PORTLAND — An attorney for Russell Orlando Courtier, the white man accused of killing an African American teenager, offered an unexpected theory Thursday about what happened: Courtier had just suffered a vicious beating by the teen and wasn’t thinking clearly when he got into his Jeep and struck the 19-year-old.
The death of Larnell Bruce Jr. in August 2016 wasn’t a cold-blooded murder by a man with white supremacist beliefs as the prosecution has portrayed, defense attorney Kevin Sali told jurors.
Rather, Courtier feared for his life and brain scientists will testify that Courtier suffered a head injury that prompted an unusual reaction to that threat, Sali said as Courtier’s trial began in Portland.
“Russell Courtier never wanted any of this to happen,” Sali said.
The trial is expected to last 12 days. Jurors will be asked to decide if Courtier, 40, is guilty of murder, hit-and-run driving and the hate crime of intimidation.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerry Hodson also will be asked to rule whether Courtier’s girlfriend, Colleen Hunt, 37, is guilty of those crimes for allegedly egging Courtier on from the passenger seat of the Jeep. Witnesses told police they overheard Hunt yelling, “Get him, baby!” and “Run him over!”
A packed courtroom listened to the openings statements, with many members of the dead teenager’s family and supporters attending. A a heavy contingent of media, including the British Broadcasting Co., also watched on.
The case has drawn extensive attention, as an an example of America’s racial tensions boiling over with deadly consequences.
Prosecutor David Hannon told jurors that Courtier was so devoted to the white supremacist ideas of his prison gang, European Kindred, that he had its initials tattooed into his skin. Courtier also wore an “EK” hat to the 7-Eleven in the Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham, where the confrontation occurred, Hannon said.
Courtier and Bruce got into a fight moments before the 19-year-old sprinted away and Courtier drove into him, the prosecutor said. The seconds before the killing were caught on surveillance video.
“August 10, 2016, was a dark evening in Rockwood,” the prosecutor said. “It was a dark evening in Multnomah County. At the 7-Eleven located on Southeast 188th and East Burnside, Russell Courtier hunted and chased Larnell Bruce in his girlfriend’s large, red Jeep. … He had one intent, and that was to kill Mr. Bruce.”
Hannon said Courtier could have waited for police, but instead he chose to attack Bruce by driving into the oncoming lane of traffic and onto the sidewalk.
“He would not let a sidewalk deter him,” Hannon said. “And he would not let a young man running away in fear for his life deter him.”
Sali, the defense attorney, said it was Courtier who was in fear for his safety and the safety of his fiancee, who was sitting in the parked Jeep with nothing more than the soft top of the vehicle protecting her from Bruce in the moments leading up to the killing.
Bruce had what Sali described as a machete, but surveillance video doesn’t show him using it during the encounter. It’s unclear what the brawl was about.
Sali said it was Bruce who suddenly attacked Courtier, with Bruce’s two male associates by his side.
“It’s not what anybody would call a fight,” Sali said. “Mr. Courtier is alone, unarmed. … Mr. Courtier is struck over and over, including in the head and the face.”
“What this case is going to turn on is what was in Mr. Courtier’s mind?” Sali said. “… How calmly and rationally was he able to make decisions and understand everything going around him in that extremely threatening, traumatic situation?”
To find Courtier or Hunt guilty of murder, jurors must reach a 12-0 verdict. If found guilty, Oregon law calls for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years. But the prosecutor has notified the court that if Courtier is convicted, he intends to seek “dangerous offender” and “upward departure” sentences that could result in a longer prison term.
