69 Replies to "Morgan Junction shooting trial verdict: Jury finds Lovett 'Cid' Chambers guilty of manslaughter"

• AG April 8, 2014 (4:30 pm)

  I’m very sorry to hear this. I thought it was clearly self defense.

• WSince86 April 8, 2014 (4:33 pm)

  Thanks WSBlog for the stellar coverage. This has been a very interesting case to follow. Not being in the court room, on the jury, I really felt I could not comment until now. In my opinion it seems that our judicial system did it’s job and justice prevailed. My sincerest sympathies to all those involved with this terrible, seemingly avoidable, tragedy.

• Pat April 8, 2014 (4:34 pm)

  TR, what does that verdict mean in terms of content and implications for sentencing? Somehow I missed that that was an option for a verdict. (It sort of feels right in this case, but it’d be interesting to know more about what it means.)
  .
  And thanks on behalf of all of your WS community for your incredible coverage of this trial. We were all pretty riveted by the dramatic unfolding story of the proceedings!

• West Seattle Hipster April 8, 2014 (4:37 pm)

  Thank you WSB for your stellar coverage of this trial.

• Rob April 8, 2014 (4:51 pm)

  Self Defense? He followed him to his car with a loaded gun. Murder.

• cHg April 8, 2014 (4:53 pm)

  Wow!!! This just goes to show how messed up our justice system really is. I’m sorry but when u shoot someone 3 times u r wanting to kill them which would make it murder, 1 shot would possibly be manslaughter. I’m sorry but if I felt my life was threatened there is no way I would be getting out of my car to follow the people that “supposively” were wanting to harm me. Neither pasts of the victim, witness or defendent should’ve mattered in this case. MURDER IS MURDER and “CID” murdered this man

• Brian Romas April 8, 2014 (4:58 pm)

  I don’t know about self defense. I read the excellent coverage from the WSB, and it seems to me that someone with more than five martinis in him might not have the best judgment as to the threat posed to his immediate personal safety nor the proper resolution to said threat. And ready access to a gun didn’t help matters any.

• ScubaFrog April 8, 2014 (5:05 pm)

  Yeah this is a clear case of murder. This is an injustice. Hopefully he’ll spend most of the rest of his life in prison… I hope that federal prosecutors charge him for being an 8-time felon in possession of a firearm.

• ScubaFrog April 8, 2014 (5:08 pm)

  Old cid’s been remarkably lucky in his criminal career. Rape… Bank robberies… Murder. And those are only the crimes we know of. He’ll probably get a super light sentence, and be back on our streets with his .45, terrorizing us again.

• miws April 8, 2014 (5:21 pm)

  Thank you for the excellent, long running coverage, WSB.

  .

  Mike

• interested reader April 8, 2014 (5:39 pm)

  Under the circumstances, and with the lack of any other witnesses, it seems like a reasonable verdict. He pretty much brought it on himself by following the two guys back to their truck and threatening them with a gun. It was only “self-defense” after the victim picked up the shovel in his own self-defense. He could have simply backed off at that point, instead of firing three shots (two of them in the victim’s back).

  On another point, does anyone know why this case took over two years to come to trial. Whatever happened to the notion of a speedy trial?

  • WSB April 8, 2014 (5:46 pm)

    IR – I’m thinking about something of a wrapup story (though it’s not over until sentencing, and of course there’s also potential appeal) and that would be an interesting point. Massive number of motions, postponements, evaluations, reviews that dragged out the case. No one particular thing. And as I’ve mentioned a few times, the testimony itself was preceded by six weeks of motions and rulings.
    .
    I followed much of the documentation along the way … in retrospective, it might have been interesting to have written more about it in those two years, but on the other hand, many of the things that were litigated along the way never came into play in the trial (they were ruled inadmissible or whatever) and so in the end were irrelevant to what was presented to the jury. The online file is MASSIVE; I think we spent hundreds of dollars downloading documents to keep tabs on the case in those two years, but as it got closer to trial, I couldn’t even download the defense’s pre-trial “brief” because it was something like 600 pages and the online system stalled out every time I tried. – Tracy

• Juror April 8, 2014 (5:46 pm)

  If you’ve never been on a jury you have no idea how difficult it is to come to a consensus. Jury instructions often include a lesser charge. The jury is given very specific instructions. They cannot decide based on what you hear, thanks to the excellent reporting by WSB. It is a tough job, and we should all be thankful for the right to a fair and speedy trial by a jury of our peers. Try moving to (insert dictatorship country of your choice) and see what kind of fair trial you get there!

