Palmer jury out in assault case

PALMER -- Closing arguments in the case of a 17-year-old boy accused of beating his friend to the point of broken bones were delivered before a Palmer jury Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving the jury to decide if the boy is guilty of two counts of first-degree assault, both Class A felonies.

The accused, Ricky Shivers, took the stand in Palmer Superior Court Tuesday morning and answered questions put to him first by his defense attorney, Eugene Cyrus, and then by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Gernat.

On the morning of April 28 Wasilla police responded to a 911 call in which Shivers' girlfriend reported a stabbing and that one boy was being taken to the hospital by another.

Cyrus asked Shivers to recount the events of April 28 and the previous evening, explaining that rage overcame him because of betrayal of his friends, he did not intend serious injury to his friend, and he felt remorse following the events.

Shivers recalled that he, the 17-year-old victim, and two girls decided to leave a large party on the previous night and have a smaller party at the home of Shivers' 16-year-old girlfriend. After buying alcohol for the party, the teens met at the girlfriend's house, where Shivers and his girlfriend argued. He said he left the small party to return to the larger one, but later returned, bringing with him a flashlight he said he was using to look for his lost car keys at the other party.

Upon his return, Shivers found the victim, his girlfriend and two other girls at the girlfriend's house. He said his girlfriend wanted him to have sex with her after he returned, but he was too drunk to comply. He said she was drinking and that always caused her to be aroused.

According to Shivers, his girlfriend and the victim took the other girls home, leaving Shivers at the house.

As he waited for the victim to return with his girlfriend, Shivers testified he continued to drink and became stirred up as he thought about the possibility that his girlfriend was having sex with his best friend because she was mad at him.

At one point he said he took a knife from a wooden block in the kitchen, thinking he wanted to cause himself physical pain because the emotional pain was so bad.

When his friend and his girlfriend drove back into the driveway, Shivers said he put the knife in his back pocket, intending to use it to scare his friend into answering the questions Shivers planned to ask him.

Shivers testified he went out of the house without putting on his shoes and opened the driver's side door, leaning into the car to turn off the ignition and remove the keys, which he then tossed over his shoulder.

He said he yelled at the couple, asking them where they had been for one-and-a-half hours, and what they had really been doing. He testified he pulled the knife and the boy began stuttering that he did not know Shivers and the girlfriend were still together, then admitted they had sex.

"Something just went over me," said Shivers of his reaction to his friend's words, and he stuck the knife into the victim's left leg.

According to Shivers, the knife broke as he pulled it back but he continued to "poke" with it at the victim and at the car, trying to scare the boy and asking him if he did or did not have sex with his girlfriend. He said he then threw the knife behind his back because he was scared at what he had just done and he realized that using the knife was serious.

Shivers said he began hitting the boy with his fists at that point. He said the victim threw up his arms to protect his head and then crawled over the console out the passenger side of the car. Shivers recounted he then went around behind the car and began punching the victim, hitting him hard enough to cause pain.

Shivers' girlfriend began yelling "Stop!" and then he said she ran into the house as Shivers continued to hit the victim.

Shivers testified he then kicked the victim, demonstrating to the jury the karate-style kick he had delivered with a stockinged foot that caused the victim to fall across the hood of the car. Shivers said he went to the door of the house to yell at his girlfriend, telling her that he cared about her and asking what he had done to deserve the betrayal.

When she responded that he was "crazy" and a "psycho," Shivers said it made him so angry he ran back to the victim lying on the ground and began hitting him again.

When his friend tried to get to his feet, Shivers testified he knocked him back down and again demonstrated how he got down on his knees astride the victim, hitting him again and again.

"I had pain and I wanted him to feel it," Shivers said.

Shivers estimated he hit the boy 20 to 30 times, but had no intent to go as far as he had in the beating and had not used the flashlight to hit the victim.

"I just wanted him to have a bloody lip and a black eye," he said, and had not intended serious injury.

Shivers testified the boy had not fought back, taking only defensive action to try to shield his head from the blows. He said his friend tried to stand, losing his balance and falling backwards down a hill where he struck the back of his head on a tree.

He said when he finally saw all the blood and realized he had gone too far, he found the flashlight and began looking for the car keys so he could drive the boy to a hospital. After he got the boy into the back seat, Shivers said he drove as fast as he could to the hospital, telling his friend he would be all right and ignoring the police car that tried to intercept him until both cars pulled up at the hospital.

Gernat asked on cross examination why Shivers had not stopped the beating when he achieved his goal of giving the victim the bloody lip and closed eye, but had continued to punch and hit the victim repeatedly after he was on the ground.

"I was just angry," he responded.

Gernat pointed out Shivers had not been truthful with Wasilla Police Sgt. Jean Achee when he previously discussed the point in the evening he quit drinking, and Shivers admitted he did not want the police officer to think he was under the influence.

Gernat said Shivers also told Achee he was hiding behind the door with the knife when the victim and the girlfriend drove back into the driveway, but testified differently on the stand.

Gernat also challenged the defendant's estimate on the stand that he hit the victim 20 or 30 times, when immediately after the event he had told Achee he hit the victim "40 or 50 times."

Shivers did not remember saying to Achee "I know what I did. I did it willingly." When Gernat cued the taped interview and played the statement for him, he acknowledged the taped interview immediately following the event would be the more accurate account.

Gernat also challenged the defense's contention that Shivers was remorseful, pointing out in his interview with Achee he did not ask the officer how his friend was, but only tried to contact the victim personally after he had been told not to contact him at all.

The defense called three character witnesses to testify that Shivers is an honest and peaceful person. The defendant's father, Ricky Shivers, former basketball coach Steve Andresen, and a teenage girl who was a school friend and friend of Shivers' cousin all testified that they believed Shivers to be both honest and peaceful.

The defense rested its case at 2:42 p.m. Tuesday.

At closing, Gernat said Shivers' continued pounding the boy far beyond the point at which he achieved the "bloody lip and black eye," that he demonstrated he intended to cause, and did cause, serious physical injury to the victim, as required for the jury to find him guilty on the second count of first-degree assault.

She further argued the state had proven that Shivers knowingly engaged in conduct resulting in serious physical injury under circumstances that manifested extreme indifference to the value of human life, as required for the jury to find him guilty on the third count of first-degree assault.

Cyrus began his closing on Wednesday morning, emphasizing that the burden of proof was on the state. He said they had not proven beyond any reasonable doubt that Shivers intended to cause serious physical injury or that he manifested extreme indifference to human life.

Cyrus used historical references to explain at length to the jury how important their role was, invoking Charles Dickens and citing stories of Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII, and revolutionary patriots to impress upon the jury how our system of laws protects against tyranny by the state.

On rebuttal Gernat said the defense's closing had done nothing but attempt to minimize the assault and beating, and the defense had spent more than a half hour on stories and not facts, because the facts showed the defendant to be guilty of first-degree assault.

Just before noon, Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler provided the jury with their instructions and released them to their deliberations. As of Thursday morning, the jury was still out. If found guilty on both counts, Shivers faces up to 40 years in prison.