Assault trial opens

Christopher Partridge listens to his attorney, Ed Dunkerly, make his opening statements to the jury during his trail in front of Judge John Nichols at the Clark County Courthouse on Monday. Partridge, an Iraq war vet, was charged with first-degree assault for firing a gun at a motorist on state Highway 500 last year. (The Columbian/Zachary Kaufman)

Trial began Monday in Clark County Superior Court for a Vancouver veteran accused of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for firing a round into another car last year on state Highway 500.

Nobody was injured, but Christopher P. Partridge, 26, faces a minimum of 12 years in prison if convicted.

Deputy Prosecutor Tony Golik told jurors during his opening statement that it was a straightforward case of road rage taken to the extreme.

After getting cut off by a driver who'd been trying to move from the far-left eastbound lane to take the Thurston Way exit, Partridge didn't just honk his horn or give an obscene gesture, Golik said.

Instead, he reached for a semiautomatic handgun and fired, hitting the driver's side door of the other vehicle.

A witness got Partridge's license plate number and called 911.

Court-appointed defense attorney Edward Dunkerly said during his opening statement that there's no dispute that Partridge fired his gun.

But Partridge, an Iraq war veteran, fired in self-defense because of a perceived threat from the other vehicle, Dunkerly said.

His feelings were precipitated by post-traumatic stress disorder from driving in convoy missions in Iraq, the attorney said.

"A blackness overtook him, he picked up his gun and he fired it," Dunkerly said.

The trial is expected to end Thursday.