• Community Member April 8, 2014 (6:01 pm)

  I respect the jury’s verdict, based on the evidence they heard and saw in the courtroom.

• Pat (Destiny Hood Travis daughter s aunt) April 8, 2014 (6:19 pm)

  No it is not clearly self defense he should of got more time . How do you clearly say self-defense when he shot Travis 4 times point blank in the chest .My heart goes out to Brenda Hood who lost a son and Destiny Williams my niece who lost a father at a very young age .Remember he has one last judge ment day and God will determine the right punishment amen..Rest in peace Travis Hood , you are truly missed and loved very much in Florida…

• ocean April 8, 2014 (6:33 pm)

  ” I think we spent hundreds of dollars downloading documents to keep tabs on the case ”

  Editors, how can we help you with this? Do you get enough from the WSB sponsors to cover such expenses? I don’t have a business (otherwise I’d happily be a sponsor!)– is there a fund to which “J. Q. Public” can contribute, or does that mess with the unbiased stance you hold so beautifully?

• friend of travis April 8, 2014 (7:00 pm)

  I knew Travis for 20+ years. This man is clearly guilty of murder. The system is broken. He shot a man 3 times then went home to watch a movie and drink wine with his wife. Citizens of Washington, you should be outraged. You follow 2 guys to their truck and pull a gun on them and you think this is self defense? I live in Florida and even I know this wouldn’t fly.

• zerodacus April 8, 2014 (7:27 pm)

  Although I would have preferred 2nd degree murder, I am content with him spending the rest of his natural life in prison. He, in a drunken stupor, chose to follow this young man a half a block with a loaded (illegal)handgun, when he had multiple options. And ended this young mans life, I have zero sympathy for this career thug, I could care less
  how OLD he is.

• Dale April 8, 2014 (7:36 pm)

  Actually, the conviction for 1st degree manslaughter is consistent with cases involving a threat and a reaction involving an inappropriate level of force. Was able to find one conviction online (in another state) where party shot a person in the back and received 4 years.

• Community Member April 8, 2014 (7:40 pm)

  I respect the jury’s decision. The system is not broken, and I am most certainly not “outraged” that the jury didn’t convict on the stronger charge.
  .
  It’s a tragedy for all involved. Condolences on your loss. But also sincere gratitude to the jurors who stepped up and served selflessly, probably at significant personal sacrifice of time, family, money, jobs, etc.
  .
  About the right to a speedy trial: I believe that a defendant can exercise that right and move a case forward quickly. But often it is the defense side that wants time to build their defense, make arguments, consult with experts, etc.

• West Seattle Transplant April 8, 2014 (7:45 pm)

  I’ll withhold my judgement because he’s already been judged and my opinion of his guilt or innocence isn’t relevant since I was not on the jury. However, having that many drinks in you and resorting to using a gun for any reason while intoxicated shows a certain amount of culpability and flagrant disrespect for public safety. I really hope that after this is all over with, people will focus their energies on healing from this and not politically charge this up for use as a reason for gun control. Mistakes were made… bad mistakes. Let the system carry out justice based on the jury’s decision.

  BTW… awesome coverage WSB!!

• miws April 8, 2014 (8:01 pm)

  Psssst….ocean…..

  http://tinyurl.com/ndo7kw5
  .

  Mike

• grumpyinwestseattle April 8, 2014 (8:05 pm)

  The jury deserves respect for their decision that’s what they are there for. Its over time to move on..

• carole April 8, 2014 (8:14 pm)

  Once the prosecutor’s office files their presentence report we will know what his criminal history “offender score” is and what range this conviction will fall into. Since the jury apparently also found use of a firearm, there will be a firearm enhancement to the sentence. This will be either 3 or 5 years (I can’t remember which crimes carry which # of enhancement years). In any case, the sentence for the firearm enhancement will be served FIRST, WITHOUT ANY CREDIT FOR GOOD TIME. After that, the remainder of the sentence kicks in, during which he can earn good time and receive credit for time served in King County.

