Opening statements begin in capital murder trial of Shane James

[00:00:00] Rick Jones: This gentleman right here in the great suit, the defendant, Shane James, on Tuesday, December the 5th, 2023, approximately three years ago, he shot two cops, a cyclist, and killed six people in one day. On December the 5th, 2023, Tuesday morning, in the early morning hours, this defendant, Shane James, lived in San Antonio, Texas with his father, Shane James Sr., and his mother, Phyllis James. In the early morning hours, on that Tuesday morning, you'll hear a video in his own words. He says, I was upstairs watching YouTube videos, writing on the walls in anger. I went downstairs. My father, Shane James, was downstairs in the kitchen. I asked him, do you think I'm a loser? He made a joke, and they laughed, mother and father. In his own words, he went upstairs to his backpack, got his .45 caliber, his favorite gun that he had purchased, came downstairs, shot his dad in the head. He says, dad was fucking tough. He didn't go down. So I put another bullet in his head. Now the mother, Phyllis James, was running back screaming, fuck, Shane, what the hell? She runs into the bedroom. In his own words, he shoots through the door, goes in the room, shoots his mother a couple of times. He said blood was everywhere. She was yelling. I didn't want to see us suffer, so I put two more bullets in her head. He goes outside, gets a blue Nissan Versa, and you'll see the Versa around 7:20 a.m. on the ring video. In his own words, he goes to the front of the neighborhood waiting for the police, who he says never showed up. About 20 minutes later, he goes back to the house. He says, it's a bloody mess. He steps over his mom's dead body, reaches in her purse, steals her money, puts it in his pocket. Says, I don't want my little brother to come in and find this bloody mess. So he gets both bodies, and he drags them to the bathroom of the master bedroom where they lived, where they slept, and stacked the bodies up in there. In his words, it was the smallest room in the house. In his own words, he then says, I go upstairs, get my backpack, I get my shelves, extra shelves, I get four magazines. He comes downstairs, stops and put water in the dog's bowl. Goes back outside, gets in that blue Nissan verse. And you'll see this verse about 7:40 a.m. on the ring camera. And in his own words, he says, I headed north. Austin is north of San Antonio. And that's why we're here today. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Rick Jones. Along with my colleagues, Mr. Gonzalez there, who you met in the jury selection, and Ms. Austin. We intend to put approximately 35 witnesses or so in this chair and give you this evidence the judge talked about that you did to judge those facts from that I just told you. Now, through those 35 witnesses, we are going to explain to you and show you five encounters with this defendant on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023 after he killed his parents in San Antonio and headed north. Now, that was about 7:40 in the morning. You'll see them in the ring video. You'll see that blue Nissan burst. It was around 7:40 a.m. around 10:40 a.m. in the morning at Northeast Early College High School. If some of y'all have been around a long time, it used to be called Reagan High School. It's on Cameron Road and 290, close to the major intersection of Highway 35 and 290. At Northeast High School, you'll see the ring video. You'll see this blue Nissan burst that left San Antonio heading north. So now we know he's north in Austin. Now, let's talk about his first encounter in Austin, 10:40 a.m. You'll hear from Officer Barnes. He's a 30-year also independent school district police officer. He's a sergeant. He makes his rounds through the school. That particular morning, one officer was out. There was only one officer at the school. So Val Barnes decided that when he visited that school, he would stop and get breakfast for the other officer. You'll see Officer Barnes drive up in his cruiser with Austin AISD police and big bold letters on the side of that car. You'll see him turn in to the driveway to the front of the school. And you'll see Officer Wooden get it behind him. He had been making his rounds at the school. They pull up to right in front of the school. Officer Barnes hands him his breakfast. They exchange pleasances. Officer Barnes does a U-turn. And as he's exiting the school, he sees this defendant on the corner. On his left side of his body. He sees him. And he'll tell you, he says, "That's strange. It's not astute. I don't recognize it. Why is he standing on the corner? Maybe it's a parent. I'm not sure. He's just standing there." As he turned the corner, this defendant