Motion seeks to toss murder charge for teen shooter

PALMER — There are two competing versions of events in the murder trial of 18-year-old William Samuel Carson Robinson accused of shooting and killing his father, William Robinson Sr.

The defense describes his actions as self-defense while the prosecution says he opened fire on an unarmed, disabled man following a verbal altercation.

“William was actually being attacked by his father and had only seconds to react,” writes defense attorney, Marcelle McDannel in court pleadings that go on to say, referring to the father by his nickname, Spencer: “All shots were fired at close range — close enough for Spencer to strike William. In fact, the physical evidence reveals that for the closest shot, Spencer had his arm raised to assault William.”

The state prosecutor in the case, Trina Sears, however, sees the evidence quite differently:

“The evidence in the case… at most showed that the defendant entered into the room and fired multiple shots at close range into an unarmed and disabled man who was sitting on a couch. No evidence exists… to establish anything other than the defendant shot his unarmed father for yelling at him and his mother.”

These two competing versions of events came out in motions filed as the case approached a potential September trial date. McDannel is trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that not enough evidence that would support her client’s innocence was presented to the grand jury that decided to level formal charge against him.

The shooting in question happened in February 2013 when Robinson was 16. He told Alaska State Troopers that his parents had been arguing, that his mother was planning to leave, but his father had disabled the family car. He said that his father hadn’t ever physically assaulted him but was verbally abusive. He said he was afraid what his father would do and had tried to hide a revolver from him.

Instead, he took the gun into the living room where his father was shouting at him and fired six shots.

Evidence of stippling — gun powder residue and tiny abrasions on the skin — around one of the bullet wounds, indicates that one of the shots was fired from a distance of 3 to 12 inches.

Sears, in her motions, refers to Robinson’s own statements, about his father never hitting him or his mother, about shooting his father as he sat on the sofa.

But McDannel contends that Robinson’s statements are not reliable.

“William’s memory stopped recording events when he was in the kitchen, just at the threshold to the living room, and his father was just beginning to rise off of the couch,” she asserts in one of her motions.

She argued that the statements he made saying the elder Robinson hadn’t been physically abusive were just an abused teen and his mother minimizing their abuse, a classic pattern in those kinds of households.

“By refusing to look beyond Spencer’s victims for evidence, the state has inadvertently perpetuated the minimizing and shame that domestic violence abusers depend on to hide their crimes,” McDannel writes.

Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen will have to decide on McDannel’s motion to toss the charges before the case reaches its trial date. Further motions are expected in the coming weeks.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.