• carole April 8, 2014 (8:24 pm)

  Addition: 1st degree manslaughter is a class A felony, so the gun enhancement is likely to be 5 years.

  • WSB April 8, 2014 (8:30 pm)

    Carole, thank you for adding info from a knowledgeable perspective – For anyone interested, the state’s handbook about sentencing ranges is here:
    .
    http://www.cfc.wa.gov/PublicationSentencing/SentencingManual/Adult_Sentencing_Manual_2012_20130815.pdf
    .
    The offender score you mentioned will inform where the case lands in the incredibly broad range. But for those interested … that’s some info to browse. Just use your “find” in browser to find mention of “manslaughter” in the doc (past the index, where it appears a lot)…

• Eric1 April 8, 2014 (8:31 pm)

  I find it offensive that I don’t see a “felon in possession” charge on the list. That was a no brainier and it contributes to why felons still carry guns regardless of the law. There should be an automatic 10 years added on to any prison time. If he wasn’t carrying a gun, none of this would have happened. Unfortunately, he probably was never afraid of the punishment from our criminal friendly justice system.

• Lamont April 8, 2014 (8:52 pm)

  So, if the shooting hadn’t happened, ‘Cid’ was still going to drive home drunk that night with a BAC of 0.22?

  And the prosecution also admitted that Travis and Jamie were drinking beer and smoking pot and similarly were heading to their vehicle?

  I’m getting a picture here that none of them were exactly angels.

  I also have a hard time with both the defense and the prosecution’s arguments that there’s just no explanation for the motives but that the other party decided it was just a good night to kill someone. The stories on both sides ring just about equally implausible. I suspect that there were more than a few intoxicated words exchanged on both sides that night.

  Manslaughter sounds about like the right verdict.

• ocean April 8, 2014 (8:56 pm)

  Mike;
  All I got was

  “Cookies are turned off”

  guess the Editors prefer cupcakes? = )

  -Ocean

• Ron April 8, 2014 (9:14 pm)

  @eric – illegal possession of a firearm is a crime. See RCW 9.41.040.

  One couldn’t have an enhancement because the underlying crime is illegal possession of a firearm. Any lesser crime (firearm enhancement) merges with the actual crime, illegal possession. This is known as the merger doctrine. It would be unjust to charge someone with the crime of illegal possession of a firearm and then enhance that crime by saying well, you illegally possessed a firearm while in possession of a firearm. See how the logic fails?

• Ron April 8, 2014 (9:20 pm)

  For those wanting to know what distinguishes murder from manslaughter, the main distinction is the requisite mens rea which is the state of mind that determines intent, knowledge etc. Manslaughter is rooted in negligence and careless disregard, while murder requires intent. Cid May have intended to shoot the victims, but based on the facts presented to the jury the jury believed that while he responded with disproportionate and reckless force, he didn’t have the requisite mens rea to form intent (or there wasn’t enough evidence to support that finding). Forgive me I’m not a criminal lawyer, and my crim law class in law school was some time ago.

• wscommuter April 8, 2014 (9:31 pm)

  He is facing a minimum standard range of 169-210 months based on the Man 1 conviction (seriousness level 11 and offender score of at least 7 – and it may well be higher). In addition, he will do 60 months on the firearm enhancement that goes with the Man 1 conviction.

  In other words, even if the judge gives a low/bottom end sentence, he will get at least 219 months – about 18 years. I can’t predict what the judge will do at sentencing, but often, in cases like this, when the jury returns on a “lesser included” charge such as occurred here, the judge is actually pretty hard at sentencing and goes to the high end of the range … so he may well get more like 210 + 60 and serve well over 22 years.

• KBear April 8, 2014 (9:42 pm)

  I hope all you who think the jury could have done better will step up and do your civic duty when you’re called upon to serve. Yes, it can be a hardship, but your own right to a fair trial (should you ever be accused) depends on others to do the same.

