Jury begins deliberations in Meade trial

Published 4:37 pm Friday, April 23, 2010

EVERETT – The fate of Everett police officer Troy Meade is now in jurors’ hands.

Closing arguments in the case concluded this afternoon, and jurors went behind closed doors to begin deliberating at about 3:40 p.m. They were sent home about an hour later and were expected to resume deliberations on Monday.

Meade, 41, is accused of opening fire on a drunken man seated in his car. Prosecutors allege that despite reasonable alternatives, Meade intentionally killed Niles Meservey after the Stanwood man refused to get out of his car and drove into a fence.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mathew Baldock told jurors Meade had nine minutes that night to figure out how best to deal with a drunken, noncompliant man who was in a car, boxed in on all sides.

“The best he could come up with was murder,” Baldock said before noon.

Meade’s attorney, David Allen, made his arguments after the lunchtime break. He paraphrased jury instructions in arguing that Meade should be acquitted.

“Troy Meade never acted with malice. He always acted with a good faith belief his actions were justifiable,” Allen said.

Meade testified Thursday that he didn’t have any other option besides shooting. Meservey’s car was backing up toward him and he was afraid that he or a fellow officer were going to be run down. Meade, an 11-year veteran, said the incident happened so quickly there was little time to react.

He is charged with second-degree murder and is the first Snohomish County police officer accused of unlawfully taking another person’s life in the line-of-duty.

After the jury left the courtroom prosecutors asked the judge for permission to place on the record that they had investigated allegations that a civil attorney for the city of Everett had raised about the credibility of a key prosecution witness.

On Tuesday, the city sent hundreds of pages of records to attorneys on both sides of the case, some suggesting Officer Steve Klocker had been accused of lying by a municipal court judge.

Baldock on Friday said he spoke with city prosecutors about those records. They told him there was a misunderstanding and confusion about the judge’s comments, Baldock said.

Allen told the judge he had decided on Meade’s behalf against pursuing those allegations regarding Klocker.

Jurors were not told about the records or their contents.