Hours before Terrance Roberts shot a young gangster before a peace rally, the two had argued under a gazebo over whether the anti-gang activist was a snitch.
Words had been exchanged throughout the day as Roberts prepared for the rally. And Roberts said he had found a knife along with a threatening note on a half-eaten rotisserie chicken.
Roberts finally told Hasan Jones and other Blood gang members to leave the property, Roberts testified Tuesday during his .
“I said, ‘Brother, can I speak to you?’ He just got up and went off on me,” Roberts said. “It upset me I have to admit. It also made me afraid that those guys were going to have a confrontation with me.”
Ever since the shooting on Sept. 20, 2013, Roberts has insisted he shot Jones in self defense. And that’s the story he told the jury.
Jones, now 24, was paralyzed by the bullets, but he has refused to testify on behalf of the prosecution. He is being held in the Arapahoe County Detention Center on a charge of .
Tuesday began, however, with the dismissal of a juror, who had used an alias and had failed to reveal a criminal record. He also was Facebook friends with Roberts and had participated in comments about the shooting, said Alma Staub of the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
The defense also spent time Tuesday trying to convince the jury that Roberts truly was in danger. The Rev. Leon Kelly, who has worked with Denver gangs for 30 years, testified about gang culture and the risks associated with anti-gang activism, including Roberts’ work in the middle of Bloods territory in .
Kelly said he, too, has been labeled a snitch over the years.
“It’s taboo in the criminal world,” Kelly said. “A snitch is a title you don’t want to have. If you are, you have to be dealt with.”
Tension had been building for a couple of years between Roberts and the Bloods gang. It reached a head after an episode of National Geographic’s “Drugs Inc.,” portrayed the neighborhood and the Bloods in bad light.
It had aired just days before the rally was to be held on basketball courts in Holly Square. Jones had been interviewed by producers but had not made the cut, Roberts said. He knew Jones was disappointed but was not aware of how angry he had become until the confrontation at the gazebo.
Roberts described the scene as Jones rode to the basketball courts on a bicycle as Roberts, a disc jockey and a cook were setting up for the rally. He used hard language and gang lingo as he explained the threats toward him.
“I was startled,” Roberts said. “I was afraid. I started seeing Bloods coming from everywhere.”
Roberts went to his car to put on gloves he needed for setting up equipment. He also grabbed a pistol.
Roberts said he was surrounded by four or five men. They were gesturing as if they also had guns, he said.
“I thought I could be killed any second,” Roberts said. “I pulled my gun and I shot at him.”
At the time of the shooting, Roberts had told people at the scene that Jones had come at him with a knife. However, the prosecution presented DNA evidence that showed Roberts had handled the knife. Jones DNA was not on the knife.
On Tuesday, Roberts explained that he had kept the knife when he found it with the note and the chicken earlier in the day. After the shooting, he pulled it from his pocket and threw it at Jones as he lay bleeding.
When asked why he did that, Jones replied, “I don’t know.”
Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Henry Cooper hammered Roberts about discrepancies in his story. Cooper quoted from four news outlets that had different versions of Roberts story. He also read police reports taken the day of the shooting.
Cooper accused Roberts of changing his story about the knife after he learned of the DNA.
“Mr. Roberts, I understand what your story is today, but I’m talking about what you said that day,” Cooper said.
Cooper read Roberts’ claims of self defense and he read one article where Roberts said he was sorry and remorseful.
“I’m happy I’m alive,” Roberts said. “They weren’t able to hurt me or kill me. I’m not happy I had to shoot Hasan Jones. It’s not a high point of my life.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips
