A Snohomish County Superior Court jury Monday acquitted a Granite Falls man of murder, but found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of a neighbor.
The verdict is a better outcome for Kenneth Charles Jensen, 61, who in 2002 was convicted of second-degree murder in the same shooting.
The new verdict will shave roughly 10 years off his prison sentence, and it’s likely Jensen will be out of prison in about six months.
Both verdicts were in the death of Martin Frank, 40, who was shot down in front of his home after a confrontation between the two men in August 2001.
A jury in 2002 found him guilty of second-degree murder, but the prosecutors used a theory that the death occurred during an assault and was not intended. Two state Supreme Court decisions later overturned scores of state murder convictions under that theory.
Earlier this year, deputy prosecutor David Hiltner filed new charges, this time alleging that Jensen intended to kill Frank.
A jury of seven woman and five men deliberated a little more than a full day on Friday and Monday before coming to a decision. Jurors told Judge Linda Krese that they could not reach agreement on either the murder charge or a lesser crime of first-degree manslaughter.
Public defender Natalie Tarantino argued that Jensen acted in self-defense when Frank grabbed the handlebars of Jensen’s bicycle. Jensen, who had his hand on a .357 Magnum pistol within a leather pouch, fired one shot hitting Frank in the chest.
Tarantino said Jensen will probably have four or six months left to serve – after getting credit for good behavior in prison. His 2002 sentence was about 16 years. Krese is scheduled to sentence him Friday.
Tarantino is not entirely happy, but she’ll take the verdict. She said the shooting was justified.
“It’s always been a case of self-defense,” she said. Jurors obviously took self-defense into consideration and reached a compromise, she added.
“If they were to compromise, (second-degree manslaughter) is a happy place for the defense,” Tarantino said.
Jensen, was taken back to the county jail by custody officers and did not comment.
Tarantino said “he’s digesting” the verdict.
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