Jury Deliberates in Harbridge Trial

A Ventura County jury began deliberations Wednesday in the murder trial of a 27-year-old Simi Valley man accused of fatally shooting his next-door neighbor during a fight last year.

Christopher Harbridge is charged with murder with the special allegation of using a firearm. He has admitted shooting 30-year-old Ronald Rowe to death Dec. 5 but claims it was justified.

During a seven-day trial that started last week, defense attorney James Goldstein tried to convince the jury that Harbridge acted in self-defense after Rowe attacked him with pepper spray.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. James Ellison told jurors that Harbridge got his gun during an argument with Rowe, concealed it and shot his neighbor after luring him out of his Helene Street house.

Harbridge and Rowe, former classmates at Simi Valley High School, had a history of confrontations, witnesses testified during the trial.

The morning of Dec. 5, the two exchanged words in front of Rowe’s house and briefly chased each other through their residential neighborhood. At the urging of John Rowe, the victim’s father, the two went back inside their homes.

But a few minutes later, when Rowe saw Harbridge outside again, he darted out to confront him, Ellison told the jury.

He said Harbridge showed his gun and fired a warning shot across the property line, at which point Rowe responded: “What are you going to do, shoot me?” Harbridge then fired, hitting Rowe once in the chest.

Goldstein said Harbridge shot in self-defense because he feared for his life and suggested that his client was feeling the effects of the pepper spray when he fired the gun.