May
19, 2001
By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer
In a second-round trial, a Cortez man was found guilty
of third-degree assault Thursday afternoon in county court.
Two-and-a-half months ago, a jury had failed to come to
a unanimous decision on the guilt of 26-year-old Brice Rogers, in the
absence of testimony from the alleged victim.
However, Thursday’s jury of four women and two men
heard from the victim, Willard Light, 36, of California, and returned
the guilty verdict in just over half an hour.
According to a police report, Rogers and Light were at
Koko’s Bar in Cortez at 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 23 of last year and
exchanged words in the bar. The argument led to an outside altercation,
allegedly with racial overtones.
During the scuffle, Light suffered facial injuries
including a bloodied nose, black eye, cut lip and head contusion, and
lost a chunk of hair, according to the report. Rogers suffered a cut
hand from breaking Light’s eyeglasses.
Rogers told police that Light had made a comment inside
the bar about "scalping" him and Rogers had responded by
calling Light "chief." Light is Native American and Rogers is
Caucasian.
Rogers said he and Light went outside and Light swung at
Rogers, missing him, and Rogers swung back, hitting Light once and
knocking him to the ground, according to the report.
Rogers did not testify at the trial.
Light told police, though, that he was
"coaxed" outside by Rogers and had not attempted to hit Rogers
at any point. He added that Rogers had kicked him in the ribs several
times while he was on the ground. Light also told the officer the night
of the incident that he might have made a comment about scalping but had
initially denied it.
At the trial, Light told the court that he had not
threatened to scalp Rogers and he had only told the officer that he
might have said that because he was delusional from his injuries.
"Even if I was intoxicated, I would never say
that," Light told the jury.
Anthony Valdez Jr., the DJ at Koko’s that night,
testified for the prosecution that he had walked outside immediately
following the fight and saw Rogers standing over Light. Valdez said he
also heard Rogers say, "I told you I was gonna make you bleed"
— a statement prosecutor Brian Rossiter said showed Rogers’ intent.
Rogers’ defense attorney, Kelly McCabe, called two
witnesses in an attempt to prove that Rogers had acted in self-defense
— the bartender and Rogers’ childhood friend Jerry Smith, who
claimed to have been the only witness to the fight.
The bartender testified that she had overheard Light
make a comment about scalping Rogers and Smith offered that he had seen
Light take the first swing from a window inside the bar. Neither witness
testified at the first trial and Smith did not tell his side of the
story to officers the night of the incident.
Rogers’ sentencing is set for July 31 at 1:30 p.m. A
third-degree assault conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 18
months in jail and $5,000 in fines.
In 1996, Rogers was also charged with third-degree
assault for an unrelated incident but entered a plea bargain resulting
in a deferred sentence in which he agreed to pay all court costs,
restitution and attend Level 2 alcohol classes. The case was dismissed
following successful completion of the plea stipulations.
