A jury delivered four guilty verdicts Wednesday in the case of a man who is accused of an attempted execution-style shooting June 28, 2017, in Chandler.
Matthew Smith, 27, was found guilty on an attempt to commit first-degree murder after deliberation — Jacob Durand; first-degree assault – deadly weapon — Jacob Durand; menacing with a deadly weapon – Jeremy Jackson; and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
Smith was found not guilty on an attempt to commit first-degree murder after deliberation — Jeremy Jackson.
Deputy District Attorney Thom LeDoux declined to comment on the verdicts.
Smith and his co-participant, James Summers-Smith, 25, were accused of taking Jeremy Jackson, 27, and Jacob Durand, 22, to the Chandler area in the early morning hours of June 28, 2017.
Smith allegedly told Durand and Jackson to leave their cell phones behind before they started the drive. While en route, Smith allegedly told Durand to pull the vehicle over in a remote area and then ordered Jackson and Durand to cross the road, go over a barb-wire fence and then drop to their knees behind a shrub in a remote field.
Summers-Smith, Durand and Jackson testified that Summers-Smith had stayed behind with the vehicle.
The three each also testified that Smith, while pointing a gun at Jackson and Durand, asked them, “Do you want to hear it, or do you want to see it?” before Durand was shot through the mouth and then in the thigh as he was running away.
Jackson was unharmed, but did sustain multiple injuries from running barefoot in the field to seek help, he told the jury.
During closing arguments Monday, LeDoux outlined some of the possible doubts the jury might consider while deliberating.
The first was that maybe Summers-Smith had fired the gun.
“That’s not a reasonable doubt,” LeDoux said. “Jeremy Jackson, James Summers-Smith and Jacob Durand said James Summers-Smith did not have a gun in his possession and that he stayed in the truck.”
Summers-Smith also testified to having stayed at the truck and turning on his music when the others exited the vehicle.
“Clearly, something was going to happen, and I wasn’t going to be part of it,” he said, adding that he knew Smith had a gun.
Summers-Smith said when Smith got back into the truck, Smith said, “(Durand) is fatal and Jackson got away.”
Smith allegedly later gave Summers-Smith the gun and told him to “get rid of it.”
Without wearing gloves, Summers-Smith said he wiped it down with car oil, wrapped it in a red bandana and gauze, and then taped it with electric tape before placing it in its case inside a tool bag.
“I was going to throw it in the river, but I was too high, so I put it in the gun case,” he said. “My fingerprints were all over it. I was high and not thinking anything of it.”
LeDoux said the jury also might not like the fact that Summers-Smith took a plea in the case.
Summers-Smith originally was charged with the same counts as Smith, but he pleaded guilty in June to accessory to a crime, criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree and menacing in exchange for his testimony in this case. He was sentenced to four years of probation for both felony counts, which will run concurrently.
“It was not exactly a clean walk from the district attorney’s office,” LeDoux said. “He walked out with two felonies, and if he messes up, he will go to prison. It’s not exactly the deal of the century.”
Smith’s defense attorney, Diana Bull, said Summers-Smith took the deal 10 days before his own trial was set to begin, giving him a “sweetheart” deal for this type of case.
“He took a deal that granted him probation and he got to go home,” she said. “If he chose not to testify, his probation would be revoked.”
While his case was pending, he reviewed police reports, watched videos of interviews and heard detectives outline evidence, Bull said.
“The details he gave in trial were different than his first interview when he said he wasn’t even (at the scene of the crime),” Bull said. “He said he had lied because he didn’t want to get in trouble.”
She said the entire incident boiled down to friendship, mistrust and drugs.
Jackson was known to have guns at his home, to pass out ammunition and to share the firearms, Bull said.
Caitlin Rogers, a forensic analyst for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, testified Monday that DNA from three unknown contributors was detected on the gun, but the major contributor was Summers-Smith.
“There’s no DNA that links my client, and every witness had something that affected his testimony,” Bull said.
Also during her closing statements Monday, Bull said Summers-Smith was accused as a participant in the crime and originally charged with attempted murder, but his jacket was never sent to the CBI to test for blood. LeDoux said there is no need to test every piece of evidence, and according to the witnesses, Summers-Smith was in the truck during the shooting.
DNA testing showed no blood was found on the jersey that Smith was wearing the night of the shooting.
LeDoux also pointed out Monday a comment that Smith allegedly made to Cañon City Police Officer Justin Inman when he took Smith into custody after the shooting. Inman said he searched Smith but didn’t ask him any questions while placing him under arrest.
“He said he was surprised that the detectives didn’t arrest him,” Inman said.
LeDoux said that showed Smith ‘s guilt.
“He knows he did something wrong,” LeDoux said. “He knows he committed a major crime and expected to be arrested.”
Sentencing will be at 9 a.m. Nov. 5.
Carie Canterbury: 719-276-7643, canterburyc@canoncitydailyrecord.com