A deputy prosecutor argued Wednesday that common sense should have told Timar Degraffe that stabbing a customer who tried to intervene in a bank robbery would cause severe injury.
“(Degraffe) may like you to believe he had no intent to kill or cause great bodily harm, but what other result is there? If he intended another result, he wouldn’t have used the knife,” Deputy Prosecutor Mike Vaughn told jurors during closing arguments in the Vancouver man’s attempted-murder trial in Clark County Superior Court.
Degraffe, 25, faces charges of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery, in addition to a charge of attempted second-degree murder, in an incident last year at iQ Credit Union in the VanMall neighborhood.
The case was handed to the jury Wednesday afternoon, but it had not reached a verdict by the end of the day. Deliberations continue Thursday.
Degraffe is accused of entering the credit union at 7017 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive on the afternoon of May 26, 2015, and demanding money while brandishing a knife. The teller gave him more than $2,000 in cash. He attempted to leave with the money, but a customer, William Uptmor, intervened. Degraffe stabbed Uptmor in the stomach with a large kitchen knife, the affidavit states.
Degraffe left the area and was captured following a daylong manhunt.
The knife went through Uptmor’s stomach and cut into his back muscles. He was in a coma for 14 days and underwent multiple surgeries. He now walks with a cane and has a pacemaker because of cardiac complications, according to the prosecution.
“(Degraffe) came in ready for action that day. He was determined not to be caught. He was determined to get out at all costs,” Vaughn said.
Degraffe testified Tuesday that he found the knife in a nearby parking lot, and he brought it with him to only intimidate the teller. He said his goal after committing the robbery was to escape.
However, he was “shocked,” he said, when he was blind-sided by Uptmor, who punched him in the face and grabbed him as he attempted to walk out the door. Degraffe said he doesn’t remember specifically stabbing Uptmor in the stomach and argued that he had no reason to intentionally cause the man harm.
“I would have never stabbed him if I didn’t get assaulted,” Degraffe said. “I thought I was getting robbed.”
Degraffe’s defense attorney, Jack Peterson, said in closings that this case highlights two values in the criminal justice system: seeking justice for the victims and ensuring Degraffe isn’t convicted of something he didn’t do.
He argued throughout the trial that Degraffe was incorrectly charged and that he should be convicted of second-degree assault, because he did not intend to cause Uptmor “great bodily harm or death.” Intent are key elements in the more serious charges.
Peterson said that Degraffe stabbed Uptmor from a defensive position.
“There was a known risk, but it was disregarded,” he told the jury. “Mr. Degraffe is not asking you to fully acquit him; he’s asking you to only convict him of what he did.”
Vaughn countered that it’s clear what Degraffe did because he was captured on video surveillance, later confessed to police and was recorded on jail phone calls talking about it. Degraffe also testified to what he did.
“He was caught. He was caught red-handed stabbing William Uptmor while robbing the iQ Credit Union,” Vaughn said.
