Both sides rest in drugstore shooting trial

BOISE (AP) - The prosecution and defense have rested in the trial of a Meridian man charged with shooting his wife's lover to death during an argument in a drug store parking lot.

Jurors hearing the first-degree murder trial against Robert Dean Hall, 42, were sent home late Tuesday morning. Closing arguments are set to begin this morning.

Prosecutors argued that Hall shot Emmett Corrigan, 30, in the heart and head on March 11, 2011, during a confrontation. Hall, who is left-handed, also suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his head but told investigators he did not remember what happened. He said his gun fell during a struggle with Corrigan.

Hall declined to testify Tuesday.

Prosecutors sought to portray Hall as a man who was angry that his wife was having an affair and who planned to confront her lover with a gun. The defense argues it was Corrigan who was angry that night, in part because he had taken steroids and amphetamines, and believed Hall had been beating his wife.

Meridian police said it appeared Hall tried to shoot himself in the head after shooting Corrigan, but caused only a superficial wound.

A defense expert raised the possibility that the bullet that hit Hall in the head continued on to hit Corrigan, but a prosecution witness argued the defense expert does not do autopsies and was wrong.

Hall's wife, Kandi, testified earlier that she did not see the shooting, but said that Corrigan pushed Hall before it happened. A police officer and a neighbor said in the hours after the shooting, Kandi Hall told them there had been no physical confrontation between the two men.

Jurors visited the site of the shooting last Friday and were shown surveillance video of Corrigan and the Halls arriving at the Walgreens in separate vehicles. The shooting, which happened on the side of the store, was not captured on video.

Corrigan's wife, Ashlee Birk, testified that she had no proof, but suspected an affair and confronted her husband the night he was shot.

She said Corrigan got angry when she told him that she had asked her brother and sister to pray for them and told her he could beat up her brother and "kill you all."

Witnesses testified Corrigan had steroids in his system and Birk also said she suspected her husband was using steroids and taking medication for attention deficit hyperactive disorder, which is a stimulant.

Birk said she tried to stop her husband from going to Walgreens that night.

Hannah Hall, 18, testified Tuesday that her dad was packing boxes the day of the shooting and said he was going to move out. She said she saw her mom's car at Walgreens on the night of the shooting and told her dad. She said he appeared sad, not angry.

Prosecutors argued Rob Hall went to Walgreens with a gun to confront Corrigan.

Hall's attorney showed jurors some texts from Emmett Corrigan's phone the night of the shooting in which he tells one of Kandi Hall's family members that he was about ready to go over and beat up Hall and wouldn't let him "lay a finger on her again."

Jurors will be allowed to consider lesser offenses if they don't feel the evidence supports a first-degree murder conviction.

The trial started on Oct. 10.