Reginald Carter is escorted to the Warren County Courthouse by Warren County Deputies Raymond Ellis, left, and Richard Martin.(The Vicksburg PostMELANIE DUNCAN)

[03/27/02]Jurors rejected murder and self-defense arguments and convicted a Vicksburg man of manslaughter Tuesday to end a two-day trial.

Reginald Wayne Carter, 23, 1717 Poplar St., was returned to jail to await sentencing for shooting and killing 32-year-old James Turner last April 18. The gunfire took place outside a Mundy Street home where some people were having a party before Carter and others arrived.

Carter had been indicted for murder by grand jurors in January and faced a possible life sentence.

Circuit Judge Frank Vollor read the verdict about 5:20 p.m., after jurors deliberated about two hours and 40 minutes. Vollor will sentence Carter in about two weeks. The maximum is 20 years.

Defense attorney Clarence Whitaker said he plans to appeal the conviction but not before the sentencing hearing.

Prosecutor Johnny Price argued the killing was deliberate and the defendant’s testimony included that he took a loaded .38-caliber revolver to Mundy Street on the floor of a car driven by his brother.

But Whitaker argued that Carter shot and killed Turner in self-defense as Turner attacked Carter with the 10-inch, flat-head screwdriver shown to jurors and left on a table in their view since Monday afternoon.

Whitaker said Carter was trying to get back into the car in which he had arrived when Turner attacked and that Carter “had a right to stand his ground.”

“There is no question that this is a deadly weapon in the hands of at least a 6-foot, 200-pound, muscular guy who’s under the influence of alcohol,” Whitaker told the jury in his closing argument, referring to the screwdriver in Turner’s hand.

Price argued that the evidence showed Carter had too much time before firing to have perceived such danger from Turner.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Hayne testified that Turner was shot three times and died from the third wound, to the left side of his chest, which perforated one of his lungs and his heart. The first two bullet wounds to Turner were, in order, to the left wrist and to the outside of the left arm, Hayne said.

Questioned by Price, Hayne said the shot to Turner’s wrist was consistent with a defensive-reflex reaction of a victim attempting to protect his face, neck or chest. To a question from Whitaker, Hayne said Turner’s blood-alcohol content was slightly below the legal limit for driving.

Carter’s brother, Terren Carter, 20, testified he picked up Reginald and two women friends for a ride. One of the women in the car said she wanted to find a video game machine and end tables she thought were in the possession of a third woman.

The search for the items led to the Mundy Street residence about 7:30 p.m., Terren Carter said. The woman whose belongings were being sought got out of the car with Reginald Carter’s pistol, witnesses said. He took the gun away and she began to fight physically with a woman who was at the gathering. A second fight, involving Terren Carter and Turner, ensued.

Testimony on the events immediately before the shooting differed among witnesses.

“I was an innocent bystander,” Reginald Carter said. “I didn’t want to kill him. He made me do it, really. He was like two steps away from stabbing me. The screwdriver was going to hurt me. It was going to take my life.”

Price argued that the facts, including those testified to by the defendant that he ran from the scene and dumped the gun into bushes downtown, were not consistent with the self-defense defense.

“Self-defense? He just started firing,” Price said of the defendant. “Not one shot he just started unloading.”