pulls his shirt up, shows the gun, and takes it out. Officer Barnes will tell you, "I floored it." He'll tell you, "I went over speed bumps and didn't even feel it." This defendant walked beside Officer Barnes, unloaded about six shots. Now, I want to note some other evidence you'll see that's relevant to this first encounter. You'll see a video with this defendant, interacting with the Bexar County Sheriff's Officer. Question, back and forth, back and forth. They ask him a question, he answers. They ask him a question, he answers. They ask him a question, he answers. They ask him a question, he answers. But at some point, he stops. He says, "I have something to say." You got an officer in front of him, interviewing him. Off to the side, write it down. He says, "Tell my family, write this down." My mom told me, "Shame, do not get arrested." On this video, you'll see this defendant pass right by these students and go right to that police car. You'll see pictures of that police car, the windshield. Officer Barnes will testify to you that those bullets, the windshield, are head high, and he thought they were kill shots. Now, Officer Barnes is shot inside of the car. He drives to Nelson Field, the football field about 300 yards adjacent to the front of the building. He will tell you he's a 22-year retired Army veteran. He has training. He was checking himself out, had blood on the side of his face, thought he was hit, checked his neck. And then he realized he was shot in the hip. He'll tell you he had the wherewithal to drive himself about 100 yards or so to the EMS station. When he gets to the station, he'll tell you a captain was there, but the truck was gone, and he said, "I need a tourniquet." He'll tell you, "For the most part, I didn't panic, but I had a tourniquet in my own court. I didn't realize it." But he will also tell you that when he was speeding away, he got on the radio and said, "I'm hitting, I'm hitting, I'm hitting." And by the time he gets to the EMS station, another AISD cop who was at LBJ High School, a short distance away, showed up and had a tourniquet in his car. They put the tourniquet on, and he said, "Five minutes or so later, EMS came, a bunch of cops." He said, "Once everybody got there, I was in good hands. I took a deep breath. I'm thankful for my life." That's encounter number one. In encounter number one, you'll see that blue Nissan verse drop to the school, and it's being soft. Now, we're at 10:40 in the morning. You see that blue Nissan verse at 7:40, "Leave the parents' house." 10:40, about 10:43 on the ring camera, you'll see it put away from northeast Oregon High School. Now, we're still on December 5th, 2023 Tuesday morning. At about 11:50 in the morning, I'm going to tell you through witnesses about our second encounter with this defendant, Shane James, here in Austin, Texas. Now, at the second encounter, about an hour later, we're at William Cannon and Ike's 35. So, here's the shopping center there, Gaddy's Pizza, KFC, Whataburge. There's a big Academy store right there. This defendant ditches that blue Nissan Versa at the Academy on the side of the building, not the front. A couple blocks away, there's a neighborhood of Shadywood. So, our second encounter, we're about an hour past the high school. We're in the 7300 block of Shadywood Drive. You'll see Ring video footage from the Rahman family, Sabrina Rahman, one of the people that was killed. Now, I want you to picture this. This is the house. They're looking at the street, Shadywood. Emmanuel Poppa, you'll see him walking out. Toward the sidewalk, he'd make a right to go to his car. Just parked on the street. Now, mind you, you'll also get testimony that the Rahman family moved into this house on December the 4th. And this was their first morning waking up in a new house. One overnight, first morning. And Emmanuel Poppa, P-O-P-B-A, was the handyman that did some work for him. And he was walking back to his car. In that same video, you'll see Sabrina Rahman walking out with a phone, pushing a baby carriage. She turns left. She's going for a walk. And Emmanuel's going back to his car. The house is behind us. You're facing the house looking out. Across the street, you'll see this defendant on the sidewalk, walking with a water bottle in the same direction that Emmanuel's traveling. There was an eyewitness a few doors down. He saw this defendant walk up to the passenger side of Emmanuel's car and just unload. Drives around to the driver's side, unloads two more times, two headshots to this side, the driver's side. Gets him out the car, takes off. Emmanuel, Sabrina, he takes off this direction, where Sabrina's walking the baby. The carriage and the cell phone. Sabrina runs up to