FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The attorney for a man charged with killing his mother and a North Dakota police officer during a shootout with law enforcement who were serving eviction papers says his client shouldn’t be found guilty of murder even though he caused both deaths. Defense attorney Steven Mottinger told a jury during his closing arguments Tuesday that Salamah Pendleton was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance” because officers came to evict him and his mother from their Grand Forks apartment despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and later because he thought the officers had killed his mother. He says manslaughter convictions would be more suitable in the May 2020 killings. Jurors deliberated for about four hours on Tuesday and are scheduled to resume discussions Wednesday.

Previously

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The attorney for a man charged with killing his mother and a North Dakota police officer during a shootout with law enforcement who were serving eviction papers says his client shouldn’t be found guilty of murder even though he caused both deaths. Defense attorney Steven Mottinger told a jury during his closing arguments Tuesday that Salamah Pendleton was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance” because officers came to evict him and his mother from their Grand Forks apartment despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and later because he thought the officers had killed his mother. He says manslaughter convictions would be more suitable in the May 2020 killings. The jury began deliberations later Tuesday.

 

Previously

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting his mother and a North Dakota police officer after authorities tried to serve him with eviction papers has told a jury he feared for his life and didn’t mean to kill anyone. Forty-two-year-old Salamah Pendleton is facing two counts of murder for the deaths of Lola Moore and Grand Forks police Officer Cody Holte in a May 2020 shootout at an apartment Pendleton shared with Moore. Pendleton said he wanted to surrender to authorities but was traumatized when he saw his mother’s body in the hallway. He said he was aiming for the legs of the officers but his vision was impaired because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. Closing arguments are scheduled Tuesday.