments Wednesday in the punishment phase of his trial. Rodriguez, 46, faces up to life in prison for the 2010 killing of Kelly Danaher following a confrontation over a birthday party.
The retired firefighter went to Danaher's home to confront him about the noise coming from the party there. Rodriguez argued with the 36-year-old Danaher, an elementary school teacher, and two other men at the party.
In a 22-minute video he recorded the night of the shooting, Rodriguez can be heard telling a police dispatcher "my life is in danger now" and "these people are going to go try and kill me." He then said, "I'm standing my ground here," and fatally shot Danaher and wounded the other two men.
A jury convicted Rodriguez, who had a concealed handgun license, on June 13.
Rodriguez's reference to standing his ground is similar to the claim made by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who is citing Florida's stand-your-ground law in his defense in the fatal February shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Rodriguez's case, however, was decided under a different kind of self-defense doctrine.
Prosecutor Kelli Johnson referenced Zimmerman in her closing arguments but told jurors that case was different from what Rodriguez was convicted of doing.
"We are talking about a man who was a complete terror to his community," she said. "He was a miserable human being that wanted to control everything around him."
During the trial, prosecutors have portrayed Rodriguez as a neighborhood bully who took a gun to complain about loud music and could have safely walked away from the confrontation in Huffman, an unincorporated area about 30 miles northeast of Houston, any time before the shooting. Prosecution witnesses told jurors Rodriguez constantly complained about his neighbors and intimidated them by openly displaying his handguns.
Defense attorney William Stradley said Rodriguez doesn't deserve a harsh sentence because he didn't go to Danaher's house with the intention of killing him. At one point during his closing arguments, Stradley displayed the words "No Evil Intent" on a TV screen for jurors.
"There is no reason to believe Raul Rodriguez was so upset with Kelly Danaher he intended to kill him," he said.
While Stradley acknowledged that in hindsight Rodriguez's decision was wrong, he said a "perfect storm of events" contributed to the fatal shooting, including that Danaher and the other men had been drinking and continued coming toward Rodriguez.
"He had two seconds to make that call and pull the trigger," Stradley said.
But prosecutor Donna Logan called Rodriguez impulsive and a continued threat to the community. Pointing to a TV screen displaying a photo of Rodriguez holding a large handgun, Logan said, "This is Raul Rodriguez."
"When you talk about rehabilitation, the question is, can we fix him? There is no rehabilitation for a guy like that," she said.
Texas' version of a stand-your-ground law is known as the Castle Doctrine. It was revised in 2007 to expand the right to use deadly force. The new version allows people to defend themselves in their homes, workplaces or vehicles. It also says a person using force cannot provoke the attacker or be involved in criminal activity at the time. Legal experts say the expansion in general gave people wider latitude on the use of deadly force.