Defendant says he killed man after being attacked

county,” he said.

During his testimony, Rice said it was not clear to him how the fight culminated a block from the shop. When it ended, police were already on the way, and he walked up to the first responding officer and told him what happened.

“I wanted it to be over,” Rice said. “I knew the police would be safety.”

But in his interview with detectives that night, Mr. Schultz pointed out, Rice did not mention being attacked by the dog.

Mr. Schultz told Judge Borkowski that Rice’s story doesn’t make sense, and that a neighbor on the street saw Mr. Pence pounding on the front door of a house, yelling for help, before he was killed.

Although there was evidence of a scuffle inside the tattoo shop, Mr. Schultz said Rice could have stopped at any point before swinging the final blow.

Defense attorney Owen Seman told Judge Borkowski that he was arguing imperfect self-defense — his client feared for his life, even if it was not a reasonable belief. Further, he said, Rice was provoked by Mr. Pence breaking into his shop and assaulting him, proved by the large bruise on his client’s head. Because the entire incident was over in less than two minutes, Mr. Seman said, his client never had time to stop and reflect on his actions.

But Mr. Schultz said there was no evidence of the struggle in the street, and the neighbor didn’t hear anything until Mr. Pence pounded on the door.

“He pursued the victim down 24th Street,” the prosecutor said. “He chose a large weapon. He chose to chase him. He chose to hit him while he was down. He chose to continue swinging.”