Well, not looking good for my friend that shot a man :/

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Graham, during his opening statements, said Martin’s action on the night of Nov. 16, 2013, was clearly murder. “Grant Campbell was shot six times (with a .22-caliber pistol), three in the chest, one in the right hand near his thumb, and two times in the back,” Graham said. “He was shot multiple times at point-blank range.”

Graham said the scientific and physical evidence will prove Martin is guilty of murder. Campbell, 27, of Lonnie Drive, Muscle Shoals, was shot outside Martin’s residence on 18th Court in Sheffield.

Defense attorney Tim Case countered that Martin was acting in self-defense after Campbell threatened him, his girlfriend and another friend who had been at the residence with a knife.

Graham said the defense would say Campbell was holding a knife to the throat of Martin’s girlfriend, Amanda Fleming, with his right hand. “Then she got loose and Martin shot him,”

Graham said. “A problem with that is, the hand Campbell was supposed to have been holding the knife with was shot. And the only knife found was located in Campbell’s back pocket.”

Sheffield police Sgt. Darryl Ivey testified Tuesday that when the knife was found it was closed and in Campbell’s right back pant’s pocket.

During his opening arguments, Case told the jury the evidence would prove Martin heard Campbell threaten to kill him and his friend. “He goes into the house, gets a pistol, comes out and he sees Campbell holding a knife to Fleming’s throat,” Case said. “Chris (Martin) walks out and begs Campbell to let her go. Somehow (Campbell and Fleming) spin around and (Fleming) gets loose and runs up the steps. “And here comes Grant Campbell. Martin pulls the gun, steps back and stumbles, and fired the gun until he couldn’t fire it anymore.”

Case told the jury that in Alabama a person can use force to defend themselves and “Chris Martin was acting in self-defense of himself and a third party.”

Three neighbors of Martin’s testified they did not hear screaming, hollering nor any kind of disturbance coming from Martin’s house until they heard the gunshots.

Tommy Clark, who said he lived 60-75 yards from Martin’s residence, said he was outside on his porch when he heard the shots. “The shots were really fast, then a pause and one last shot,” Clark said. He said after the shooting he walked down the road to the scene and saw a man’s body lying in the road.

Carolyn Wilson, who lives next door to Martin, and her neighbor Chris Denard, both testified they head the shots and thought they were firecrackers. “Before that, did you hear anything, screaming, hollering, yelling, any children hollering, any kind of commotions whatsoever?” Graham asked. “No, nothing,” Wilson answered. “I didn’t know what happened or who was over there.”

Testimony begins at 9 a.m. today in Judge Jackie Hatcher’s courtroom. Tom Smith can be reached at tom.smith@timesdaily.com. Follow on Twitter @TD_TomSmith.

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