Grants Pass man convicted of fatal stabbing should get new trial, court of appeals says

Grants Pass

A Grants Pass man convicted of fatally stabbing his neighbor in 2011 should get a new trial, the Oregon Court of Appeals said on Wednesday. Terry Richard/Staff

(Terry Richard)

A Grants Pass man convicted of fatally stabbing his neighbor should get a new trial, the Oregon Court of Appeals said in an opinion Wednesday, saying that the judge in that case unfairly dismissed computer-generated reenactments as evidence.

Kiley Christopher Hudson, 46, was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter in Josephine County in 2013 after police said he stabbed 60-year-old Gary Michael Salomon during a street fight. Hudson contended he was acting in self-defense because Salomon was choking him from behind, according to court documents.

The alteration started when Salomon became upset that Hudson's children rolled a ball into his yard, court documents said. The two men began shoving each other, and another neighbor, Clifford Eggleston, intervened, tackling Hudson from behind.

Hudson bit his arm and Eggleston let him go. Salomon then grabbed Hudson from behind and began choking him, Hudson told police. Hudson said he couldn't breathe and stabbed Salomon with a knife that was clipped to his pants.

The state argued that it was anatomically impossible for Hudson to stab Salomon from behind as he described.

Using a program called Poser, forensic expert Gary Knowles created a digital reenactment showing how the stabbing could have happened as described.

However, the state argued that the Poser presentation was not realistic. A setting that reflects the limitations of the human body was turned off, distorting reality, the state said.

Knowles said the setting was turned off because it is too limiting. For example, Poser won't allow human figures to touch their toes or scratch their backs with that setting on, Knowles said.

Hudson's lawyers, Kristin Carveth and Gregory Veralrud, asked Knowles to show the jury how Poser would depict people touching their toes with the limits turned on and off. Judge Thomas Hull did not allow them to be shown as evidence, saying they were irrelevant.

Excluding the images as evidence undermined the credibility of Knowles and Poser, discrediting Hudson's claims of self-defense, the court of appeals said.

Veralrud said he is happy with the court's decision.

"I'm pleased for my client. This did impact the trial," Veralrud said. "(The state) aggressively attacked the reputation of an expert who was very credible."

The state can decide to appeal the decision to the Oregon Supreme Court. Hudson will remain in custody at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario until it is decided whether he will get a retrial.

-- Samantha Matsumoto

smatsumoto@oregonian.com, @SMatsumoto55

503-294-4001

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