an adjoining neighbor's house. Defendant walks up right there at the door, shoots her in the head. Baby started crying, wailed it. He jumps back in the car. About this time, they cross the street. There's a midwagoner named gentlemen. Visiting a couple across the street. She walks out. Just in time. The seat is defended. In the second car. In the second encounter in Austin. Drive away. Speed away. In whole words. And she was looking at the passenger side of the car and she noticed a hole or a shatter in the windshield. Officer Folk. Officer Folk. [00:17:48] Speaker ?: Officer Folk. [00:17:50] Rick Jones: Is one of the first responders to arrive on the scene. He comes up. And on his body-worn camera. You'll hear Joan counting as she's giving life-saving deputies. But before that, Joan will testify to you that when she came out and saw him drive away, she didn't know what was going on. She'll say, I heard a baby crying. It was a strange cry. It wasn't a normal cry. She said she followed that crying, screaming baby until she figured out where that person was. She'll tell you she picked that screaming baby up. Took that baby across the street to the house she was visiting to give the baby to her assistant who came on that call with her. And she said, I left that crying baby, went across the street. And that's when she started performing CPR on Sabrina. And you'll hear 74, 75, 76. So she did 76 text impressions before the first responder took over the officer. Officer Folk will tell you that he gave CPR until EMS arrived. EMS found slight signs of life. So they continued to treat her. They put her in the transportation. They treated her in the transportation. And ultimately, she was in the hospital and pronounced dead. Meanwhile, Emmanuel's laying down in the street. And Joan will tell you that she'd go out there to attempt CPR, but it's too late. He's pronounced dead at the scene. That's our second encounter with this defendant once he got north to Austin, Texas. And we're around noon time. Now I want to tell you about the third encounter. We move from Northeast High School to William County in 35. The third encounter is near Mopac and Slaughter in the Circle C area. In that area, there's a green belt with a hiking bike trail. And some neighborhoods that back up to the trail. And one street that backs up there is called Austral Loop. It's a loop, a circle. It backs up to the green belt. Now, adjacent to that neighborhood is an area, a shopping area called Escarkman or something like that. There's a Bank of America. There's an HEB there. This defendant now ditches Emanuel's car that he stole in the parking lot by the HEB Bank of America, which APD subsequently found that vehicle there. So now we ditched two cars. [00:21:31] Speaker ?: So now we ditched two cars. [00:21:33] Rick Jones: We've seen them two times in Austin. And now we're down to our third encounter with this defendant. There's a cyclist, Mr. Cliff, just getting ready to take a ride. He decided to take a warm-up lap. While taking a warm-up lap, he hears a sound. I'm not sure if it's a firecracker or whatever. When he looks around, he sees a defendant, in his words, messing with a gun, chasing him, shooting at him. Mr. Cliff will tell you he rolled off fast, trying to zigzag to avoid being hit. But he was hit, in the arm. The bullet went through and through. He was treated by EMS, talked to by APD. And once they got a tourniquet on and got him stabilized, he was able to go back to the scene and show the officers exactly where he was when he was hit. And point out the exact location where he saw the defendant. Now the third encounter, we had about 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday. It's been four or five hours past since the previous encounter. At this point, Austin Police Department are starting to put things together. You'll hear that the bullets has a stamp on the head, a type of bullet, 9 mm .45. There are 45 mm cases that they've located at Northeast High School at 10:40. At 11:55, at Shadywood, there are 45 mm cartridge heads. And now, at the Greenbelt, around Slaughter and Mopat, there are 45 mm casings, head stamps. So the cops are back in, this may be the same person. They're not sure yet if they're starting to put it together after the three encounters in Austin. Now, the fourth encounter is Ostril Loop bags up that Greenbelt. The fourth encounter is about 15 minutes after the shooting of Mr. Cook disciples. APD will tell you, they think that it might be the same person. They got a search party out, and they got a chopper hovering above. They got a chopper hovering above, making that noise. Now, on Ostril Loop that backs up that Greenbelt, lives the Short family. They have a fence