MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- A convicted felon who became a motivational speaker -- and used his life experiences to warn teens about the dangers of drugs and crime -- is accused of going on a bender, threatening to kill his girlfriend and her son, and smashing a former prison buddy in the face with a statue of John Wayne.*
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Jury convicts Simon of attempted murder
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
By Evelyn Puffer
Contributing writer
Russell James Simon Jr., a nationally known motivational speaker and author who lectures to teens on drug and alcohol abstinence and personal responsibility, was arrested May 15 following an altercation at a rural Isanti residence.
The incident involved gunfire, physical assault and an alleged sexual assault. He was subsequently charged with nine felonies. On Aug. 26 the jury rendered a verdict as follows:
not guilty—attempted premeditated murder in the 1st degree on the female victim;
not guilty—attempted premeditated murder in the 1st degree on Todd Paulson;
guilty—attempted murder without premeditation in the 2nd degree of the female victim;
guilty—attempted murder without premeditation in the 2nd degree of Paulson;
not guilty—two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the 1st degree of the female victim;
guilty—assault with a dangerous weapon in the 2nd degree of the female victim;
guilty—assault with a dangerous weapon in the 2nd degree of Paulson;
guilty—felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Sentencing is expected in approximately 60 days.
The trial
Opening arguments in the attempted murder case against Simon began Aug. 18 with a strong move by Judge James Dehn to bring the case to a close by Friday, Aug. 22.
With each trial day starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 5:30-6 p.m., the trial still stretched into Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Armed with 36 pages of instructions, the jury began deliberating at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25, recessing at 9:30 p.m. On Tuesday morning (Aug. 26) they returned to the courtroom briefly to hear again the taped 911 call made by the male victim, Todd Raymond Paulson.
Paulson, 42, now of Northfield, Minn., testified he had refused to give Isanti County investigators a statement when they approached him at Mercy Medical Center May 15 and that he, at first, regretted calling 911.
He said he did contact Investigator Chris Janssen May 23 and gave a statement later that day. His reluctance, he said, was his 20-year friendship with Simon and the fact he hadn’t thought Simon was serious when he first started shooting. He realized later that he was.
Paulson testified he felt “like a snitch” for testifying even now. But, while he said he didn’t care what happened to himself, he did care what Simon had done to the female victim and her 9-year-old son.
He testified to an evening of drinking May 14 in which Simon drank at least eight White Russians, a vodka, coffee liqueur and cream drink mixture. The pair stayed at a rural Princeton bar until “last call” at 1 a.m. May 15 and then returned to the residence in rural Bradford Simon shared with his girlfriend.
Defense attorney Barry Voss initially announced that one part of his client’s defenses would be intoxication and the other, self defense. The intoxication defense was later dropped.
The defendant’s intoxication that night would be the only point on which Paulson and the defense would agree. Both he and Simon were drunk, he said.
Paulson vehemently denied any relationship with the female victim, claimed he didn’t know what had made the defendant angry, and that Simon was the only person at the residence who had fired a gun.
Female victim testimony
It would be key points in the testimony of the female victim as well. Her identity is not being revealed because the case also involved a claim she had been sexually assaulted by Simon.
She met Simon on a Web site for single parents in May 2007; she said they got along well and he moved into her Isanti County residence in February 2008.
On the witness stand for over five hours, she reiterated the statements she had given law enforcement when the case began, refusing to back down when cross examined by the defense.
To the defense question of why she hadn’t taken her son and fled the residence when Simon appeared to be asleep, she explained the security alarm system would have sounded within 30 seconds when she disarmed it to open the door.
This wouldn’t have given her enough time to get out, she said, noting that the alarm would sound just outside the master bedroom door. She was not only afraid this would wake Simon, she said, but she didn’t know if her son would cry out when she tried to wake him up. She also didn’t have her cell phone or car keys.
The situation was compounded, she testified, when an officer of the Special Response Team, which had the residence surrounded, kept calling Simon’s cell phone. Although Simon didn’t answer the phone, it woke him up.
