Jury deliberating in Elkhart murder trial

Jun. 11—GOSHEN — On the fifth and final day of testimony, jurors heard from defendant Jordon Norton and then convened to decide his fate.

As of press time Friday, the jury was still deliberating.

Norton is accused of shooting and killing David Artley, 43, of Elkhart County, during a confrontation at Hardy's Bar, 610 S. Main St., Elkhart, at 2:55 a.m. Aug. 23, 2020. A bullet from the shooting also struck Kali Smith's foot, injuring her ankle.

He faces three charges: murder; battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony (for Smith's injury); and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony.

Norton claimed he was defending himself because he felt his life was in peril after being told by Artley that "we kill snitches" and by another man at the bar, "Breezy" Mike Brown, that they were going to take him out back and stomp his head in.

After that, Artley said he thought, "I am dead. I am going to die in this bar."

So, he told jurors, he got up, pulled out a .25-caliber handgun from his waistband, pointed it at Artley to frighten him and then when Artley lunged forward to grab the gun he felt that he was being attacked and fired. He continued to fire the gun, emptying it of six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, he said on cross-examination by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Don Spitzer. In earlier testimony, it was revealed that Artley was shot five times.

Soundless black-and-white surveillance video from the bar, seen by the jury, showed the events unfold, including the shooting.

What led up to the shooting, though, was where two very different pictures of Norton emerged. Was he "a drunk guy with a gun who was pissed off" as the prosecution claims? Or was he a witness to an event that led to the murder of his friend "Pounder" and after speaking to police was then considered a snitch by the Sinland Motorcycle club, which the defense alleges is why Norton feared for his life that night.

Norton's testimony walked the jury through that evening.

Norton said he and his wife went out for an adult evening. They started drinking at My Dad's Place at about 7 or 8 p.m. Aug. 22 and spent a couple of hundred dollars there on drinks and the disc jockey.

When asked how much he drank, Norton said, "quite a bit."

While there, he went to the bathroom and ran into a man named Bobby, who worked with his dad. Bobby asked Norton if he wanted to go to Hardy's. Norton said he had only met Bobby one time, a week before. After finishing a game of pool and a drink, Norton and his wife headed toward Hardy's on his motorcycle, but stopped at their house since it was on the way. The two used the restroom and Norton told jurors he grabbed his handgun because he had heard there were problems at Hardy's and he did not know what to expect. He added neither he nor his wife had been there before.

When they arrived at Hardy's, Norton said he immediately saw Bobby and went up to the man and gave him a hug. "Breezy" Mike Brown was there, but he did not know who he was at the time.

Norton explained that he had a misunderstanding and conflict with the bartender, Brooke Pixley, about his debit card being held at the bar until he was ready to cash out for the night. Another bartender, Brooke Valdovinos, took over for Pixley and explained why they were holding his debit card. Norton said he calmed down after that and tried to apologize to Pixley, but never got to do it.

* "I wasn't understanding that it was for a tab," Norton explained, and later admitted to calling Pixley a b.

His wife, he said, was irritated with Pixley. Pixley felt that she was hip-checked by his wife, he said, adding, "I don't know if it happened."

Norton said he and his wife sat at the bar and flirted with each other, while he had two beers.

About three to five minutes before the shooting, his wife left for the restroom.

It was at that time that Norton saw there were several bikers in the area. He had a genial conversation with a woman named Tabitha and then, where his wife had been sitting, Artley's wife, Stephanie, appeared. Stephanie was angry, Norton said, and asked him who he thought he was. That was about the time David Artley leaned in and said, "We kill snitches," Norton said.

That's when Norton said he became fearful for his life.

He thought by Artley using the word "snitch," that it was in reference to the death of his friend "Pounder," Matthew Powell. Powell's body was found in a wooded area along the 21000 block of Ind. 119 near C.R. 36 around 6 p.m. March 8, 2019.

According to testimony by Norton, Powell had just gotten out of jail. Norton said he himself had been making bad decisions at the time. Pounder's girlfriend was in jail and he wanted to get her out on bail, so they stole an ATV intent on borrowing a truck from a friend, he testified. They went to Nappanee to Pounder's friend's house, but stopped first in New Paris at a gas station. Norton pumped gas while Pounder went inside. When Pounder came back out, Norton said, he stole a truck that had been left running and fled. A blue car started chasing after him and Norton took off after them as well.

Norton said he saw the blue car banged up off the side of the road and a "larger white male" was outside of the vehicle on the phone. Further up the road, he saw some vehicle debris and kept looking for Pounder but never found him. Pounder also never showed up later.