• Carlainthebarrã April 8, 2014 (9:46 pm)

  I think people are letting emotions in the way here(which if my loved one I would also). But the standard range for manslaughter 1st is 78-104 mo. Plus the fact he is already have points that will affect the sentencing range, being a felon.
  The only way he will get outta prison is via body bag!!! He won’t make it back out again!

• Jeff April 9, 2014 (6:17 am)

  You nailed it Lamont. No angels here.

• miws April 9, 2014 (7:53 am)

  Sorry about that, ocean. :-(

  .

  The only other thing I can think of is to try the “Tip Jar” link directly; scroll down to the last of the Ads on the right sidebar, OR figure out how to enable cookies on your browser.

  .

  I just now clicked on the tinyurl link I posted last night, and got the same message as you, but clicking directly on the Tip Jar/Support WSB link brings up the Paypal donation page.

  .

  Guess it lost something in the translation to the tinyurl link, (which worked fine for me last night, but the page was likely still in my cache)

  .

  Mike

• saja April 9, 2014 (7:59 am)

  My most heartfelt condolences for Travis’ mother, daughter, and friends & family.
  My heart also breaks for Mr. Lovett’s wife. She did nothing wrong, but has lost her life mate…
  I hope Cid never sees the light of day again

• ocean April 9, 2014 (8:55 am)

  Mike-

  Thanks for the, er, “tip” !
  .
  =)
  -ocean

• ScubaFrog April 9, 2014 (8:56 am)

  According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, Mr. Chambers faces 12-14 years in prison. I think the firearm enhancement has no ‘good time’, but the rest of the time he’ll get ‘good conduct time’, wherein the inmate will serve 3/4 time as long as they obey the rules. Mr. Chambers has been incarcerated since 2012, so I believe he’ll get credit for 2 years time served. With parole, he could be out much quicker than most anticipate. It’s up to the judge now.

  • WSB April 9, 2014 (9:10 am)

    Re: the sentencing quote – Don’t take that as gospel yet; it is from a story by a news outlet that did not go to court (except for the day of opening statements) and had at least two errors in their report. Not their fault their bosses decided not to cover the trial and made somebody catch up via phone calls once they heard there was a verdict, although certainly the organization has more than enough resources to have truly covered the case if they had been interested. I am reporting and writing a followup today and will have the latest information on potential sentencing as well as other points. – Tracy
    .
    P.S. to Mike & Ocean on another point – I don’t want to threadjack with a discussion of how to support us but while yes, this gets more costly by the day to run (we have a huge technical-upgrade project under way at the moment), what we always ask people to do is, if they do business with the local businesses that sponsor WSB, please let them know you appreciate that they do. I could go on, but won’t … this is about the conclusion of a difficult case in which there were no winners. A life was lost, other lives on both sides were changed forever.

• cruzer April 9, 2014 (9:52 am)

  The jury’s decision is right and justice has prevailed. Thank you WSB for your excellent coverage.

• ScubaFrog April 9, 2014 (10:37 am)

  Tracy thanks for the insight on the other outlet. Your coverage has been remarkable. I’ll stay tuned to WSB of course for anymore updates.

• Seattle Metro Resident April 9, 2014 (11:07 am)

  Scubafrog…if you were educated on law in the state of WA, youd realize we dont have “parole”.

• L.A. Visitor April 9, 2014 (11:13 am)

  Great coverage of this case from beginning to end. All in all, I believe the jury made a wise decision by convicting him of manslaughter, rather than murder 2. Anyone who thinks it would have been easy to have been a juror on this case is fooling themselves.

• ScubaFrog April 9, 2014 (12:01 pm)

  Metro Resident, my degrees aren’t in law. If you were educated in English, you’d realize the proper punctuation is ‘you’d’ – not “youd”. And one’s educated ‘in law’, not on it. Moreover we indeed do have a form of parole in Washington State, it’s called “Community Corrections”.

