Jurors see video of fatal shooting in murder trial

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Jurors in the murder trial of James Snider saw horrific video introduced as evidence in the case: video of the actual shooting.

Nowadays there’s almost always someone recording video, and in this case a bystander decided to record the confrontation between Snider and Jon Lee. And that video of the shooting was played for the jury.

It happened on 14th Street in Lake Charles on Sept. 24, 2020. Not even the defense disputes that Snider walked up to Lee standing in the street, and fired a single shot to his chest. Lee fell to the ground after being gravely wounded.

While the defense admits Snider shot Lee and Lee died, they say he believed he and maybe others were in danger of great bodily harm and therefore is not guilty of murder.

Police dash cam and body cam video shows when the first officer rolled up on the scene, Snider still had the .38 special in his hand. The officer screamed for Snider to drop the gun and he did.

Body cam video also showed emergency medical personnel trying to render aid to Lee, who died.

Snider is charged with murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. The defense admits Snider was previously convicted of manslaughter and should not have had a gun. So defense attorney King Alexander told jurors in opening statements, all they had to show was that Snider had the gun, which was plain in the video.

Snider pleaded not guilty of second-degree murder and not guilty by reason of insanity. That mean he says he didn’t commit murder and if he did, he was not capable of telling right from wrong.

Jurors also watched a video statement Snider gave after the shooting. It was hard to understand what he was saying but he had a grin on his face for much of the police interview.

The trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. Friday before Judge Mike Canaday.

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