And then Norton got a call from detectives who told him that Pounder was dead. Norton said he was reluctant at first to give detectives information because of being known as a snitch, but he also wanted to catch whoever killed his friend.

So that night at Hardy's, Norton said he felt they were going to beat him to death because he had talked to the cops.

He said he pleaded with them to leave him alone, but then Breezy tapped him and said "let's go." Norton said he knew that if he didn't do anything at that point, he would be dead.

So he stood up, walked a couple of steps, pulled out his gun, turned and pointed it at Artley.

"I thought if I pointed a gun at them, they would back off," Norton said.

In the video, Artley lunged for the gun and Norton started firing.

Norton said his adrenaline was through the roof. He explained that because of how tall Artley was, he could not tell at first that he had shot him and that he didn't know if Artley was still attacking him, so he continued firing.

Norton said he did not regret bringing the gun to Hardy's and that without the gun "I wouldn't be alive right now."

Under cross-examination by Pitzer, Norton admitted that he killed Artley with a handgun that he did not have a permit for.

Pitzer said that in the two years since the murder, Norton has had time to review all of the evidence and come up with a plausible reason as to why he killed Artley, including the death of his friend Pounder, which Pitzer said was something he did not know about.

Pitzer said the evidence shows that Artley's murder was not a conspiracy involving a retaliation from a biker gang and instead was a person who was drunk, getting into an argument with a bartender and then trying to calm down his wife who became upset by the situation. When his wife left for the restroom and Stephanie Artley took her spot, it upset Norton who told her to move, Pitzer said. Stephanie was riled at Norton, plausibly because of the incident with Pixley.

Norton countered that it is a bar and that no one owns a spot.

Pitzer continued that at some point David Artley became involved. Artley, he said, was out with his family at the bar celebrating his son Collin Tiemann being home from the Navy. The prosecution's contention was that Norton had to know that these people around him were part of Sinland Motorcycle Club, they had soldiers there and that they were somehow involved or knew about Pounder's death in order for his urgency of feeling threatened by them would be reasonable enough to justify use of deadly force.

Norton repeatedly answered Pitzer's questions after that in some form of "I just wanted to go home alive."

Norton did try to leave the bar, going out front to get on his motorcycle, Pitzer said. Police found him pinned under the motorcycle.

Pitzer also added that investigators learned that Artley was not part of Sinland.

Sgt. Greg Harder of the Elkhart County Homicide Unit also testified about the Matthew Powell case saying that Norton did provide information but that it was not helpful. Also, information given to investigators is confidential, and that a biker club was not involved in Powell's death.

CLOSING ARGUMENTS

Both sides offered closing statements.

The defense offered that Norton felt he was in imminent danger because he had cooperated with police in Pounder's death, that a motorcycle gang had been involved and went as far as to piece together with video the actions of people at the bar that started with Bobby helping Artley's son Collin become a Warlock. "What did he have to do to get in the Warlocks?" defense attorney Andrew Baldwin asked. He said it was a bit odd that someone he barely knew would invite him to a bar.

Baldwin then points to Bobby hugging Breezy, and walking to Collin's table. "So Bobby knows these people," he said.

Bobby then gets close to Stephanie Artley and they hi-five.

"Is Bobby helping Collin get in the Warlocks?" he asked.

Norton showed up at the bar after Bobby. The argument with Pixley takes place and then, Baldwin said that on the surveillance video, Collin and Artley look and Norton and Pixley. The next 49 minutes there is nothing to note until a person named "Shady" texts Breezy. Shady moves forward close to the bar. He and Artley are looking back toward the back of the bar. "Flag guy" and "Shady" talk and then talk to Artley. Artley then bends down and talks to Norton. Breezy then touches Norton.

Baldwin explained that one thing a man does not do is touch another man while arguing.

Brooke Valdovino hears "time to go," Baldwin said. "This is where reasonable doubt kicks in." He said Breezy even reaches into his pocket.

All of this accounts for the imminent danger Norton felt and justified him pulling the trigger.

As for the prosecution, Pitzer said it's fact vs. fiction and what the defense was plying the jury with was fiction. In order for Norton to be in reasonable fear for his life, he would have had to have known that there were three Sinland soldiers in the bar, that there was a secret nod and gestures, and more — "Norton would have had to have known all of this," Pitzer said.

He pointed out that the reasoning for the murder in opening statements differed from closing arguments. He said the defense came up with a different version because they knew their reasoning in their opening statement wasn't going to fly with jurors.

"It's a fantasy, a delusion, a daydream," Pitzer said, and later added about Norton, "This was a drunk jerk" who has no remorse.

Sheila Selman can be reached at sheila.selman@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240311. Follow Sheila on Twitter @sselman_TGN.