The residence was stormed by a multi-force team comprised of the Isanti County SRT, State Patrol and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension shortly before 6 a.m. Simon was found in bed, lying on a .380 automatic handgun.
The female victim was treated at Cambridge Medical Center shortly after Simon’s arrest where she was found to have abrasions on her temple and a concussion.
Simon testifies
Taking the stand in his own defense, Simon testified that on May 15 he returned to the residence “pretty loopy. The drunkest I’ve ever been....the top three in my life,” he said.
He said he had also used methamphetamines two days earlier, something he has done “about 10 times.” Blood tests taken two days after his arrest reflected the meth along with marijuana.
He said he doesn’t remember much about getting home, but he does remember vomiting a number of times after he got to the bedroom. He said he told (the female victim) to go downstairs and check on Paulson and that she did.
Having vomited on his clothes, he said, he took them off, replacing them with his girlfriend’s bathrobe. At no time, he said, did he go downstairs naked as the two victims testified.
What the victims’ denied, and what Simon said he saw, was his friend and his girlfriend kissing. “I got angry, disgusted, (felt) betrayed,” he said. He swore at both of them, then pushed Todd who grabbed his robe.
Simon sighed audibly during his testimony, at times breaking into sobs and once leaning forward and dropping his head onto his arms when speaking about the female victim’s son.
Conflicting stories
The defense and prosecution stories differ substantially on what happened the early morning of May 15.
Simon says he was attacked by Paulson and struck him with a 2-foot high John Wayne statue in self defense. The statue, minus its head, lay on a courtroom evidence table.
Both victims testified that Paulson tried to defuse the situation and talk Simon into “backing off.” Both testified that Simon had apologized to Paulson, hugging him and asking his friend to hit him, and that there was about a 45-minute interval during which all three of them sat around and talked.
Then, the situation grew tense once again.
Simon slammed the female victim against the wall, leaving a dent in the drywall and her slipping to the floor crying.
Simon went upstairs, said Paulson, the female victim followed him, and shots were fired down at her while she was on the stairs. A bullet had struck a post on the railing and glanced off her arm.
She testified she thought, “God, he’s going to kill me.” Several more shots were fired as she ran toward the garage and as Paulson entered the doorway,
She ran from the house and then realized her son was still in there. She went back, she said, because, “I was so scared. I went back in (the house) because I’d rather be dead than my baby.”
She testified that Simon threatened to shoot both her and her son in the head if she didn’t perform a sexual act on him.
Didn’t happen, said Simon, adding, “I didn’t do anything to that lady that night or any other night.”
He maintained that it was Paulson who had fired at him and that investigators should have tested Paulson’s hands for gun powder residue like they did him. He also believes Paulson’s duffle bag should have been searched.
Evidence not allowed
To preserve the rights of the defendant, the jury was excused a number of times while legal arguments were made by prosecutors Amy Reed-Hall and Stacy St. George and defense counsel, Barry Voss.
One of the key issues not allowed before the jury was evidence the prosecution wanted to submit that dealt with Simon’s past history of domestic abuse. Two of Simon’s ex-wives were waiting to testify.
Judge Dehn ruled the testimony prejudicial against the defendant’s character and that the state’s case was strong enough without it.
The second key piece of evidence came in 10 minutes after the defense rested its case and was a report on the gun powder residue test taken on both of Simon’s hands. That report was positive for gun powder.
Judge Dehn denied submission of that evidence stating its use didn’t give the defense time to secure an expert to rebut the report.
Prosecutor Reed-Hall used Simon’s own words from the Web site advertising his skills as a motivational speaker, “Choice determines destiny” and “10 seconds can change your life forever,” she echoed in her opening statement.
She concluded her cross examination by asking him what he tells his teenage audience when he is on his speaking tours. He hesitated briefly before saying, “I talk to kids about choices...doing the right thing. And making decisions about drugs and alcohol.”
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