in the backyard that's about this high, not hard to get over. Jeff Short was the father. He was not home. His wife was Catherine Short. She was home. A daughter in her 30s, Lauren Short, and she were home. Mr. Short's going to get up here and tell you what he saw on the ring on his phone. He got an alert and he said, "Why?" So, about 15 minutes after he shot the person in the Greenbelt, you'll see the defendant kick the Short's door in and you'll see wood flying on the ring camera. About 15 minutes after his chopper's in his hair looking for him. Now, Mr. Shuff will tell you that he called 911 on about 6:50. He'll also tell you that he wasn't quite aware at first. He was an hour late. So, he was thinking it was in real time. But he'll tell you that everything he saw had happened an hour earlier. So, about 5:50 right after he left the Greenbelt, they was looking for him with the chopper. He called 911 and said, "Someone kicked my door in and I think they're still there. I can't reach my wife. I can't reach my daughter. I saw my wife go out the front door like this and come back in." He's an attaining. He thinks he's in real time. Not knowing at that particular night that he was an hour late. So, the defendant had been in the house for an hour. Now, when you call APD, this is the house. There's a driveway or a detached garage. You'll see Officer Strober walking with a light on his phone. As he passes a window in the study, you'll see a silhouette of the defendant standing in the window looking at the window. As Officer Strober is going down toward the back gate. Mr. Schropp will tell you that he saw the defendant. Officer Strober is going this way. He must have come outside because he was in the house when the cop passed by the window. He will tell you that he saw the defendant. Walk up the fence. Officer Strober bent down. Reach in his back. When Officer Strober comes to the case, lit him up. Shot the police officer. In a panic, Officer Strober just opened up the fire and ran and said, "I'm hit. I'm hit. I'm hit." I'm in San Antonio. Two on Shady Road. Now we've got two more people. Catherine and Lauren Schropp. After additional first responders come, they clear the house, make sure it's still safe. They go in. Catherine Schropp is shot here through the chest cavity. Lauren Schropp is shot in the back of the head. And you find her in the study laying face down naked. Tile overhead. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. Now you've got six bodies in one day. Two cops shot and one cyclist. Now, that's our fourth encounter with. Just defended in one day. Apparently, having been in the house an hour, he found the shark's car key. They had an Acura parked in the detached garage. While the officer was retreated, and you'll see him in body-worn camera, hiding behind a car, trying to give a gun, trying to give aid to the young man that was shot, Officer Stroudman. This defendant steals the shark's Acura automobile, comes out of the garage, and takes off high speed. The officer will tell you that. The officer will tell you that. Now, our actual loop is a loop. So the officer's there, talking on the camera, I mean on the microphone, sharing information. Apparently, the defendant missed the exit, and came back around the loop again, before he could figure out how to get out of the loop. That's our fourth encounter, with this defendant in Austin, after he hits an arc, after killing both his dudes. I'm going to tell you about the fifth encounter, with this defendant. A cop sees the car speeding by. He jumps in behind it. He's in hot pursuit. On the officer's DMAF camera, in his car, you'll see him chasing the defendant at speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour. Long chase. Down moped, down 45. You'll see the defendant, in our fifth encounter, crash out with a Tesla. Hit the Tesla, crashes out. APD officers are swarming. On the officer's body-warned camera, you'll see this defendant, crash that car, open that accurate car door, jump out, put his hands up. And you'll hear the officers yelling, put your hands up, get down. But you'll see that camera, their hands are all over the other. This is encounter number five. You'll see them asking questions like name, address, date of births, stuff like that. And because of the crash, you'll see a video of the EMS performing, making sure he's okay. Asked him the name, date of births. Are you hurt? Are you injured? Are you feeling any pain? Do you see any delusions? No. [00:33:04] Speaker ?: No. [00:33:07] Rick Jones: Close in time, after he just killed the shark. This is at an EMS station, which is about less than a mile from the crash. They just went to the EMS station to check him out here. Now, a couple