Defense says abuse went both ways in trial of man who shot wife
Oct. 20—Day two of the trial of Steven Turner, charged with attempted murder after shooting his wife, Katie Lawson, saw the defense argue that the abuse went both ways.
Turner shot his wife on Aug. 26, 2020, during an argument in which she demanded that he remove the marijuana plants he was growing in her basement.
Defense attorney Amanda Palmer argued on Tuesday that Turner shot his wife by accident, telling jurors that the trial rested solely on the question of intent.
On Wednesday, she continued that line of argument but also sought to dispel the notion that Lawson was the only victim in the abusive relationship.
She cross examined Lawson, asking her to confirm or deny instances in which she was verbally or physically abusive toward her husband.
"There was a time you hit him in the face with a coffee mug and he said, 'I think you broke my jaw,'" Palmer questioned Lawson. "Do you remember that?"
Lawson admitted to striking Turner in the face with a coffee mug but said she never struck him first during any of their arguments.
"Never first," she said. "I had to stand up for myself at some point."
Lawson admitted to insulting Turner, calling him a "loser" and "degenerate."
She also used a homophobic slur after discovering that Turner was sending sexual text messages to another man and accused him of cheating on her. She said Turner deserved to be sexually assaulted.
"I guess, yes, I said that," she said. "In response to thinking that he was cheating on me with another man."
The defense instructed jurors on Tuesday that the trial is all about intent, with Palmer arguing that Turner did not mean to shoot his wife.
On Wednesday, Palmer revisited the moments after the shooting, and the picture she painted of Lawson was not of a woman who believed that her husband had just shot her out of malice.
Palmer asked Lawson what she said when her husband left her side to go with the police officers.
"I think I said, 'I'm not leaving unless my husband comes with me,'" Lawson said, though she added that she was going in and out of consciousness at the time.
The prosecution has argued that Turner shot his wife intentionally, despite statements made by Lawson shortly after the shooting in which she told paramedics and others that Turner shot her on accident.
When pressed by Assistant District Attorney Patrick Shuler on Tuesday for the bottom-line truth, she said emphatically, "It was not an accident," and then pointed at Turner when asked to identify the person who shot her.