  • WSB April 9, 2014 (12:07 pm)

    Community custody is akin to probation rather than parole … once you’ve served your time, depending on what was declared at sentencing, you’re then on probation/community custody. (For example, 18 months of CC was ordered for Donald Plute, whose sentencing we covered last Friday.) Found this explainer: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.94A.703
    .
    Also for ScubaFrog, I have confirmed with the KCPAO that the Times’ quote was accurate, 12-14 year range – and that INCLUDES the 5-year “hard time” firearm enhancement (which was the major thing I wanted to ask about). Didn’t want to wait until later followup (which is likely mid- to late-afternoon) to get that out. Sentencing date won’t be set until Judge Doyle is back at work. – TR

• Kay Rood April 9, 2014 (12:18 pm)

  Your consistent, unbiassed and thorough reporting is an invaluable asset to the community. Especially appreciated is the educational aspect. Many thanks to you.

• zark April 9, 2014 (12:19 pm)

  I submit if he didn’t have a gun, nobody would be dead. Guns suck. People who carry them are cowards. People who use them on other people are murderers.

• JoAnne April 9, 2014 (1:30 pm)

  “Cid” has gotten away with a lot in his life, and now he can add cold-blooded murder to that long list.

• Community Member April 9, 2014 (2:49 pm)

  Oh, please. How can anyone say he has “gotten away” with anything, when he’s just been convicted of a major violent crime and will be going to prison for many years?
  .
  The jury reached a verdict, based on the evidence they were given. Why not just respect that?

• jamie vause April 9, 2014 (10:05 pm)

  Seems so odd the fear chambers had for he and his wife from the Black Guerilla Family has disappeared after the amount of publicity on this case it appears he has done something to give himself security like killed my friend Travis i after coming back home have. had time to read and evaluate things and realize this whole tangled web of events is all GANG related i am very fortunate to have made it out alive myself thank god i always said to people it was LIKE an assassination but when i understood the big picture it all makes since my theory is they “Black Guerillas” found Chambers at 5am and just exposes itself as i read Chambers. He killed Travis to save he and his wife I’m not sure how to know if that made Trav random or if there was a hit on him stemmin from Jacksonville i cant even believe i am a DEAD MAN WALKING

• Brian April 10, 2014 (7:59 am)

  Holy sh-t what the hell does any of that mean, Jamie?

• Marty S April 10, 2014 (10:53 am)

  Can we please ban the fake Jamie from posting? Or if it’s the real Jamie can he just go back to North Carolina and be arrested for the outstanding warrant he has against him?

  • WSB April 10, 2014 (11:03 am)

    Marty S, we do watch carefully for imposters and I don’t believe this is one.

• Seattle Metro Resident April 10, 2014 (11:02 am)

  Jamie has not made any sense in most of his posts, he is known drug user and not a good contribution to society.

• Carrie P. April 10, 2014 (12:13 pm)

  I think what Jamie is trying to say is that he thinks the defendant may have killed his friend, Travis, to get out of trouble with the Black Guerillas. That the whole thing was gang related so now Jamie may also be in danger.

  Or maybe he’s being sarcastic about the idea that the defendent used fear of the gang as a defense for his actions?

• jamie vause April 10, 2014 (12:37 pm)

  No it really jamie and i knowing as the eyewitness that my friend was killed for no obvious reason had to try to make sense of this and i realized that chambers himself told us the story of the fear he had for his and his wifes life if they were found that is odd to mention but now the fear is gone humm…. why is his wife and he safe he smiles seems confident with himself in court and glared with the eyes of asdasin at me i just didn’t understanding who and what it all meant but just realize he(chambers) tells the story not me just understand he followed us from one bar to the feedback he was said to seem off or irritated by the feedback employee he was off because he was about to have to do the hit and I’m pretty sure that anyone would be off knowing he had to kill travis to save he and his wife. i told what happened and now i walk with understanding but a all day fear of realizing i just teztified against a obvious. GANG assasin best believe had i known what i know now i would have NEVER been a witness or testified or even given a statement i have explained the danger to all my family and they seem to understand its hard to fathom it all unless you look through my eyes and know what i told you happened and i am seeing it just as i see it and heard it from the man himself in his testimony

• funkietoo April 10, 2014 (3:50 pm)

  Jamie,

  You think that Travis was assassinated by the Black Guerrillas Gang, via Cid?