of hours after this, you'll see Officer Spittler interact with him at the APD station briefly. And on December 19th, approximately 14 days later. You'll see this interview with the Bayer County Sheriff's Office about killing his parents. You'll be able to see him with your own eyes interacting with the police 14 days after this happened. Now, when he jumped out that car and put his hands up, the officer said, "Did you have a weapon?" They recovered the .45 that he said was his favorite gun. Had no more bullets. [00:34:27] Speaker ?: Out. [00:34:31] Rick Jones: Searched the car, they found the extra magazines. Empty. Got no more bullets. Okay? And after we put all those witnesses on, we're going to put on expert testimony. This witness stand, she's going to get up here and tell you. Now, your task is not about all these things I've told you. Your task here today is to decide if this defendant murdered Sabrina Rahman, Emmanuel Popper, Catherine Sharp, and Lauren Sharp. That's your limited task today. Other stuff is just stuff we're going to bring you. Once we bring you all of that, an expert witness is going to get up there and tell you that when this defendant, Shane James, killed those four people, he was saying at the time, he knew it wasn't legal. And he knew that what he was doing or what he did was wrong. And after we do that, me and my colleagues are going to get up here at the end and we're going to ask each and every one of you to find this defendant, Shane James, guilty of capital murder. The kid of those four people in Austin, Texas, when he headed north after he killed his two parents and San Antonio. Thank you. Thank you. [00:36:46] Speaker 2: Bear County Sheriff's Office. Debbie went down to search his home down in San Antonio. They discovered a maze of stuff. Things on the wall. Journals. Ramble. This is an illustration of his mind. We're not asking you to read it. Just look at it. Ramble. [00:37:25] Rick Jones: Our objective is showing actual deputies. [00:37:36] Speaker 2: There's nothing in that has been a bit of a jab at this point. Deputies, ceiling, on the walls, papers, everywhere. But rambling, delusions, things that just don't make any sense at all. My name is Michael Watson, along with Russ Hunt. We're here to help you understand Shane James. Diagnosed schizophrenic. Diagnosed hallucinations. Diagnosed to have delusions. That's unquestioned. That's not going to be at all the question. Their expert that the state reference, Dr. Maury Burroughs, she'll freely admit everything. [00:38:34] Speaker ?: Schizophrenic. [00:38:35] Speaker 2: That he has delusions. That he has hallucinations. All of us. That's not a question. He wasn't always a schizophrenic. You learned schizophrenia. If you don't already know. It's not something you're bored with. It's something. That symptoms. The onset of what happens to you is in your 20s. Possibly late teens. All the way into your 30s. So Shane James. Grew up in a household. San Antonio. With St. Mary's University in San Antonio. Graduated with a degree in philosophy. While at St. Mary's he was joined the ROTC. And upon completion. Commissioned to be a first lieutenant in the army. Completed ranger school. Intelligence. Discipline. Through all of that. He was able to mask the slow onset of symptoms. And you'll be able to see those symptoms. Gradually increase. Gradually come into his life. In his mind he's fighting these demons. But you'll hear these laser masters. These laser masters that exert control over him. That fight him. And it's a battle in his mind of good and evil. He's laser masters controlling his entire world. Controlling his thoughts. Giving him command hallucinations. Telling him what to do. He's trying to bow these in his head. He's trying to bow these in his head. In 2019. He goes into an emergency detention. 2021. A second emergency detention. 2022. A third emergency detention. But he doesn't believe he's schizophrenic. He doesn't believe he has these issues. And so he's not able to sustain his medications. He's not able to sustain a job. He's not able to sustain housing. And this battle on his head culminates on December 5th, 2023. These laser masters. Take control. And he's battling them. You'll hear from Dr. McClendon. Who evaluated him. And spoke with him. Ten times. Eleven times. She'll testify about the. His illusions are some of the most. Intense. World encompassing that she's ever seen. These laser masters. These illusions that he has. Just overtake his mind. He tries to run from them. He tries to take off from Austin. But if they're in his mind. Wherever he goes. They go. He's driving up 35. The lights are speaking to him. The exit signs are speaking to him. Through these laser masters. These