Law enforcement came under attack this morning during closing arguments in the case of a Topeka man accused of killing an Americus teen. In response, the state called the defense’s suppositions “absurd.”
The nine women and three men deciding the fate of Theron Thomas Kent received the case just after 10:30 a.m. today. Kent is charged with involuntary manslaughter, hunting without permission and criminal discharge of a firearm. A fourth charge, attempted unlawful taking of wildlife, was dismissed by the court before closing arguments.
Kent is charged in connection with the Dec. 15 death of 18-year-old Beau Arndt, who was goose hunting with two friends in a field at Roads 310 and D when he was struck by a single bullet to the chest.
During his closing arguments, Kent’s attorney, Don Hoffman, told jurors that once investigators located Kent on Dec. 19 and questioned him, they stopped investigating other leads, including a report of another group of hunters in the area on the morning of the shooting and a caller’s tip that named a Council Grove man.
In addition, Hoffman said, investigators should have examined Arndt’s goose blind as well as damaged goose decoys for a possible second round of ammunition. Tom Glass, who was hunting with Arndt and Derek Jackson in the field, told investigators hours after the shooting that he heard two shots. Hoffman this morning questioned whether there is evidence somewhere about the second shot.
Hoffman also blasted investigators for not looking at other rifles that could have fired the same type of bullet found in Arndt’s body. These rifles were carried by David Kent, the defendant’s brother, and an Emporia man out setting snares on Road 310 on the morning of the shooting.
Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman used his final 10 minutes of arguments to rebut Hoffman’s claims.
“To accept their theory,” Goodman told jurors, “you have to draw one of two conclusions.
“Either that at an exact point in time with an exact same caliber rifle from a point somewhere almost in the exact same line... at exactly the same time early in the morning in the exact same snowststorm and the exact same temperature that the shooter from the grassy knoll hiding up there fired at the exact same time.”
Or, Goodman continued, “if you don’t like the shoot at the exact same time theory, then you have to conclude there were two red Ford trucks both coming down Road D at about the same time. ... Derek Jackson looks up and sees the other red pickup truck. ...”
It’s not possible, Goodman said.
“That’s not reasonable doubt,” he concluded, “that’s absurd doubt.”
During the first 20 minutes of his closing arguments, Goodman walked jurors through the elements of each crime and reminded them what Kent himself said on the witness stand. He also urged them not to get bogged down with a detailed timeline.
“Remember this is a continuum of acts ... not separate little parcels that happen independently.”
And he also explained again the expert testimony about tests to match the bullet fragments taken from Arndt’s body with bullets test-fired from Kent’s rifle. Neither expert for the state or defense could match the bullet; they also couldn’t say with certainty that the bullet did not come from Kent’s rifle.
Goodman also reminded jurors of Kent’s statements to investigators, including that after he shot at a coyote and missed, he drove over a crest of a hill, saw a pickup truck and a man in the field with goose decoys.
“Common knowledge tells you your first reaction is ‘uh-oh,’” Goodman said.
But Kent testified that he didn’t think anything about it because the man in the field wasn’t waving at him or trying to get his attention.
Goodman also pointed to statements Kent made after investigators located him in Topeka and brought him to Lyon County for questioning.
“He says, ‘I am so sorry. If I could change places with him I would,’ to the dead boy’s father,” Goodman said. “Not, ‘I didn’t do it.’ No, he said, ‘I’m so sorry.’”
Jurors were set to work through the lunch break today — the sixth day of the trial.
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