Live updates: Former FSU, NFL player Travis Rudolph returns to court for day 4 of murder trial

WEST PALM BEACH — Week two of the murder trial of former Florida State University football player Travis Rudolph began Tuesday.

Attorneys for both sides presented opening statements last week, one casting Rudolph as the aggressor and the other insisting he was a victim. Rudolph, who played briefly in the NFL, is charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with a fatal shooting outside of his Lake Park home two years ago.

Four men appeared on Rudolph's doorstep shortly after midnight onApril 7, 2021, to confront him about a dispute he had with his girlfriend hours earlier. The confrontation turned violent, Rudolph said, and he armed himself with an AR-15.

Prosecutors say the men were trying to flee in a black Cadillac by the time Rudolph fired 39 rounds in their direction, killing Sebastien Jean-Jacques in the passenger seat.

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Day 3 recap: Man who brought gun to Travis Rudolph's home testifies on Day 3 of murder trial

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Rudolph asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen to dismiss the case last year on the basis of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which permits the use of deadly force to protect against death or great bodily harm. Gillen denied his request, leaving jurors to decide whether Rudolph ended Jean-Jacques' life to save his own.

Follow along for live updates from inside the courtroom, where the proceedings resumed at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Defense attorney sows doubt over initial investigation

First responders withstood pointed questions by Rudolph's defense attorney Heidi Perlet about their initial investigation into the shooting Tuesday.

Perlet repeatedly asked officers with the West Palm Beach Police Department and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office whether they scoured the scene for additional guns, suggesting the men who confronted Rudolph discarded their weapons after fleeing from his Lake Park home.

West Palm Beach Police Officer Tyler Griffin told jurors he patted the men down but did not search a nearby abandoned lot for weapons, nor did he search the route the men took before their car died.

Tyler Robinson, who Rudolph shot, returns to witness stand

Tuesday's proceedings began the same way Friday's ended — with witness Tyler Robinson on the stand, rebutting accusations that he and his friends planned to kill Travis Rudolph.

Robinson was one of the four men who confronted Rudolph on April 7, 2021. Keishaun Jones testified last week that they just wanted to talk to Rudolph about allegedly slamming Jones' sister to the ground after she discovered texts on his phone from another woman. Unlike Jones, Robinson said he went to the Lake Park home expecting a fight.

All three men said Rudolph instigated the brawl. They testified that he came to the door and pushed past them into the front yard, picking up Jones and slamming him to the ground. A fistfight between Rudolph and the four men ensued, with Rudolph's brother joining in to help.

Robinson brought a gun with him but maintained he never pulled it out of his pocket. He told jurors that he saw Rudolph run into his home and return with a rifle in hand, at which point Robinson began shouting in surrender, his yells captured on Rudolph's Ring doorbell camera.

Robinson ran with his friends about 300 feet down the street to where they parked the car, and Rudolph chased them. Robinson said Rudolph began shooting as he dove into the back seat of the Cadillac. The gunfire stopped after nearly 40 gunshots, and he heard Jean-Jacques say in the front passenger seat: "I got hit."

Robinson was shot, too. He said the silence and stillness from his friends made him think they'd all been killed. He stumbled out of the car and ran down the street, Jones speeding away without realizing he'd left Robinson behind.

Rudolph's defense attorney Marc Shiner sparred with Robinson Friday and continued to do so Tuesday, each one nitpicking the other's phrasing and prompting exasperated interruptions from the prosecutors and judge.

Shiner harped on Robinson's decision to dump his handgun after fleeing from the car. Robinson said it was because he was bleeding out — he wanted first responders to treat him for his injuries, not confuse him for a gunman. When asked why he didn't immediately tell officers about the gun, Robinson said he was preoccupied with staying alive.

The defense attorney accused Robinson of trying to hide the weapon to downplay his role in the shooting. Rudolph has accused him and Jean-Jacques of pointing their own guns at him, prompting him to pull the trigger and forming the basis for his "Stand Your Ground" claim.

Officials never found a gun on Jean-Jacques, though Rudolph's defense attorneys have suggested his friends hid it before police officers arrived.

Shiner pointed out that Robinson also failed to tell investigators that Jones texted him and his sister that Rudolph was a "dead man walking" for allegedly mistreating his then-girlfriend, Dominique Jones. She responded: "please go shoot his s*** up."

"These texts were empty threats at best," Robinson told Shiner.

He testified last week that he brought his handgun with him most places because he had just turned 21, and he "thought that's what men do" — not because he had any intention to actually use it. Assistant State Attorney Francine Edwards underscored the point when she asked Robinson why, if he went to Rudolph's home to murder him, didn't he shoot him with the gun in his pocket.

Robinson replied the same way he did when he first took the witness stand last week: They weren't there to kill Rudolph.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Travis Rudolph trial update: Defense attorney spars with shooting victim