delusions. These convoluted. Ideas in his mind. He doesn't. He's lost. The ability. To control them. You may hear. From the doctors. Dr. Morgan Burns. You can tell. [00:42:51] Speaker ?: You can tell. [00:42:51] Speaker 2: He understands. Because. He was fleeing the officers. He was fleeing them. He was. Didn't want to be found by them. Of course. That's true. Of course. He didn't want to be found by them. [00:43:07] Speaker ?: In his world. In his world. In his world. In his world. If he. [00:43:10] Speaker 2: They're controlled. By the laser masters. As a. Fellow druid. Stated in what I. Jury selection. Self preservation. He doesn't want. To be taken. And killed. By the laser masters. The schizophrenia. Has just. Evaded. Invaded. It's so. Evased. Invased. In his mind. He is no longer. In control. He doesn't know. What is right. He doesn't know. What is wrong. Due to these delusions. The delusions. Being the laser masters. Controlling him. And telling him. What's going on. What to do. The question isn't. Whether on this date. He had a severe mental illness. That's not a question. Dr. McClendon. The defense expert. Will say that. Dr. Maureen Burroughs. State's expert. Will say this. The history. Of his diagnosis. Showed that. No sign. Of malingering. He wasn't fading. It's a. Real issue. With him. Schizophrenia. Is a severe. Mental health issue. You heard it. From. Multiple people. There. In Bored Iron. About how. It has affected. People's. Lives directly. And they've seen it. It is a severe. Mental health issue. That's not the question. The question is. Were those illusions. Those hallucinations. Auditorial. Command hallucinations. Telling him. What to do. Were they so pervasive. Were they so. Controlling of him. That he couldn't tell. [00:45:26] Speaker ?: That he couldn't tell. [00:45:26] Speaker 2: Right from wrong. Shane James. Grew up in a. Household. Went to. St. Mary's. Joined the army. Discharged from the army. And the symptoms. Started showing themselves. In a gradual. Process. Through the emergency. Contention in 2019. 2021. 2023. And even in. August. Of 2023. A few months. or prior. She's that. Even calls. SAP. San Antonio. Police Department. Talking about. A mental health issue. A mental health problem. But for whatever reason. State law. Lack of funding. I don't know. He wasn't. Taken to a mental health hospital. For a long term stay. Where he needed to be. These emergency detentions. Are short. Seven to ten days. And that's it. They don't hold you longer than that. For whatever reason. State law. Funding. I don't know. [00:47:00] Speaker ?: But he is. [00:47:02] Speaker 2: Denial. Because he's. Controlled. Over these. Laser masters. And of course. He denies. Hallucinations. Of course. He denies. I'm seeing something. I'm hallucinating visually. I'm hallucinating auditorily. Because they help. It's real. It's as real for me. As his podium. To him. All. Everything he hears. Everything he sees. He has lost. All control. Due to those illusions. So you're going to hear. From the state. Everything that they talked about. And it's unbelievably tragic. And. To have you. What we're asking you to do. To sit here. To sit here. And watch. Videos. Listen to the testimony. It's unfair. And I'm sorry. That you have to be here. And it's tough. And what happened. It's a horrific. Horrific. Tragedy. That I can't express. In words enough. But what you're here to do today. Your time here. Is ultimately. Listen to. Dr. Burroughs. And Dr. McClendon. And make a decision. About whether or not. He was saved. At that time. Just as the state. That stated. They're going to come back here. We're going to come back here. We're going to review. The doctor's. Testimony. Both of them. Doctor. We're going to review. Dr. McClendon's. Ten. Visits. Over years. With him. Her evaluations. But he is sick. And that his delusions. Are so pervasive. To a degree. She's never seen this before. Compare that to Dr. Burroughs. She met with him. A couple times. In 2026. She comes to a different collusion. She does agree that he is sick. Schizophrenic. He suffers delusions. He suffers hallucinations. Command hallucinations. Meaning hallucinations to tell you to do something. But McClendon's testimony. On the records. She could see. A line. Of him. Increasing. In symptoms. Increasing. In issues. Over the years. Until all pulmonates. On December 5th. 2023. That these laser masters. Were sending lights. Or sending sounds. Or sending illicit commands. That he couldn't control. That he did not. Understand. What was right. And what was wrong. He understood. Were the laser masters. Based on that. Based on that understanding. Will come back. And find that he was insane. At the time. Of the offense. Thank you.