Rambo case goes to jury

COEUR d’ALENE — The case of the accused Fourth of July shooter is in the hands of a jury.

The prosecution and defense presented final arguments to a 12-person jury on Wednesday.

Tyler Rambo, 20, is charged with second-degree attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer.

Murder is an unlawful killing with malice aforethought resulting in the death of a human being, according to Idaho law. Idaho code defines second-degree murder as any murder that is not perpetrated by lying in wait, torture, committed during a robbery or certain other crimes or by an inmate.

Both sides agreed that the shooting at City Park on July 4, 2019, didn’t happen in a vacuum.

The events that led up to the incident began about a week earlier, when Tyler Rambo met Jawaun Anderson at a house party on the north side of Spokane.

Prosecutors said Rambo, who was 18 at the time, attempted to shoot Anderson during a fight in City Park and pointed a gun at another person before running from police.

Officers accused Rambo of firing at them before they shot him 14 times.

Rambo lost both legs as a result of the shooting.

The night they met, about a week before the shooting, Rambo and Anderson reportedly had a physical fight. Anderson said he won.

“(Rambo) got the crap beat out of him a week prior, in front of his friends,” prosecutor Molly Nivison said Wednesday. “He was fuming mad … He wanted revenge.”

That was why Rambo brought a loaded gun and extra ammunition with him when he went to downtown Coeur d’Alene with his family, she said.

Defense attorney Rick Baughman said Rambo carried the gun as a precaution, like many gun owners who carry concealed weapons, not because he intended to harm anyone.

Rambo planned to spend the day with his family, Baughman said, particularly his little sister, Deja, who was 7 years old at the time.

The family split up after a while, Rambo said when he took the stand this week. His mom and stepdad went home, while Deja and Rambo stayed together.

Deja said that when her legs got tired, she sat on her brother’s shoulders.

“He wanted to hang out with Deja … and he did, all day long,” Baughman said. “How many 18-year-olds do that?”

Rambo said an acquaintance he knew only through Facebook shoved him while Deja was on his shoulders, causing them both to fall.

After their mom picked Deja up, Rambo stayed behind to look for the person who’d pushed him.

That was when he came across Anderson, near Independence Point. Anderson was reportedly with a group, including Jazmin Smith, his girlfriend at the time.

Nivison maintained that Rambo was looking for a fight when the pair met. He threw the first punch, she said.

“Do you think he would have initiated that fight if he wasn’t planning on using that revolver?” Nivison said.

After he punched Anderson, Rambo said, someone hit him in the face, and someone else hit the back of his knee, causing him to fall.

Curled up on the ground, Rambo testified that he feared for his life. Punches and kicks landed all over his body, and his head was bouncing off the concrete.

Six witnesses testified this week that they saw multiple people kicking and punching Rambo while he was on the ground. Prosecutors said the fight was only between Rambo and Anderson.

Rambo said he pulled out his gun and fired into the air in order to stop the attack.

Anderson testified last week that he was kneeling above Rambo when the gun appeared. He said Rambo pointed the gun at his face and fired, but he hit the barrel in time to redirect the bullet.

Nothing that happened July 4 was an accident, Nivison said.

“(Rambo) was calculating and he was intentional in his choice to try to kill (Anderson) by shooting at his head,” she said.

Prosecutors said Rambo also pointed the gun at Jazmin Smith.

Smith said in court last week that she had been drinking throughout the day and was “tipsy” during the altercation. Private investigator Chris Sullivan testified Tuesday that Smith told him she was so drunk that her friends had to wake her up after the fireworks.

“Was she drunk? Maybe,” Nivison said. “That’s not relevant.”

Prosecutors said that despite Smith’s intoxication, she remembered Rambo pointing a gun at her. Smith said in court that she was unsure if the gun went off once or twice.

No other witnesses said they saw the gun pointed at Anderson or Smith. Several testified that they saw the gun pointed in the air when it went off, just once.

After the fistfight, Rambo and Anderson struggled over the gun before Rambo bolted from the scene, revolver in hand. Prosecutors said he ran from police, then refused to comply with commands to get on the ground and drop the gun.

Rambo told the court this week that he put his hands in the air when Coeur d’Alene police formed a semicircle around him near the basketball courts.

But the hammer was pulled back during the struggle with Anderson, he said, and he was afraid the gun would discharge if he dropped it.

He was attempting to disengage the hammer with one hand when a Taser shocked him, he said. He fell backward, he said, and his thumb slipped off the hammer, causing the gun to fire.

Nivison said Rambo held onto the gun in order to frighten officers and control the situation.

“That gun is what let him feel invincible and be in control and instill fear,” she said.

Body camera footage showed that an officer shocked Rambo with a Taser, Rambo’s gun went off and police returned fire — all within the span of two seconds.

The defense said evidence doesn’t show that Rambo intended to threaten officers — a necessary component to find him guilty of aggravated assault.

“A damn kid, 18 years old, in a horrific situation,” Baughman said of Rambo. “He had just gotten pummeled. He pulled a gun to try to save his own life.”

Rambo’s hands were in the air when he faced police, Baughman said, and the gun was pointed skyward.

Rambo pleaded not guilty to all charges.