Deshaun Scott told a Pulaski County jury Thursday that he did a lot of bad things the November 2012 night his wife was shot to death.
Knowing that the gun had been in his hand, and figuring the 33-year-old mother of five was likely dead after the weapon went off in the car they were riding in, Scott told jurors he pushed the stricken woman into the street, where he left her.
A passing motorist found her facedown in a pool of blood about an hour later, according to evidence and testimony.
Then, before telling the truth about what happened to Lacrisa Renee Foot, Scott said he had lied to police and deceived Foot's family about how she was killed and what he knew about her death.
He said he also had destroyed evidence -- bleaching away blood and disposing of the gun used to kill her -- then tried to divert the police investigation toward other men, while also saying falsely that Foot was a promiscuous prostitute with herpes who was a drug user and neglectful mother.
All of that was done because he panicked at the sudden death of the woman whom he also called the love of his life, the 34-year-old Little Rock man said on the third day of his first-degree murder trial.
But what he absolutely did not do was deliberately pull the trigger, Scott told jurors, testifying on the advice of his lawyer, Bill James.
"I was scared and trying to cover it up," he said during his nearly two hours on the witness stand. "I loved her. I still do."
The fatal head wound was an accident, caused when she jarred the pistol, he said. He was driving with one hand and holding a gun with the other as they argued, Scott testified, sometimes sobbing and wiping his eyes.
They'd been arguing in the car, and he had reached across and removed a gun that was next to Foot in the passenger door panel, fearful that she would point it at him, Scott said. He continued to hold it as they argued and he drove.
"I reached over and grabbed the gun. I said, 'You need to stop playing.' She said, 'You need to get that out of my face,'" he said. "She slapped it, and the gun went off."
Foot suddenly sat back in her seat, and when he shook her, she didn't react, Scott said.
"I opened the door and pushed her out. I was scared because the gun had just went off. I was scared and panicked," he testified.
Scott could find out today what the nine women and three men who have been hearing evidence before Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen think of his testimony. Jury deliberations begin at 9 a.m. today.
James told jurors in closing arguments Thursday that, at worst, what Scott did was manslaughter, if not negligent homicide. A conviction requires jurors to decide what Scott's intent was at the instant of the shooting, not to judge him based on what he did after Foot was killed, James said.
"Does anyone here think he did this on purpose?" the attorney asked. "I cannot stand here and say he's not guilty of something. That would be ridiculous. He might've recklessly brought [her death] about because his whole life has been reckless."
But James said prosecutors could not prove that her killing was a deliberate act, having no evidence that Scott ever wanted Foot dead. He warned jurors against rushing to convict his client, saying Scott was charged with murder only because police didn't look closely at what had really happened.
"He admitted he was in the car [when Foot was shot], and that's all they cared about," James said. "He admits he was holding the gun, so he must be guilty."
James accused deputy prosecutor Emily Abbott of exaggerating the significance of blood evidence in the case, telling jurors that if authorities were so certain that Scott murdered Foot, there would be no need for such "sinister" tactics. No police officer or forensic expert could conclusively contradict Scott's version of events, the attorney said.
"That's what the prosecution's case is all about, taking a tragedy ... and making it even worse," James said. "The only person who said it couldn't happen the way Mr. Scott said it did was Ms. Abbott."
The only liar in court is Scott, Abbott told jurors in her closing arguments, describing him as a "murderer and manipulator" who was trying to deceive jurors about what he had done.
"They want you to find him guilty [of a lesser charge,]" she said. "They want you to fall for Mr. Scott's story. If you let him get away with this, you're falling for that manipulation."
The truth of Foot's death was painted in the bloody spatter on the side of the borrowed Cadillac that Scott was driving that night, she told jurors. It shows that she was killed outside the car, not like he claims, while Foot was sitting in the front seat, Abbot said.
"That's the only way for her blood to be on the outer rear panel of the car," she told jurors. "If Renee was shot in the car and dumped in the street, it's impossible for the blood to fly way over here. Think of all of the blood -- explain to me how it didn't get all over him."
If Foot had been shot inside the vehicle like Scott claims, he and the car's interior would've been drenched, covered in gore beyond his ability to wipe away with bleach and his shirt like he told jurors, she said.
"There is no way his version is what happened," she said. "There's blood everywhere it shouldn't have been -- if you believe his version. The blood evidence didn't match his story [to police], and it still doesn't match his story."
Scott's account doesn't account for Foot's fractured skull, a completely different set of injuries than the bullet through the side of her head that killed her, Abbott told the jury.
What kind of man dumps the woman he loves in the road after she's been shot, Abbott asked jurors. What he was really scared about that night was having his parole revoked and returning to prison, she said.
"He wants you to believe she's the love of his life and that he would do anything for her. But all he could do is leave her on the side of the road and pray someone would find her," she said. "His being on parole was more important than the mother of five children. He left her there on purpose to die."
Metro on 07/18/2014