Experts testify at Harapat trial

PALMER -- The trial of a Palmer teen charged in the fatal shooting of his friend continued through Thursday last week, with testimony from firearms and toxicology experts.

Shane Harapat is facing charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for shooting his friend, Kenny Alcantra, in the chest on Feb. 5, 2003.

The crux of the case is whether Harapat accidentally shot Alcantra, as defense attorney Jim Gilmore contends, or whether Alcantra died as a result of reckless gunplay, as prosecutor Roman Kalytiak contends.

Gilmore claims Harapat's actions were unintentional and the loaded revolver accidentally discharged while he was handing it to Alcantra.

But on Wednesday a state firearms expert testified that the weapon in question -- a .44-caliber Ruger Super Red Hawk revolver -- can only be fired if the trigger is pulled.

Robert Shem, a firearms examiner with the state crime lab in Anchorage, said the Ruger has what is called "transfer bar safety," a system designed to ensure the gun does not fire unless a person's finger is on the trigger.

"Unless the trigger is to the rear, the hammer will harmlessly bang against the frame of the gun without hitting the firing pin," Shem said in a phone interview Thursday.

During testimony, Shem explained the two most common ways the gun can be fired. The first is by cocking the hammer back and exerting four to five pounds of pressure on the trigger. The second is by squeezing the trigger hard -- with some 13 pounds of pressure -- to automatically cock and fire the weapon.

But Shem also explained a third way the gun could go off. If the gun were cocked and someone tried to uncock it, the person would have to pull back on the trigger while keeping a thumb on the hammer and lowering it slowly. If a person's thumb slipped off the hammer while doing this, the gun could fire inadvertently.

During Shem's testimony Wednesday, Gilmore suggested that Harapat's thumb may have slipped off the hammer while he was trying to uncock it, causing the gun to discharge accidentally.

Although Shem admitted this was possible, he said in a telephone interview he doesn't recall an instance in which a person was shot as a result of the hammer slipping out from under someone's thumb. Shem has been a firearms examiner for 18 years.

"It would be unlikely and rare," Shem said. "A person who recognizes the gun is loaded would take due care to ensure their thumb didn't slip off."

Harapat told troopers he loaded four of the revolver's six chambers some time before the shooting. The night of Feb. 5, 2003, he was playing with the gun, clicking the hammer back and forth, while he and Alcantra sat on his bed talking.

According to trooper reports, Alcantra asked to see the pistol and when Harapat went to hand it over, the gun fired and a bullet hit Alcantra in the chest. The bullet tore through his heart and lungs and he died within minutes.

Although Harapat initially told troopers his finger wasn't on the trigger, in a second interview he said he was showing off and his finger may have been on the trigger.

Another expert witness for the state testified Thursday. A toxicology expert from Minnesota explained the results of drug tests given to Harapat after the shooting.

Dr. Karla Walker, a toxicologist from Medtox Laboratories in St. Paul, Minn., said her test results indicated Harapat used marijuana sometime between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 5.

What effects, if any, the use of marijuana would have had on Harapat at the time of the shooting, Walker would not say. Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith prohibited Walker from testifying during the trial about the effects of marijuana, and she declined to comment on this after her testimony.

During Tuesday's opening statements, Kalytiak said Harapat smoked marijuana at a friend's house the afternoon of Feb. 5 and then went home and fell asleep. He woke up several hours later when Alcantra stopped by to visit.

The trial will resume Monday, when the state is expected to rest its case and the defense will begin presenting its case. Asked whether Harapat will testify in his own defense, Gilmore said he had no comment.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.