Teen cleared of all charges

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 11:30 a.m.

The only alleged member of the 311 Boyz to go to trial in the maiming of a 17-year-old boy was acquitted Wednesday.

While seven others entered plea agreements to lesser charges to avoid prison time, Scott Morse never wavered in his stance that he did nothing wrong.

After deliberating for roughly 2 1/2 hours, a jury found Morse not guilty on all 12 counts he faced for the July 18 attack that left Stephen Tanner Hansen's face disfigured.

Morse was cleared of multiple counts of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, as well as multiple counts of coercion and battery with a use of a deadly weapon.

The Morse family and their supporters cried tears of joy and relief as each of the not guilty verdicts was read aloud, but once the jury left the court, Morse's mother, Tammy Morse, voiced the anger she said had been brewing inside her for the past year.

"He's (Scott Morse) been locked up for the last 10 months, while he should have been a 19-year-old kid," Tammy Morse said. "Instead, because someone said something about him that no one ever verified, he couldn't. You guys (the media) just believed everything that everyone said and because of that our lives will never be the same."

Tammy Morse, standing with her husband Ron Morse and a visibly exhausted Scott Morse, said she knew all along her son was innocent.

"I knew he was innocent," Tammy Morse said. "I was just afraid that no one else wanted to see it."

With no physical evidence present to identify Morse as a rock thrower, the jury was left to sift through differing eyewitness testimony.

Jury foreman Jim Ellison said the jury concluded there was too much conflicting testimony present to determine Morse guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Everyone on the jury was horrified by Hansen's injuries, but the biggest thing we had to overcome was the reasonable doubt," Ellison said. "We had to ask whether Scott was or wasn't there or whether he did or did not throw a rock. In the end there was just too much conflicting testimony to erase the doubt."

Morse's attorney, Lew Wolfbrandt, said while there is always a risk of losing a case once it's in the hands of a jury, he never doubted his client's innocence.

"I've had this case for about a year and Scott's story never changed," Wolfbrandt said. "He said he never went over to the wall and he never threw a rock."

Wolfbrandt said while all of the witnesses he called helped Morse's case, the testimony of Bonnie Smith may have been the most crucial.

Wolfbrandt said Smith was never interviewed by the police. Her Jeep was hit by the truck in which Hansen was riding as it tried to escape a mob of teens.

Smith testified that Morse never left her sight during the night of the rock attack and, with his friend Chris Erickson, tried to fix the damaged door of her Jeep.

Wolfbrandt said his client was wrongly accused of taking part in the antics of the 311 Boyz, described by police as a gang of white suburban teens with ties to Centennial High School. Wolfbrandt insisted Morse was never a part of the group.

"He's a good kid," Wolfbrandt said. "He's like every other teenager. He likes to party, he likes to play lacrosse and he likes girls. He doesn't like to fight, though."

Wolfbrandt said with the trial over Morse will go ahead with his plans for college, but because of the negative attention from the case, he will now try to attend an out-of-state school.

After the not-guilty verdicts were read, Hansen, his family and his attorney Jerome Bowen, left the courtroom with no comment.

Hansen will have another day in court by way of a civil suit he has brought against Morse and his eight co-defendants.

Morse, Steven Gazlay, Brandon Gallion, Anthony Gallion, Jeff Hart, Christopher Farley, Dominick Harriman, Bradley Aguilar and Matthew Costello are all named in the civil suit. They also were identified by police as members of the 311 Boyz.

Morse had his say as his lawyer brought his defense to a close.

Morse remained calm as he took the witness stand, refuting the state's claims one by one.

He testified that he didn't throw a rock or scream or yell for anyone to stop the escaping truck.

Morse said he never jumped the wall that separated the housing complex where the house party took place and the road where the truck was later pummeled with rocks. Morse said that he was simply trying to find out who was in the truck that hit his friend T.J. Carter.

"I repeatedly asked who was in the truck," Morse said. "All of a sudden I heard something that sounded like a car accident, like something went through a window. I looked toward the gate to see what was going on."

Morse was supported by the testimony of Smith, Chelsea Hammack and Ashley Erickson, who all testified that Morse never jumped the wall to throw rocks and instead was consoling Smith and trying to fix her damaged Jeep.

Morse said the alleged 311 Boyz gang members were not his friends, but "more like acquaintances."

Neither Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent nor Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci had any comment following the verdict.

Seven other alleged 311 Boyz members, after entering plea agreements to lesser charges, will be sentenced with no recommendation from prosecutors as to whether they should serve prison time. Charges against Anthony Gallion were dismissed.

With no sentencing recommendation, the year spent prosecuting the 311 Boyz case could result in probation sentences.

Although the case was about Scott Morse, the trial focused as much on the testimony and actions of the eight alleged 311 Boyz who never went to trial.

During closing arguments, Pesci told the jury they should make no distinction between the actions of Morse and his one-time co-defendants.

"The act of one is the act of all," Pesci said.