Jury can't agree on whether former Portland officer set fire to apartment
by Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Thursday August 06, 2009, 4:38 PM
Multnomah County jury couldn't agree on whether former Portland cop Steven Brian Gomez set an early morning fire in a home with three people inside.
Steve Gomez
The hung jury was deadlocked on whether Gomez was guilty of first-degree arson and attempted first-degree assault Thursday, at the end of a four-day trial. Gomez, 43, is accused of pouring gasoline on an interior stairwell Nov. 7 in an apartment in the 2100 block of North Kilpatrick Street. Robert Case, 47, and his mother Joyce Wells, 73, were sleeping inside. A friend, Marzetta Gooseberry, 58, was awake and saw the flames, which she and Case managed to put out.
Gomez said he never touched a gas can found at the base of the stairs. When told his DNA was found on the handle, he said he may have flicked a "booger" on it or scratched his head, causing dandruff to land on it.
Case said he and Gomez stayed up late that night drinking alcohol and smoking crack cocaine. Gooseberry said she saw Gomez going up and down the stairs moments before the fire. Gomez admitted that he uses drugs, but said he left hours before the fire.
Gomez was a police officer from 1992 to 1997, when he resigned after he accidentally shot his wife in the buttocks. His wife lost her leg from medical complications following the shooting.
The district attorney's office has the option of trying the case again.
-- Aimee Green; [email protected]
by Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Thursday August 06, 2009, 4:38 PM
Multnomah County jury couldn't agree on whether former Portland cop Steven Brian Gomez set an early morning fire in a home with three people inside.
Steve Gomez
The hung jury was deadlocked on whether Gomez was guilty of first-degree arson and attempted first-degree assault Thursday, at the end of a four-day trial. Gomez, 43, is accused of pouring gasoline on an interior stairwell Nov. 7 in an apartment in the 2100 block of North Kilpatrick Street. Robert Case, 47, and his mother Joyce Wells, 73, were sleeping inside. A friend, Marzetta Gooseberry, 58, was awake and saw the flames, which she and Case managed to put out.
Gomez said he never touched a gas can found at the base of the stairs. When told his DNA was found on the handle, he said he may have flicked a "booger" on it or scratched his head, causing dandruff to land on it.
Case said he and Gomez stayed up late that night drinking alcohol and smoking crack cocaine. Gooseberry said she saw Gomez going up and down the stairs moments before the fire. Gomez admitted that he uses drugs, but said he left hours before the fire.
Gomez was a police officer from 1992 to 1997, when he resigned after he accidentally shot his wife in the buttocks. His wife lost her leg from medical complications following the shooting.
The district attorney's office has the option of trying the case again.
-- Aimee Green; [email protected]