COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—An El Paso County jury resumes deliberations Wednesday in the case of a man accused of shooting another man in the head in an alley outside a Colorado Springs bar.
Twenty-two-year-old Steven Ray Gonzales is accused of reckless manslaughter in the May 2007 death of 24-year-old John Ortiz.
Jurors got the case Tuesday following a weeklong trial.
Gonzales’ attorneys have said from the beginning of the case that the shooting outside the Antique Billiards bar was a matter of self-defense. Prosecutors counter that Gonzales killed Ortiz because he could, not because it was necessary.
Gonzales was originally charged with second-degree murder, but prosecutors reduced the charge to reckless manslaughter.
Gonzales could face six years in prison if convicted.
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
