On June 26, 2022, John Paul Markowski was sitting in a lawn chair in the shallow water of the Sheckler Reservoir, enjoying a beer and relaxing. At some later point, Scott Echols, Jacqueline Green, their three children, and close friend Robby Heckman arrived at the reservoir for an afternoon of relaxing and water fun. Although Markowski and the Echols group did not know each other, for a brief time, the four adults visited, drank beer, and smoked a little marijuana together while the children played in the water. However, things took an unpleasant turn, resulting in Markowski being charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon, a Category B Felony with a potential penalty of 1-6 years in Nevada State Prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Just over a year later, on Monday, August 28, Markowski’s case was heard by a jury in the Tenth Judicial District Court with Judge Thomas Stockard presiding, in which he was found not guilty.
During her opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Priscilla Baker, representing the State of Nevada, told the jury, “Scott wanted a relaxing day at the Sheckler Reservoir; he ended up having a gun pointed to his face and an injury to his hand. After you hear all the evidence, and consider all the evidence, hearing the testimony of the witnesses, the state is going to ask you to find the defendant guilty of assault with a deadly weapon.”
Steve Evenson Esq., defense counsel for Markowski, told the jury, “You made a promise to pay attention, to follow the trail, to get to the end of this, and to finally get justice for
Mr. Markowski that the Sheriff’s Office of Churchill County, and certainly the Greens and Echols refused to provide. At the end of the case, we’re confident that you will return the only verdict you can, of not guilty.”
State witnesses included a CCSO Dispatcher who took the 911 call, Jacqueline Green, two children present at the incident, Robert Heckman, Richard Scott Echols, and three CCSO Deputies. Evidence included GoPro video footage from a device one of the children was wearing, body camera footage of the deputies, and the Colt Python 357 Revolver collected at the scene.
Baker asserted that Markowski was the primary aggressor of the incident by his comments on the effect of raping, pillaging, and murdering Jackie’s girls. Further, Baker stated that Echols charged Markowski, and a scuffle over the gun ensued because he feared for his and his family’s lives.
Evenson countered that Green was the primary aggressor, as she made threats in response to his comments about her children. Evenson also stated that CCSO deputies made several mistakes during the investigation, including but not limited to failing to take measurements or photographs at the scene and maintaining the chain of custody regarding what evidence was gathered.
Baker asked the jury during closing arguments, “Now, what do you do? You apply the facts and the evidence to the law.” According to body cam footage from one of the deputies, Markowski claimed Green and Echols ruined his afternoon. “But it was the defendant that made the comments about raping, pillaging, and murdering Jackie’s kids; it was the defendant that made the comments about putting them in the meat grinder. Scott and his family went there to have a relaxing afternoon, kids playing in the water. It was their afternoon that got ruined.”
In her response to Evenson’s arguments, Baker addressed inconsistent statements made by the defendant, a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, self-defense, and appropriate force. She said, “Words alone are not enough. There has to be an immediate use of unlawful force. They were at the camp, feet away, when this defendant pulled out the firearm, when this defendant pulled the firearm out of the holster, and feet away when this defendant put his finger on the trigger.”
Baker asked the jury to find Markowski guilty, telling the jury Markowski pulled a firearm, and Scott reacted. He was in fear for himself and his family. “Scott was going to save his family or die trying.”
In his closing arguments, Evenson told the jury, “At the end of the day folks, what we ask for in this country is being treated fairly and having our voices heard appropriately; and if there’s is a dispute between two voices, we count on deputy sheriffs, sheriff’s deputies, investigators to resolve those disputes. And that did not happen in this case … there was less than 10 minutes investigation in this case … it is 100% clear that they did not do their job. And after they didn’t do their job, they had the nerve to stand up here on the stand and say to you, ‘It doesn’t matter, the result’s the same.’”
After an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the single charge of Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Markowski stated when asked for a comment, “If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Don’t let anyone bully you into signing a statement saying you did something you did not do.”
Comment
Comments