The murder trial of a Yakima man accused of causing a Clark County sheriff’s deputy to fatally shoot an off-duty Vancouver officer took a dramatic turn Thursday after a judge struck down two of the most-serious charges.
Court officials had planned to start closing arguments in the case of Julio Segura, a 22-year-old man who robbed a gas station near Vancouver two years ago. According to prosecutors, Segura then led police on a high-speed chase that coincidentally ended up at the home of off-duty officer Donald Sahota.
A responding sheriff’s deputy, Jon Feller, believed Sahota was the suspect and fired his rifle, killing Sahota. The Clark County medical examiner ruled the officer’s cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.
Prosecutors sought murder charges against him for allegedly instigating the police shooting.
FILE - Two honor guard members stand in front of Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota's casket at a memorial on Feb. 8, 2022. Sahota died Jan. 29 after being mistakenly shot by a Clark County sheriff's deputy.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Two of the charges Segura faced were felony murder, which defense attorney Ed Dunkerly equated to a murder charge that a car full of bank robbers would all face if the getaway driver accidentally struck a pedestrian.
“Everyone gets charged with felony murder even if it’s a complete accident. They don’t have to prove intent to kill, but the death has to be connected to an underlying crime,” Dunkerly told OPB.
Dunkerly asked the court on the eve of closing arguments to dismiss those charges.
That night in 2021, Sahota had tried to detain Segura in his driveway while his wife called 911. Segura, during the scuffle, stabbed the off-duty officer and ran inside his house. Feller opened fire within four seconds of arriving.
While inside, prosecutors allege, Segura attempted to kidnap Sahota’s wife and burglarize the house. Those alleged crimes, they argued, caused Feller to open fire upon arrival and kill Sahota.
Dunkerly said in an interview that Feller couldn’t have known when he opened fire what Segura may or may not have been doing inside the house.
“There was no knowledge on the part of anyone what happened behind closed doors,” he told OPB.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Nancy Retsinas opened the hearing by deliberating the motion and ultimately agreed with the defense.
“I don’t believe the evidence, from a legal causation analysis, [supports] that connection,” Retsinas told the courtroom.
The ruling briefly spun the courtroom into confusion. Prosecutors, led by Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik, said they needed a recess to reconfigure their closing arguments and instructions to jurors.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Segura still faces one more murder charge for “extreme indifference to human life,” as well as seven other charges tied with the robbery, high-speed chase and the events at Sahota’s house.