Suspect fails in bid to avoid trial

A murder suspect will have to stand trial despite claiming he was threatened and justified in splitting another man’s skull while “hunting” Guatemalans.

David Harris, one of three men charged in the killing of 18-year-old Onésimo Marcelino López-Ramos, argued that he should be free from prosecution under the state’s “stand your ground law.” A judge disagreed and ordered him to stand trial in May. All three men are charged with a hate crime.

“Specifically, the Court finds that Defendant did not have an objectively reasonable fear that he was in imminent danger when he hit Onésimo in the head, killing him,” Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer wrote.

The judge’s ruling means the charges still stand and Harris, 22, will go to trial, where his defense can argue he was afraid for his life.

Franklin Prince, attorney for Harris, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that’s exactly what he’ll do.

“I believe David Harris acted in self-defense and had no intentions of committing any crime,” he said. “The jury should come back with a proper verdict.”

Prosecutors say Harris was among a group of young men who decided one night to go “hunting for Guatemalans,” meaning to stalk and rob them.

An encounter in the 300 block of Fourth Street in Jupiter turned violent, resulting in LópezRamos’ head cracked open, according to reports and police witnesses.

First-degree murder charges were brought against Harris; his younger brother, Jesse Harris, 21; and a friend, Austin Taggart, 22. All three have pleaded not guilty and remain in Palm Beach County Jail, awaiting separate trials. Only David Harris raised the self-defense question, a main reason his trial originally scheduled for last November was postponed.

The state’s stand your ground law says someone can use deadly force if the person reasonably believes it’s necessary “to prevent imminent death.”

An individual seeking immunity from prosecution must get a court to agree that the fear of death was reasonable, there was no criminal activity before the killing, and the person “was in a place he had a right to be.”

Harris testified at a hearing in December that he and his buddies at first planned to smoke marijuana at a park, but Taggart wanted to go “Guat hunting.”

Taggart had told police it was Harris’ idea.

Harris testified the group was walking on Fourth Street when López-Ramos asked if they wanted to buy weed or a gun. So they all went into López-Ramos’ yard about 1:30 a.m. April 18, 2015.

Tensions quickly flared, Harris said, when López-Ramos’ older brother, Elmer, shined a flashlight in his face.

Harris said Elmer touched him and Harris shoved him away and then Elmer picked up an ax. A fight ensued with rocks and a liquor bottle thrown between the combatants.

Harris testified that one of his friends mentioned one of López-Ramos’ friends may have a gun. Harris said he picked up the ax Elmer dropped and ran with his friends from the house.

They got about 75 to 170 yards away, but they “re-initiated the fight instead of continuing to walk away,” the judge wrote, adding that Harris “chased” López-Ramos back to his yard.

There, Harris said López-Ramos was holding a metal pipe and “tried to swing at me.”

“I told him to drop his weapon. He swung the pipe at me again,” Harris testified.

That’s when, Harris said, in defense of himself and his brother, he swung the handle of the ax down on the back of López-Ramos’ head — just enough to knock him out.

“I didn’t think that it would kill him or do critical damage,” Harris said, adding he walked away but saw Taggart then beat López-Ramos with a piece of rebar.

Colleen Glenn, Taggart’s lawyer, did not respond to a call to her Sarasota office.

But in an Oct. 10 pleading, Glenn wrote that she plans to call the Harris brothers to testify as witnesses in Taggart’s trial. That’s based on her understanding that David Harris “would testify that he dealt the fatal blow, albeit amidst claims of self-defense.”

Tom Weiss, court-appointed attorney for Jesse Harris, said he was aware of the ruling against David Harris but declined to comment Thursday.

In her March 16 written order, the judge explained Harris was invited into the yard initially, so it was true he had a right to be there. But Schosberg Feuer wrote the rest of his “stand your ground” claim doesn’t hold up.

She said it was clear that at least one member of Harris’ group, if not all of them “intended to go ‘Guat hunting’ that night prior to arriving at Onésimo’s yard” — making it a criminal endeavor.

The judge also said it’s not reasonable Harris feared for his life before using deadly force. That’s because “there was a significant break in time” between the gun threat during the initial skirmish, and the point Harris re-engaged with the victim.

Harris’ attorney had argued his client’s fear continuously remained after the threat of the firearm. And he said it was Elmer López-Ramos who introduced the ax in the first place.

The next hearing in the case is set for April 30, prior to the start of jury selection May 14.