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Jury selection got underway Wednesday in the trial for Christopher Erin Rogers – the man police say is responsible for the worst crime spree the Anchorage Bowl has seen in recent years.
The trial began exactly one year after Rogers attacked his father and his father's girlfriend with a machete while they slept in their Palmer home.
Authorities say Rogers then drove into Anchorage with a gun, where he opened fire on three people, killing one. There will be two separate trials – one in Palmer for the Palmer charges, the other in Anchorage for the alleged shooting spree.
The Palmer trial started Wednesday. The Anchorage trial is scheduled for January.
Before jurors were selected, however, the state asked that Rogers be restrained during the entire trial with not just handcuffs but shackles on his legs, as well. The defense, however, said the sight of the shackles would bias the jury.
The prosecution maintained, however, Rogers continues to be a threat, and called on four different corrections and court officers to testify. The first threat was made March 28 as two corrections officers escorted Rogers to a jail visit with his mother.
"On the way there, I just asked him a simple question, ‘How come you're two-man full?'” said Mat-Su Pretrial Facility Officer Jason Forster. “And he blurted out, ‘I'm a bad, bad man and I enjoy killing people.'”
Sgt. Robert Larson said Rogers spoke casually. “He also stated he gets a hard-on from killing people,” Larson said. “When Officer Forster and I were about to place Rogers into the visit he made another comment that he wanted to kill an officer.”
The second threat was just last week – on Nov. 25, said two court officers. “As we were walking to the jail, he asked me if I was afraid that he was going to hack me up,” said Officer Timothy Adams.
Officer Wallace Scott said Rogers threatened him, as well. “While I was standing next to him, he made a statement: ‘Are you afraid I'm gonna get a gun and shoot you in the belly?'” Scott said.
As the officers spoke, the courtroom was interrupted.
“A woman just walked into the courtroom with a dog,” said superior court Judge Vanessa White. “I've got a medical note,” said the woman who said Rogers is her son. “Is this a therapy dog?” White asked. "Yes, it is," the woman said “OK, would you please step forward with counsel,” White said. She mouthed, “I love you” to Rogers as she approached the bench, waving the dog's paw at her son.
Rogers waved back.
The woman was allowed to keep her pooch. She sat behind Rogers and loudly whispered throughout the hour-long proceeding. She pointed at a reporter and complained that news coverage of her son had been “inflammatory.”
After listening to both attorneys and the officers' testimonies, the judge ruled in favor of the defense.
“Given his relatively good behavior during his period of incarceration, I do not find that leg restraints are necessary or any form or restraints are necessary in this case,” White said. “I have not heard anything from the officers that indicates that Mr. Rogers has been a high security risk while in custody. I don't find that during his pretrial incarceration Mr. Rogers has been the kind of defendant that caused serious concern to corrections as to presenting a risk of harm to others. (Rogers') response (to the officers) was not really threatening, but I'm sure it indicated his frustration with his circumstance. But I don't think the officers considered it a threat. I don't think that it was conveyed as a threat to the officers. Mr. Rogers is entitled to the presumption of innocence up until and including the moment the jury renders its decision. It is that presumption of innocence I am charged to protect.”
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