A year ago a fight in a bar in St Louis ended with one man dead. The shooter is claiming self defense under Missouri’s Stand Your Ground Law. The trial started this week and the details are starting to come out. The defendant is represented by one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the area. I don’t think Scott Rosenblum would try this defense if he didn’t think he could sell it to the jury.
Right now it’s the prosecution’s turn and it doesn’t look good for the defendant.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the defense counters this narrative.
Right now it’s the prosecution’s turn and it doesn’t look good for the defendant.
A barroom spat about a dog ended in gunfire at Show-Me's in Florissant. But was it murder?
- By Joel Currier St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- 1 hr ago
Police officers guard the scene on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, outside of the Show-Me Sports Bar & Grill in Florissant after two people were shot inside the establishment. Photo by J.B. Forbes, [email protected]
A regular bar patron (foreground) talks with one of the bar's managers (both declined to give their names) on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, outside of the Show-Me Sports Bar & Grill in Florissant. The bar patron said the shooting took place where he normally sits in the establishment. Photo by J.B. Forbes, [email protected]
CLAYTON • Neal Myers shot Scott Beary twice — once to the heart — after a drunken barroom spat last year over the weight and ferocity of police dogs.
That much is undisputed, but who’s to blame for Beary’s death Feb. 7, 2018, at the Florissant Show-Me’s Sports Bar & Grill is what a St. Louis County jury will be asked to decide this week at Myers’ murder trial.
The case tests Missouri’s self-defense law, which says people may legally use deadly force if they reasonably believe it’s necessary to protect against death or serious injury, and hinges on who was the aggressor.
In opening statements Tuesday, a prosecutor said that after an afternoon of drinking at Show-Me’s, Myers murdered Beary because he was irritated by a protracted argument over the weight and toughness of German shepherds trained for police work.
“Neal Myers instigated confrontation while secretly gripping his firearm, endangering everyone in the bar,” assistant prosecutor Ryan Kemper told the jury. “It was an unjustified, unreasonable and unnecessary shooting.”
A defense lawyer countered that Myers “chose life” by defending himself against an enraged and intoxicated Beary, who “bum-rushed” Myers inside the bar.
Scott Beary, 43, of Winchester, was killed in a shooting at Show-Me’s Sports Bar & Grill in Florissant on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Beary was a husband and father of three who worked in emergency construction. Photo courtesy of Don Beary.
Myers “was attacked. For no reason. Attacked,” defense lawyer Scott Rosenblum told jurors. “This happened in a blink of an eye, and from (Myers’) perspective, he sees a 6-foot, 324-pound man rolling up his sleeves, taking off his hat, charging at him.”
Beary 43, was a construction worker, husband and father of three who lived in Winchester.
Myers, 55, who also worked in construction, is standing trial on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. He is also accused of shooting and wounding Beary’s friend in the encounter.
Surveillance cameras inside Show-Me’s captured the run-up to and the shooting itself on video, which was played for the jury Tuesday.
The shooting, about 3:45 p.m. that day, followed hours of drinking and a conversation among Beary, Myers and two other men about dogs. The discussion grew heated as Beary rejected a claim by one of the men that he owned and trained a German shepherd that was at least 290 pounds. The conversation continued for more than 20 minutes, even after the man who claimed to have the dog left.
At some point, Myers moved his .38-caliber revolver from a holster to his pocket, prosecutors said.
As Beary and his friend were leaving, Beary patted Myers’ shoulder and told him, “No hard feelings,” Kemper told jurors.
“Whatever danger Neal Myers perceived was literally walking out the bar,” Kemper said.
Myers then responded as Beary walked toward the door by saying “(expletive) you, fat ass. Keep walking, you fat ass. You smell like pork,” while “secretly gripping” the gun in his pocket, Kemper said.
Beary turned around, rolled up his sleeves and charged at Myers and tried to hit him, prompting Myers to shoot several times, lawyers on both sides said.
Myers fired several shots. One hit the ceiling. Another struck Beary’s friend, Ryan Jacobsmeyer of Troy, Mo., in the arm. Beary was shot in the heart and the side. Jacobsmeyer testified Tuesday that as pulled Beary into his lap in an attempt to stop Beary’s bleeding, “he looked up at me and said one time, ‘This is it.’”
After the shooting, Myers announced to the bar that he was provoked and shot the men in self-defense. He set the gun down on a stainless steel cooler and waited for police to arrive.
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It’s going to be interesting to see how the defense counters this narrative.
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