Trial Begins for Man Who Shot Neighbor

On a chilly December morning, 27-year-old Simi Valley resident Christopher Harbridge pulled a gun during a petty fight with his next-door neighbor over a broken porch light. He shot twice, killing 30-year-old Ronald Rowe.

Harbridge admits that much.

Whether the shooting was an act of murder or a justifiable homicide is the crucial issue now facing a Ventura County Superior Court jury.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Ellison told the panel during opening statements in the trial Wednesday that Harbridge got his gun during an argument on Rowe’s front lawn Dec. 5.

The two men, who had a history of confrontations, exchanged words, and one kicked the other, Ellison said. There was a series of short chases through their residential Simi Valley neighborhood. Then both men went back to their homes.

But a few minutes later, when Harbridge showed up outside Rowe’s house again, Rowe darted outside to confront him, Ellison told the jury.

Harbridge raised his gun and fired a warning shot across the property line, at which point Rowe responded: “What are you going to do, shoot me?”

“Christopher Harbridge then took this gun,” Ellison said, showing the jury the weapon, “leveled it . . . and fired from about 4 feet away, and it killed Ronald Rowe.”

Harbridge lured Rowe out of his house, and should be found guilty of murder, Ellison told the jury.

But in his opening remarks, defense attorney James Goldstein offered a different account. Although he acknowledged that his client shot Rowe, Goldstein said Harbridge feared for his life and fired in self-defense.

Harbridge tried repeatedly to get away from Rowe, who sprayed him with pepper spray during one of the chases, Goldstein said. Harbridge had been carrying a gun for some time, the attorney explained, because he was afraid of the older neighbor.

“He was living in constant fear,” Goldstein told the jury.

So when Rowe sprayed him with pepper spray that morning and went after him again as the fight continued, Goldstein said, Harbridge believed his life was in danger.

“Mr. Harbridge, fearing for his life . . . fired the shot that killed Ronald Rowe,” Goldstein said, telling the jury that the shooting was a justifiable homicide, not a murder.

During opening statements, which lasted about an hour, Rowe’s brothers and Harbridge’s parents listened from seats on opposite sides of the courtroom.

Harbridge, wearing a gray suit and a short haircut, sat between his two attorneys during the proceedings.

Wasting no time in moving ahead with the case, Ellison called his first two witnesses before noon.

Steve Johnson, a neighbor on Helene Street, testified about his conversation with Rowe that morning, which he said was interrupted when Harbridge came over to question Rowe about the porch light.

Johnson quickly left, explaining to the jury that he knew about the history of bickering between the two men. A while later, he heard gunshots.

Rowe’s father, John Rowe, also testified about the shooting, which he witnessed from his front yard.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.