LAKE COUNTY ? A jury convicted David Garlow Deason of first-degree murder for the second time Tuesday, bringing his five-week retrial to a close.
Deason is facing 50 years to life in state prison, the same sentence he received after his 2006 conviction. The Court of Appeal of the state of California, First Appellate District, Division Three in San Francisco, overturned the verdict in February 2008 because it found that evidence of Deason”s .27 blood alcohol content should be heard. The evidence was not admitted in his first trial.
“He wants to be convicted of what he actually did,” Deason”s defense attorney Doug Rhoades said outside the courtroom Tuesday following closing statements and before the jury handed down its verdict.
At issue was whether Deason was intoxicated when he shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, Marie Parlet, in December 2004, and how it affected his judgment. The defense didn”t deny that Deason killed Parlet, only that he acted willfully and deliberately.
“We would have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he (Deason) carefully weighed the considerations for and against his actions, and knowing those consequences decided he still wanted to do it. How can someone carefully weigh those considerations when that person is as legally intoxicated as Mr. Deason was at the time?” Rhoades said in closing arguments.
Rhoades argued that Deason was guilty of no more than voluntary manslaughter, which would have reduced his maximum sentence to 18 years in prison.
Deason is 69 years old, and Rhoades said he will likely die in prison no matter what sentence he received. Langan argued in closing statements that Deason is guilty of first- or second-degree murder for shooting Parlet twice, once in the back and once in the chest.
In his closing arguments, Langan argued that a forensic report showed Parlet had time to raise her hand to protect herself after the first shot was fired.
Pointing at Deason, Langan shouted, “If she”s thinking about what”s going to happen, he”s doing it!”
Langan also argued that Deason had ample time after he shot Parlet to drink the alcohol. Regardless, Langan also argued that intoxication did not mean Deason didn”t know what he was doing.
According to police reports, Deason told law enforcement officers Parlet had been dead between 45 minutes and an hour by the time they arrived at the scene. Rhoades said Deason had a pattern of drinking to the point of intoxication daily, that he was confused and that he had been home for 19 minutes before police arrived.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
