Jurors resume deliberations Friday in the first-degree murder trial of Terry L. Gaines, who is accused of killing a man following a rap concert in Colorado Springs.

Gaines, 24, is accused of shooting to death Michael Allen Davis, 27, in the parking lot outside Mr. Biggs Event Center on April 3, 2009, after a concert by rapper E-40.

Gaines also is charged with vehicular eluding for leading police on a high speed chase along Interstate 25 following the shooting. Colorado State troopers eventually stopped him just north of Pueblo with tire-flattening Stop Strips.

In closing arguments, Gaines’ defense attorney, Bill Griffin, said his client had no intention of killing anyone that night. But when Davis lurched as if to grab something inside a car, Gaines fired in self-defense, the attorney said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana K. May called the shooting “a cold-blooded violent murder.” She questioned why Gaines told no one about his claim of self-defense until the case came to trial. She also stressed that Gaines shot Davis nine times.

The 8-man, 4-woman jury deliberated five hours Thursday after hearing five days of testimony.

Stay with gazettedev.gazette.com for the verdict.

Nozolino back in court

A hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. Friday for Bruce J. Nozolino, the Colorado Springs anti-tax activist accused of killing one man and trying to kill a judge and a lawyer.

At Nozolino’s last hearing, Feb. 11, Arapahoe County Chief Judge William Sylvester set his bond at $10 million, the highest in recent memory in the 4th Judicial District. 

Sylvester is presiding over the case because Nozolino is accused of the attempted murder of 4th Judicial District Judge Gilbert Martinez.

In July, an El Paso County grand jury returned a 31-count indictment against Nozolino, including first-degree murder charges in the Nov. 30, 2008, shooting of a man who had been shoveling snow outside his Stetson Hills home.

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