Vancouver’s Brandon Gorham was driving drunk when he ran over Zachery Lucore as he walked along North Garrison Road last September — minutes prior, the two men had been arguing outside Gorham’s house, his defense attorney, Chris Ramsay, told jurors Tuesday.
But it was not Gorham’s intention to murder or seriously hurt Lucore, Ramsay argued during opening statements in Gorham’s attempted murder trial in Clark County Superior Court.
“(Gorham) was in no condition to drive. But drive he did, and that was a stupid decision, a terrible decision. He shouldn’t have done that,” Ramsay said.
And although he may be guilty of some crimes, Ramsay said, such as driving drunk and hit-and-run, Gorham didn’t mean to strike Lucore with his pickup.
However, Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Bartlett told jurors that the case is straightforward: An intoxicated Gorham, angry over his confrontation with Lucore, got into his pickup and ran him down in the Vancouver Heights neighborhood.
Lucore will testify Wednesday that the last thing he remembers is walking along the road, popping in ear buds to listen to music and then feeling pressure in his back, Bartlett said in his opening statement.
He was pulled under the vehicle, his body leaving scuff marks on the asphalt, Bartlett said. Among his injuries, Lucore, then 27, suffered fractures to his pelvis, face, ribs and spine, a collapsed lung, and abrasions all over his body.
In addition to attempted first-degree murder, Gorham, 32, is facing charges of hit-and-run resulting in injury and first-degree assault.
Dispatch received a 911 call at about 5:15 p.m. Sept. 10 about a hit-and-run on North Garrison Road and Tennessee Lane.
The responding officer said a pedestrian, later identified as Lucore, was taken by ambulance to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. Paramedics told the officer that Lucore was in and out of consciousness, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
Witnesses in the 7000 block of Tennessee Lane said they saw a primer-colored Ford pickup traveling at high speed. The pickup turned right onto North Garrison Road, ran the stop sign and struck Lucore who was walking along the road, Bartlett said. The pickup never tried to slow down before striking Lucore, he added.
Bartlett said Gorham nearly hit a car parked on the street and drove into the oncoming lane to avoid it, forcing another vehicle to swerve out of the way. That driver, Adriana Garcia, said she didn’t see Gorham’s pickup strike Lucore, but she heard the impact and saw him lying in the road after the pickup passed.
Lucore had been in the area to visit a friend, but she wasn’t home when he arrived, and Gorham, who lives nearby, began yelling at Lucore to leave, Bartlett said. Lucore started to yell back, prompting Gorham to say, “I’m going to run you over with my truck,” Bartlett told jurors, and that Lucore threatened to cut Gorham.
Ramsay disagreed with that version of events, however. He said Gorham’s neighbor began yelling at Lucore to leave the area and that when he began mouthing back, Gorham intervened. The two men then started shouting at each other, and Lucore threatened to cut Gorham and his mother. Ramsay said no witnesses heard Gorham threaten to strike Lucore with his pickup.
He said Gorham had been drinking all afternoon before the verbal confrontation with Lucore. It wasn’t his intention to run him over but to merely catch up to him to rough him up, Ramsay said.
The trial continues Wednesday with witness testimony.
