New jury faces same question in Erie homicide retrial: Murder or self-defense?

Editor's note: This article has been edited to clarify the location of the incident.

Fourteen months after a judge declared a hung jury and a mistrial in the homicide case against Erie resident Derrick A. Feidler, charged with using a hunting rifle to kill a man in Feidler's driveway in November 2019, the basic facts and arguments remain the same.

The difference is that a new jury is hearing the case.

The retrial of Feidler has started in Erie County Common Pleas Court, where the District Attorney's Office is again arguing that the 37-year-old committed murder and the defense is again arguing self-defense.

No one is disputing that Feidler fatally shot the victim, Jose Arenas Jr., 38, as Arenas was loading tires into the car of Feidler's close friend, who had just moved out of Feidler's house in the 1400 block of West 35th Street, near Melrose Avenue and east of Elmwood Avenue. The shooting happened at about 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2019.

The critical matter in dispute is whether Feidler was justified in shooting Arenas.

The defense is contending that the killing was justified because Feidler had a reasonable fear that Arenas was a threat to him and his family. Feidler's defense team is claiming that Feidler grew afraid after Arenas pulled a knife on him during a brief altercation outside Feidler's house moments before the killing.

First trial:Prosecutors, defense point at different aggressors in trial of Erie man in fatal shooting

The District Attorney's Office is arguing that Feidler committed murder. The prosecutors are contending that Feidler mistook Arenas' cell phone for a knife, and that his fears over Arenas were unfounded.

A key part of the prosecution's case are the steps that Feidler took in killing Arenas. According to the undisputed evidence, Feidler went inside, unlocked a gun safe, retrieved a hunting rifle, loaded the rifle, kicked open the front door of his house, stood on his front porch, aimed the rifle at Arenas, who was standing behind a car, and shot him once in the chest, with the bullet first shattering a window of the car.

Arenas was "killed in cold blood, without justification," First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Reger told the jury in her opening statement on Wednesday.

"The defendant wants you to believe that he had no choice to do what he did," Reger said. "When the defendant killed Jose, he had many other alternatives. He did not have to kill Jose."

Though Reger said the evidence will show Feidler is guilty of murder, she did not specify what degree of murder. But the prosecution at the end of the trial is expected to make the same argument that it made at the first trial — that Feidler is guilty of first-degree murder, a premeditated killing; third-degree murder, an unlawful killing with malice; or voluntary manslaughter, an unlawful killing based on a sudden provocation or the defendant's mistaken belief that he or she had to respond to a situation with deadly force.

For the defense, "what this case is about is self-defense," one of Feidler's lawyers, Gene Placidi, told the jury in his opening statement on Wednesday. "Derrick Feidler had the right to meet deadly force with deadly force."

Jury deadlocked at first trial

The retrial is expected to last several days.

The difficulty for a jury in deciding between the two theories in the case was clear during the first trial. After hearing four days of testimony and argument, the jury at the first trial deliberated about 14 hours over three days before Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender accepted the panel's assertion that it was hopelessly deadlocked and declared a mistrial on April 21, 2021. The defense team met with the jurors after the mistrial was declared and said eight of the 12 favored an acquittal.

Hung jury:Mistrial declared in case of Erie fatal shooting; jurors unable to reach verdict

Back to court:DA to retry case of 2019 Erie fatal shooting after hung jury led to mistrial

Feidler did not testify at the first trial, and Placidi in his opening statement at the retrial gave no indication that Feidler would testify at the retrial. Feidler is free after posting bail of 10% of $200,000.

Brabender is presiding over the retrial. Reger and Assistant District Attorney Molly Anglin handled the first trial together and are prosecuting the retrial.

For the defense, Placidi is representing Feidler with lawyer Peter Sala, who helped represent Feidler at the first trial. The lead lawyer at the first trial, Leonard Ambrose, is no longer representing Feidler. Placidi joined the case for the retrial.

'It should have ended there'

As at the first trial, the prosecution and defense at the retrial parsed the details that surrounded the killing.

Reger suggested the details would show that "Derrick was in a mood" before the killing, and that factors other than self-defense led him to pull out the rifle. She said Feidler did not like strangers in his house, and that he had no idea who Arenas was.

Arenas, according to the evidence, had shown up with Feidler's close friend, Joshua Schneider, who had until recently been living with Feidler and Feidler's wife and children. Arenas and Schneider were there to retrieve Schneider's belongings, including four tires that were in Feidler's garage.

As Schneider and Arenas were talking to Feidler's wife, Reger said, Feidler pulled into the driveway, blocking Schneider's car, and said he did not want Arenas at the house. Reger said Feidler had also told Schneider not to talk to Feidler's wife.

Reger said Feidler mumbled something to Arenas before Arenas responded, "You got a problem?" and the two squared off to fight. Feidler told Schneider that Arenas had a knife, Reger said, and Schneider stepped in between the two and broke up the fight.

"By all accounts, it should have ended there," Reger told the jury.

Reger said Feidler went inside his house, leaving his 10-year-old daughter outside and as his wife came outside with their 2-year-old child on her hip. Reger said Feidler then came outside with the rifle. As Schneider and Arenas were trying to leave, Reger said, Feidler fired the shot at Arenas, who was behind Schneider's car. Feidler shot him through the car's window.

The last words that Arenas said before the shot was fired, Reger said, were "Don't shoot."

'Derrick did what any father would do'

Placidi said the details would show Feidler was afraid for the safety of his family. He said Arenas had a prior record for assaulting a security guard with a knife at a convenience store in Erie in 2011 — though Feidler at the time of the shooting had no idea who Arenas was.

Placidi also focused on a knife that was found in the yard of Feidler's neighbor six months after the shooting. The defense is claiming the knife, with a green handle, belonged to Arenas, though the prosecution is arguing that the knife did not match the description of the knife that Feidler said Arenas was holding. Reger said Arenas had been holding a red and black cell phone, and not a knife, as Feidler believed.

Piece of evidence:Knife found months after fatal shooting playing key role in Erie man's homicide trial

Placidi blamed Arenas for escalating the situation. He said Arenas "viciously attacked" Feidler and put Feidler's family in danger. In response, Placidi said, Feidler went inside his house and got the rifle.

"Derrick did what any father would do," Placidi said. "Derrick was defending himself and his family on his own property and at his own house."

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County homicides: Same question at retrial: Murder or self-defense?