Updated at 6:45 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Mossyrock man was found not guilty this afternoon of felony harassment, a case in which prosecutors tried to prove he threatened with his manner and actions to kill Mossyrock Police Chief Jeremy Stamper during a traffic stop in June.
Wayne Burdette
Wayne Burdette, 44, was arrested on June 16 and has been held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail.
The jury deliberated about four and half hours today in Lewis County Superior Court.
They did find Burdette guilty of obstruction, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
Burdette was charged with felony harassment; threat to kill and also with obstructing for his June 10 encounter with Officer Stamper.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher described to jurors yesterday how when he was pulled over for speeding, Burdette got out of his truck with his right hand behind his back and advanced on Stamper – after being told to stay put – forcing the officer to draw his pistol and retreat behind his patrol car.
Defense attorney Ken Johnson said his client was using profanity when he he got out of his truck and went back to the police car, saying he wanted to see the radar. Then he got back in his truck.
After a trooper arrived for backup, a loaded .40 caliber pistol was found in the small of Burdette’s back; it had a bullet in the chamber and the safety was off, Meagher explained.
As Burdette lay face down on the ground, Burdette commented, “No wonder why we walk into a coffee shop and shoot four of you”, according to Stamper and Trooper Jason Hicks.
Johnson told the jury it wasn’t illegal for Burdette to carry the gun. Burdette holds a concealed weapons permit.
After the verdict, Johnson said he thought the jury understood the issue.
“There’s a big problem sorting out Mr. Burdette’s intent,” he said. “Also a problem, if you can threaten to kill somebody, without doing something verbally.”
A person may perceive they are being threatened in some fashion, but it’s conceivable it never entered the defendants head at all, he said.
Johnson said he believed it would have been reversed on appeal if his client was found guilty.
The jury was also given the choice of misdemeanor harassment and found Burdette not guilty of that.
Burdette will be sentenced on Tuesday morning.
Burdette has no felony criminal history, but has a conviction for a gross misdemeanor sex offense. He is a level one registered sex offender who recently moved to Lewis County.
His bail was increased twice after his arrest, in part because Lewis County sheriff’s detectives subsequently found a journal in Burdette’s trailer home containing statements such as “How to kill cops” and “Teach body armor weak spot”, according to court documents.
The judge lowered his bail today to $5,000, but Burdette’s attorney said he doesn’t have that, so he remains locked up.
Johnson said Burdette wants to appeal the guilty finding on obstruction.
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Read “Burdette: Defendant’s lawyer says he was the threatened one, not the officer” from Thursday August 18, 2011, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter