Attorneys painted two different pictures of Anthony Archuleta for jurors Monday.
The prosecution described the 17-year-old as a cold-blooded killer who shot a man "point blank" during a dispute over a pay phone.The defense depicted him as a scared young boy who carried a gun because he feared someone might try to kill him.
Neither side disputes that Archuleta shot and killed Roland Zahorka on Feb. 3 outside a Phillips 66 gas station at 315 E. 3900 South.
"The real dispute is why," prosecutor Kent Morgan told the six-woman, two-man jury. "You will see there is no excuse, there is no justification and there is no reason.
"It is murder in its classic form."
But defense attorney Brooke Wells said the case is not that simple.
"Anthony Archuleta was a scared, small-framed 16-year-old boy in possession of a gun he had gotten for protection," she said.
Two months before the shooting, Archuleta was present at a party in West Valley City when his friend, Jeremy Gaitin, was stabbed to death during a fight between rival gangs. Wells said Archuleta and his younger brother had been threatened that if they provided information about the stabbing, "they themselves would be attacked, assaulted and likely killed."
Wells said her client was also concerned about "unstable conditions" he and his brother were living under, including problems with an alcoholic
father. That evening, she said Archuleta left his home and went across the street to the closest phone available because his drunken father wouldn't let him use theirs. He spoke to a friend, who agreed to come and pick him up in 10
minutes. "The phone call is completed. There was no phone call expected back," Wells said.
But during a preliminary hearing, a witness said a "cocky and arrogant" Archuleta told Zahorka he couldn't use the pay phone because he was waiting for a call.
The defense attorney said Archuleta and Devin Espinoza were standing by the phone when a rusted-out low-rider truck pulled into the parking lot. "It comes in with sufficient speed and without stopping the two boys are nearly hit as it comes in," she said.
"Mr. Zahorka was not the innocent bystander who happened into gang
activity." Wells said the boys didn't know who was in the truck. "It could have been the people who'd been threatening," she said, adding that Zahorka was the one who initiated the verbal confrontation with Archuleta.
"Anthony, under fear of his life and that of his younger brother . . . got from Devin Espinoza the pistol he'd gotten earlier for his protection, and he shot Bo Zahorka."
What's in question, Wells said, is Archuleta's level of criminal responsibility. Prosecutors believe he is guilty of murder, a first-degree felony. But Wells said it is either self-defense or a lesser charge than
murder. Deputy sheriffs testified that witnesses at the gas station saw Archuleta and Espinoza flee to a nearby home after the shooting. Both were
arrested. "He (Archuleta) asked if they take you to jail or (detention) for shooting somebody or words to that effect," said deputy sheriff Robert
Sampson. Deputies testified that inside the house, they located a semiautomatic handgun jammed with a faded red bandana. Several .22 rounds scattered on the floor were also discovered.
Detective Dick Judd said he believes the bandana was evidence of gang affiliation, despite Wells' attempts to emphasize that the cloth was more pink or magenta-colored and therefore not the color of any gang.
The trial is expected to last through Thursday.