3:48 PM: We promised an update if there were major developments in the Morgan Junction murder trial – and here’s one: After both sides concluded their questioning of defendant Lovett “Cid” Chambers, the defense rested its case at 3:30 this afternoon. That means both sides have now presented their versions of what happened the night Chambers shot and killed Travis Hood on January 21, 2012; the prosecution has declined the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence; so jury instructions will be prepared and presented, and lawyers for both sides will deliver their closing arguments. We’ve just had an indication there are some significant issues to debate regarding the jury instructions, so we can’t say for sure whether the closing arguments will happen tomorrow.

The trial began in early January with two months of motions and arguments involving just the lawyers and the judge, before the jury was chosen in mid-February and began hearing testimony after opening statements on February 19th. All our reports are linked in our most recent full-length update; our next one, covering today, will be published sometime late tonight/early tomorrow.

4:23 PM: Just worked out in a court session with the lawyers and Judge Theresa B. Doyle – the jury will come in at 11 tomorrow, so their instructions won’t be presented any earlier than that. Judge Doyle granted each side 2 hours for closing arguments, and there was general agreement those were highly unlikely to start before court resumes after lunch (1:30 pm), which in turn means that jury deliberations won’t begin any sooner than sometime Thursday.

WEDNESDAY MORNING NOTE: The next long-form story is running late but will be up before today’s proceedings begin, barring major breaking news.

10:49 AM: Police are investigating two reported street robberies reported in West Seattle last night, believed to be related. We have heard from the victim in one that happened in The Junction – he wants to be anonymous, but wrote:

I just wanted to let readers be aware that last night, at approximately 9:00 pm, I was assaulted and robbed. There was a group of teen/young adult men waiting at the (C Line, Alaska west of California) bus stop. They followed me down a few blocks [to 46th/Alaska] and once I was alone, they rushed me, punched me several times, and grabbed at my (Timbuk3 custom messenger) bag. Once they had the bag they ran off.

In retrospect, the group seemed very suspicious from the start, like they were just looking for targets. There were about 7-10 people in the group, and they split up so they could attack me from several sides at once. I just wanted the people of West Seattle to remember to stay aware of their environment and to be safe.

The victim had told us that police mentioned another street robbery last night in the Westwood Village area. So we asked Seattle Police about that. Det. Mark Jamieson said that one was reported around 11:30 pm near the Westwood QFC and led to police contacting a “group of possible suspects” and arresting one for robbery. He says the victim told police “a group of 6-8 males and females had approached him, asked what time it was, and then assaulted him and took his cell phone. Seattle Fire also responded to treat the victim’s cuts and abrasions. The injuries did not require any further medical treatment. The victim told officers that the suspects then fled. While officers were interviewing the victim, other officers located four suspects at 35th Avenue SW and SW Roxbury Street. The victim was able to positively idenitify one of the adult males in the group, as well as a juvenile female as being involved in his attack and robbery. Both suspects were arrested and taken to the precinct. … During the investigation, officers recovered items such as credit and debit cards near the scene of the robbery.” Those cards were linked to the Junction robbery, he says, adding that the juvenile female was questioned and then released to her family. The victim in the earlier robbery, by the way, said he didn’t need medical attention, but he’s bruised.

12:20 PM: A post about the robberies on SPD Blotter also mentions a third possible case the night before.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“The defense calls Lovett Chambers.”

After those words from attorney Ben Goldsmith, the highest-stakes witness of the 3-month-old murder trial – the defendant himself – crossed the courtroom Monday afternoon to testify.

The day’s other major witness was his wife Sara Chambers, who was on the stand all morning and at the start of the afternoon. But she wasn’t there when he fired the fatal shots at Travis Hood on January 21, 2012, so all she could provide was context and aftermath.

Goldsmith asked outright and immediately: “Why did you shoot him?”

“To save my life,” Chambers replied.

After that zero-to-sixty opening, Goldsmith backtracked to lead Chambers through the background of his Seattle life. He met his wife at Pike Place Market (where, she testified earlier, she has sold jewelry for more than 30 years). Shortly thereafter, he started his own construction company, and was licensed in Washington and Oregon. But while en route to a bid opening for an Oregon project, he said, he was hit by a truck, breaking his back, leading to two surgeries. He decided to switch businesses and went back to school for computer-related degrees from local colleges.

They moved to West Seattle from Leschi in 1993, after buying their house (built in the 1940s, Sara Chambers had testified earlier). Chambers explained that one of its attractions was that it “sits on a one-block street, not much traffic.”

Asked about the day of the shooting, his home office is where his story began. He had been on a conference call that went so well, he was “elated” afterward: “I was happy because I got this contract … that was going to go on for possibly a couple years so we’d be ensured income.” He called his wife to tell her.

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