Pensacola man refused to wear clothes, bound to chair with suicide jacket at his murder trial

During a typical murder trial, court deputies remove the defendant's handcuffs and the defendant is allowed to dress professionally, often with a button down shirt, tie and dress pants. Deputies on Tuesday, however, had to strap a Pensacola man to a chair, naked with just a suicide jacket, and escort him to and from the courtroom before his own murder trial.

Da'Nautica Pearson, 22, began his trial in a separate courtroom from the jury, attorneys and judge as both lawyers began their case to determine if he is guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for fatally shooting 60-year-old Erskine Ware in his home on Dec. 2, 2020.

Pearson's indictment: Pensacola man indicted on first-degree murder charge in death of grandmother's boyfriend

"(Mr. Ware) was shot a total of eight times," said Assistant State Attorney Trey Myers during his opening statement. "He was hit in the left and right lungs, liver multiple times, hit in multiple ribs and had injuries to his small intestines and his left kidney."

Pearson's jury selection: A Pensacola man allegedly killed his grandma's boyfriend in 2020. Now, he's set for trial.

Why is Da'Nautica Pearson bound to a restraint chair?

Seven days after an Escambia grand jury indicted Pearson Dec. 21, 2021, on one count of first-degree premeditated murder, Circuit Judge Linda Nobles deemed Pearson to be incompetent to proceed through the court process on Dec. 28.

Six months later on June 28, 2022, Nobles found Pearson was competent to proceed through the court process.

The reason Pearson was ruled incompetent is unknown, and his personal medical records and psychological evaluations are not publicly available due to medical regulations.

On the morning of Pearson's jury selection Monday, the judge received an email that Pearson was newly charged with one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer while allegedly trying to prevent his transport to court. Deputies had to restrain Pearson in the chair, where he remained the entire jury selection process.

Once in court, Pearson refused to stop screaming at the judge, court deputies and those in attendance. He would scream profanities and various off-topic remarks such as "Roar! I'm a lion." and "F--- all you spies." He also entered the courtroom naked, wearing only a suicide jacket — a tear-resistant, single-piece garment — due to various threats he began making toward himself and other.

During the process, Nobles said she is "of the opinion that Mr. Pearson is attempting to delay jury selection and subsequent trial" by appearing he is mentally incompetent even though psychological evaluations stated otherwise. She also said she believes he is a danger to himself and anyone else in the courtroom.

Pearson refused to comply with Nobles' multiple attempts to explain his right to participate in his trial, but would be removed from the courtroom if he could not maintain proper courtroom etiquette. Pearson was moved to an adjoining courtroom where he could view the trial through Zoom.

Ware's death: Pensacola man accused of shooting and killing grandmother's boyfriend

What are the prosecution and defense's arguments in Da'Nautica Pearson's case?

Myers, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case, told the jury during his opening statement that after Pearson allegedly shot Ware while he was sleeping, he left the scene where Pensacola Police officers found him walking down the street with a pink backpack.

In the backpack was a 9-millimeter handgun.

"You will hear that the pistol in the bookbag was processed for potential DNA evidence, and you will hear that it was found to have Mr. Da'Nautica Pearson's DNA on it," Myers told the jury. "You will also hear that this pistol, along with shell casings located at the scene, were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ... (and) the ballistics testing on the pistol matched and identified all eight shell casings as being fired from that pistol."

Pearson's attorney, Patrece Cashwell, used her time during opening statements to remind the jury that the state must prove Pearson committed the act beyond a reasonable doubt and that her client must be considered innocent until the state proves otherwise.

Cashwell will seemingly argue that Pearson was not the one who shot Ware, but rather an unidentified person entered the house to commit the act because multiple people had access to the home. using Ware's girlfriend, Gloria Clausell, as evidence multiple people could've had access to the home.

What does Gloria Clausell have to say about Erskine Ware's death?

Gloria Clausell, Pearson's grandmother who was dating Ware for roughly five years, is the only witness to the shooting as she was in the home, but she told authorities that she did not see Pearson shoot Ware, because she was in the living room during the attack.

While Clausell sat at the witness stand, she told the court she heard a knock at the front door on Dec. 2, 2020, but no one was there. After sitting back down, she heard another knock and opened the door to a person she believed was Pearson wearing a garbage bag over his head and body.

While Pearson lived with Clausell "off and on" for years, she says she never saw a firearm that night and never saw a firearm in her home. Clausell also told the court while testifying that she had never seen the pink backpack before and did not see a pink backpack on the person who walked in through the front door.

"Did Da'Nautica ever talk about getting a firearm?" Cashwell asked Clausell.

"No," she responded.

"Have you ever seen Da'Nautica with a pink backpack on?"

"No, I don't think he liked the color pink," Clausell responded as she began to laugh.

Clausell also told the court that Pearson would often lose his key to the house, and each time he did Clausell said she would make him another key.

Both attorneys plan to end the presentation of their evidence Tuesday afternoon, and they will proceed with their closing statements Wednesday morning before Nobles dismisses the jury for deliberation.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man Da'Nautica Pearson on trial for murder of Erskine Ware