PREVIOUSLY:

Suspected murderer Billy Joe Giddings took the witness stand today to tell the jury why he shot Trevor Mark Harrison during a marijuana deal on May 9, 2015.

Huntzinger and Giddings

“I see Mr. Harrison with his shoulder to the door,” Giddings testified. “He has a gun in his hand and he’s starting to lift it toward me, and I pulled the trigger.”

Giddings, who broke into tears several times during his testimony, said he had been packing a gun during his many marijuana transactions since he was stabbed in 2012. He was concerned about this particular deal with Kay Haug, Harrison’s mother, because “I didn’t know these people.”

He also was concerned because earlier in the day a marijuana broker had tried to sell Haug a pound of marijuana he was offering, and Haug claimed it didn’t weigh a pound. Giddings said he knows it did.

Giddings arrived at Haug’s home late that night with marijuana broker Kimberly Steele and Robert Louis Huntzinger. He said they intended to sell Haug some pot. He and Steele came into the house first, with Huntzinger close behind them. Giddings said he had just started to sit down when he heard a commotion at the front door. He went to see what was happening.

“(Harrison) had his shoulder in the door and it was coming open and slamming,” Giddings testified. “Like three or four times, loud.”

Giddings said he pulled his gun as he got up to see what was going on, “obviously something violent.” That’s when he saw Harrison with a gun in his left hand, which he was starting to point at Giddings.

Giddings said he fired twice, and Harrison fell. At that point Huntzinger walked in and said “What the fuck?”

“I said, ‘I just shot this guy. We gotta get outta here.’ We left.”

Several witnesses testified during the trial that Huntzinger took a duffel bag into a back room, and they could hear him rummaging through things. They estimated he was in the back of the house for a few minutes before emerging with his duffel bag looking fuller.

Haug testified that the only thing she found missing was some marijuana “kief,” even though her bedroom was full of marijuana and cash stored in various containers. Today an Arcata police detective testified that when Huntzinger was arrested at his Blue Lake home, his duffel bag contained some kief.

But Giddings said Huntzinger came into the house and then left with him immediately. He did have a duffel bag, Giddings said, and it contained the marijuana he was hoping to sell to Haug.

Giddings stressed during his testimony that witnesses have made it sound like this was a drawn-out incident, but in fact the whole episode lasted barely a minute. He also said witnesses lied about what he said, such as “Get away from the door, dog,” to Harrison.

“All these witty catch-phrases that people came up with, I never said any of them,” he said.

Witnesses testified that after Giddings shot Harrison, he told people to quit whining because the gun was only a .22-caliber and he had just shot Harrison in the shoulder. But Giddings said today he “never would have said that,” because the gun was a .25-caliber and he had no idea where Harrison was hit.

He said he threw his gun off the Samoa Bridge into Humboldt Bay the next day.
Harrison, 38, died shortly after he was shot. The bullet pierced his left lung and liver and passed straight through his heart.

Giddings said Harrison’s gun was “on the floor” after the shooting. All previous witnesses have said Harrison had no gun in his hand. But Haug admitted she disposed of a gun at the same time she got rid of her marijuana. She said it was because the gun was unregistered and belonged to her caregiver’s mother, and she was trying to protect her.

Giddings said he threw his gun away because he is a convicted felon who is banned from carrying a firearm. It was revealed during testimony that he’s been convicted of felony charges of auto theft, receiving stolen property and evading a police officer with reckless disregard for public safety.

Today jurors also heard a recording of a phone conversation that Giddings either placed or received just a few weeks ago. The June 12 conversation was taped by law enforcement.

In it, the woman caller asks Giddings why, if he was shooting in self-defense, Harrison was shot in the back.

“Because he was closing the door,” Giddings said, making no mention of Harrison having a gun.

Giddings was questioned today by his attorney Luke Brownfield, Huntzinger’s attorney Russ Clanton and Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees. He was the last witness to testify during the trial.

Jurors were given the day off Tuesday while attorneys and Judge Dale Reinholtsen discuss which instructions jurors will be given on the law applying to the case. The jury will be back Wednesday to hear the instructions and attorneys’ closing arguments.