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.