  I’m just trying to understand:
  1) What did Travis do that the Black Guerrillas would put a hit out on him?
  2) Why, after 30 years would the Black Guerrillas tap Cid to complete the hit?
  3) Do you think the Black Guerrillas are now going to come after you and/or your family?

• joe April 10, 2014 (6:12 pm)

  I doubt a gang hitman would choose to shoot someone in front of a bar where he is well known and was instantly identified
  . No need to look for conspiracies, sometimes things are just what they appear to be. In this case a drunk ex-con barfly with a gun decided to shoot someone because he didn’t like the way he looked and/or sounded The victim was the fall guy for the chip Chambers carried on his shoulder. Nothing more or less. No surprise that his defense was quick to play the race card.
  I hope Mr. Chambers spends the rest of his life in a prison cell, he should never have been released after his numerous previous felonies.

• jamie vause April 10, 2014 (8:36 pm)

  Yes i do think chambers Past affiliation is why travis is dead travis to me his didn’t know who killed his friend in florida but i have concluded that he didn’t realize he knew but when he came to Seattle the one who killed his friend panic through the gang world network he made the call to Seatle so the hit was established after travis came to Seattle then through what i have heard from chambers words he was found and knew exactly what he told us he feared they’d kill him and his wife which I’m sure they would so i believe this shows motive once he was discovered at the way i read it was 5 am previous day to the incident he bought his security and confidence by killing travis he didn’t know who he was he was used to handle this hit and maintain life at the least as he has done he seems very relaxed and confident not in fear for his life at all to me put yourself in my shoes and realize the only part that chambers lied about was the racial slurs and confrontation part was BS but he mapped it all out for me very plainly as i read his testimony. 4 days ago and now yes freakietoo i fully understand I’m am in danger and have been oblivious as well as travis was but i walk in fear for me and my families life there is so much more supporting what i am saying it just gets worse but i know what i saw was an unprovoked assassination

• Britty April 10, 2014 (10:04 pm)

  Joe, you hit the nail on the head!

• Britty April 10, 2014 (11:02 pm)

  I meant to say Juror, you hit the nail on the head.

• miws April 11, 2014 (7:50 am)

  jamie, you may want to check your autocorrect. It mistyped “funkietoo” as “freakietoo”.

  .

  Mike

• Gatewood Guy April 11, 2014 (9:55 am)

  I didn’t think marijuana caused paranoia.

• BN April 11, 2014 (11:51 pm)

  I attended this trial for several days for a “Criminal Law” assignment. Lovett, very intoxicated, made a decision that he didn’t realize he was making, and someone was killed. I feel for his wife and I don’t think he should drink EVER after being released from prison, but he is a really nice man. I used to talk to him in the Feedback Lounge on occasion. His life was headed somewhere from the fall out child hood he had, then this had to happen. Alcohol, it can be a person’s worst enemy, never a best friend in the end.

• Heather in Jax April 12, 2014 (6:56 am)

  I have kept my silence through this whole trial after reading I can’t help but to be frustrated.Everyone speaks out on how much time they think Chambers will get.. to me manslaughter is a slap on the wrist compared to the lifetime of grievance and pain my daughter and Travis’ mother and friends will have to endure through our loss like someone commented earlier add it to the list off felonies from his prior record also seems to me after all of that how was he even walking around a free man… but he was and now and committed cold blooded murder and people are still trying to justify this Creep!!

• Lexus April 12, 2014 (10:59 am)

  Jamie is being ridiculous. Who knows what drugs he is on, Travis was nothing like Jamie. This was a freak accident. They were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Alan April 28, 2014 (10:48 am)

  I had been following this daily, anxiously watching for the next update. Then I was without much internet access, or time, for a few weeks and have just now read through the days that I missed.
  The coverage was excellent throughout. I didn’t envy the job that the jurors had. In the end, being a juror is a thankless job and there is nobody with a dog in this fight that is happy. I think that the jurors did their job and that the reporting here made it possible to see that they did.
  Thanks WSB!

  • WSB April 28, 2014 (11:03 am)

    Thanks, Alan. I am still working on a followup – the sentencing date still hasn’t been set, but a few post-trial motions are interesting, so sometime this week I’ll have something about them. – TR

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