Racially charged road-rage trial gets underway
22nd January 2018 · 0 Comments
A jury was selected and opening statements began last week in the Jefferson Parish trial of Ronald Gasser, 55, charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 1, 2016 death of former NFL player and John Curtis High School standout Joe McKnight.
The incident began in Orleans Parish on the Crescent City Connection after McKnight, 28, allegedly cut Gasser off and ended in Terrytown in Jefferson Parish after Gasser allegedly followed McKnight about six miles to the intersection of Holmes Blvd, and Behrman Highway. McKnight was fatally shot by Gasser after the former NFL player allegedly placed his head inside Gasser’s vehicle to continue arguing.
Attorneys for Gasser say their client shot McKnight three times in self-defense.
The incident garnered national headlines after it became the second fatal road-rage incident involving an NFL player in the Greater New Orleans area in 2016.
Former New Orleans Saints standout Will Smith was fatally shot in the Garden District in New Orleans in April 2016 after attending the French Quarter Fest with family and friends.
After shooting McKnight, who was Black, Gasser did not leave the scene of the incident. After being questioned by Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputies, he was not immediately arrested.
That led to a hailstorm of criticism from NFL players across the nation, McKnight’s friends, family and members of the Black community.
After several Black community leaders defended then Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand for not immediately arresting Gasser, those persons were targeted by critics on social media who used racial epithets and expletives to refer to them.
At a racially charged press conference, Normand rankled some feathers when he read emails and text messages that included the N-word.
The sheriff also dared those who threatened to come to Jefferson Parish to cause a disruption in the wake of the fatal shooting.
In the end, a candlelight vigil and protest was held near the site of the fatal shooting without incident.
Among those who attended the candlelight vigil and has continued to call for justice for Joe McKnight has been the gifted athlete’s former high school coach and mentor, J.T. Curtis.
Gasser, who is white, was arrested four days after the incident and was initially charged with manslaughter. Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick later upgraded the charge to second-degree murder after his office’s investigation of the fatal shooting.
Gasser is still in jail after he was unable to post his bond at $750,000 that was set last year.
The location of the McKnight shooting is the site where another road-rage incident involving Gasser occurred in 2006. Gasser’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully to prevent Jefferson Parish prosecutors from introducing that evidence to jurors during the trial.
More than a year after the fatal shooting, jury selection finally got underway last Tuesday in a Gretna, La. courthouse, The Advocate reported.
24th Judicial District Court Judge Ellen Kovach took the unusual step of barring the media and the public from the courtroom while she presented preliminary questions to potential jurors and attorneys from both sides made their introductions.
After about 90 minutes, the first panel of potential jurors was seated in the jury box and reporters were allowed in the courtroom, The Advocate reported.
Judge Kovach reportedly asked the first group of prospective jurors about their experiences with law enforcement and crime and whether they feel they could weigh the evidence impartially. She then took potential jurors who had indicated they had some knowledge of the case back into her chambers with prosecutors and defense attorneys for additional questions.
Judges do not want any disqualifying knowledge one person might have to taint other possible jurors, so those discussions typically happen at the bench and out of earshot. But separate interviews for each potential juror are somewhat rare, according to The Advocate.
Kovach has also reportedly forbidden members of the media from blogging or posting to social media from the courtroom or using cellphones and laptops there, due to the high-profile nature of the case.
Reporters were told it was not possible to transmit audio of the proceedings to another courtroom that would be accessible to the public but not jurors.
Matthew Goetz, Gasser’s attorney, asked prospective jurors if they agreed with state law that recognizes an individual’s right to defend himself from immediate bodily harm in the event that someone enters his or her property, including a car.
“Yes, protection, amen,” one prospective juror told Goetz.
Assistant Jefferson Parish D.A. Shannon Swaim told prospective jurors it is up to the state to prove Gasser acted with intent to kill or cause serious bodily injury. But she said a killing can be found to be a justifiable homicide if the shooter is in fear for their life or is trying to drive someone out of their home or vehicle, The Advocate reported.
“That’s going to be the question in this case: Was the homicide justified?” she said. “Did he act in self-defense?”
On Tuesday, prosecutors with District Attorney Paul Connick’s office began their questioning of the first panel, running through the legal definitions that would govern the case.
FOX 8 News reported that the jury was seated Wednesday.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Gasser faces a mandatory life sentence.
After a two-day delay caused by the freezing temperatures and icy conditions that hit Louisiana last week, opening statements began Friday morning.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
This article originally published in the January 22, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
