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LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- A man testified Friday that he was the object of a sexual advance by Matthew Shepard in a tavern hours before the gay college student was pistol-whipped into a coma and left to die. ``It was really offensive to me,'' Michael St. Clair told jurors as the defense opened its case in Aaron McKinney's murder trial. ``It set off something inside. It made me angry.'' McKinney, 22, is charged with robbery, kidnapping and murder, and could be sentenced to death if convicted. His lawyers are trying to convince the jury that he snapped during a drunken, drug-induced rage after a sexual advance by Shepard triggered memories of a childhood homosexual assault. St. Clair was in the Fireside Lounge in Laramie on Oct. 6, 1998, the night Shepard met McKinney and Russell Henderson. He said Shepard approached, asked to sit with him and then made a sexual suggestion. Later, St. Clair said he watched as Shepard left with McKinney and Henderson. Prosecutors say the two lured Shepard out of the bar, took him to a remote area, and then robbed and beat him. Henderson, 22, pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping and is serving two life sentences. Before the defense testimony began, attorneys asked the judge to allow them to use the ``gay panic'' strategy, contending it is crucial for jurors to understand why the roofer beat Shepard to death. ``These life experiences may say how he reacted that evening,'' defense attorney Dion Custis said in a hearing after prosecutors rested their case. ``That is for a jury to decide, not the court.'' Prosecutor Cal Rerucha countered that such testimony would give others an excuse to kill people they don't like, such as minorities. ``You can't have a conspiracy of two people who go out and pretend to be homosexuals and commit a robbery and claim homosexual panic,'' he said. Judge Barton Voigt said he would rule on the issue Monday. The ``gay panic'' or ``homosexual panic'' defense is built on a theory that a person with latent homosexual tendencies will have an uncontrollable, violent reaction when propositioned by a homosexual. During four days of testimony, prosecutors drew a timeline of the events, culminating in the playing of McKinney's jailhouse confession. McKinney's former girlfriend, Kristen Price, told jurors McKinney and Henderson planned to pose as homosexuals and rob Shepard, and McKinney later acknowledged they had killed someone. Legal analyst Andrew Cohen, who has followed the case, said Rerucha presented a swift, compact prosecution, ending with McKinney in his own words. ``That's the most powerful evidence they have,'' he said.
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- A man testified he was angered by a sexual advance by gay college student Matthew Shepard inside the same bar that Shepard later met up with his alleged killers.
Michael St. Clair was the first defense witness called in the murder trial of Aaron McKinney. The defense opened its case Friday. McKinney, 22, is charged with robbery, kidnapping and murder, and could be sentenced to death if convicted.
His attorneys are trying to convince the jury McKinney is guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. They have argued that he snapped during a drunken, drug-induced rage after a sexual advance by Shepard triggered memories of a childhood homosexual assault.
St. Clair told jurors Shepard asked to sit with him inside the Fireside Lounge on Oct. 6, 1998, before making a sexual suggestion.
``It was really offensive to me,'' St. Clair said. ``It set off something inside. It made me angry.''
Shepard later met McKinney and Russell Henderson at the bar, where St. Clair said he saw the three leave together. Prosecutors say the two lured Shepard out of the bar, took him to a remote area where they robbed and beat him. He was left to die tied to a fence post.
Henderson, 22, is serving two life sentences after pleading guilty to murder and kidnapping.
Before the defense testimony began, attorneys asked the judge to allow them to use the ``gay panic'' strategy, contending it is crucial for jurors to understand why the roofer beat Shepard to death.
``These life experiences may say how he reacted that evening,'' defense attorney Dion Custis said in a hearing after prosecutors rested their case. ``That is for a jury to decide, not the court.''
Prosecutor Cal Rerucha countered that such testimony would give others an excuse to kill people they don't like, such as minorities.
``You can't have a conspiracy of two people who go out and pretend to be homosexuals and commit a robbery and claim homosexual panic,'' he said.
Judge Barton Voigt said he would rule on the issue Monday.
Earlier Friday, prosecutors rested their case against McKinney.
During four days of testimony, prosecutors drew a timeline of the events, culminating in the playing of McKinney's jailhouse confession, in which he described in detail how Shepard was beaten.
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