A Juneau man accused of shooting his brother-in-law’s friend in the face in December was found not guilty Wednesday in Juneau Superior Court.
After 1 1/2 weeks of testimony and arguments, the jury only deliberated for about an hour and a half before clearing Kenneth E. Nalan of the charge.
“And that was with lunch included,” one of the 12 jurors quipped while leaving the courthouse.
Another juror told reporters a lack of “substantial evidence” was the reason he couldn’t send Nalan to prison.
The 36-year-old construction worker and carpenter was charged with one count of first-degree assault in connection with the Dec. 20 shooting. The victim, John D. Duran, 33, survived, but required facial reconstructive surgery.
Prosecutors argued Nalan recklessly shot Duran, while Nalan’s attorney Eric Hedland claimed it was in self-defense.
When the verdict was read in court, Nalan and his supporters erupted in tears and sobs.
“Thank God,” was the only thing Nalan told reporters as he hugged his two daughters and left the courthouse with his wife, Angela.
Duran was not in the courtroom when the verdict was handed down and was not immediately available for comment.
If he had been convicted, Nalan could have served up to 20 years in prison.
Duran was shot at Nalan’s house on Glacierwood Drive after a night of drinking with Nalan and Nalan’s brother-in-law.
Testimony as to what happened that night differed. Nalan took the stand earlier this week to tell his side of the story. He said Duran grabbed Nalan’s .357-caliber revolver from his bedroom closet and came at him. Nalan said there was a brief struggle for the gun when Duran fell forward, the gun came loose and Nalan pulled the trigger.
In the end, the seven women and five men on the jury could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Nalan did not shoot Duran in self defense.
Before the jury broke to deliberate at 11:40 a.m., District Attorney David Brower in closing arguments asked the jury to remember it was Nalan on trial, not Duran. The defense had portrayed Duran as a violent person and an aggressor.
In light of the differing testimonies, Brower also asked the jury to consider who had motive to lie.
“(Nalan) was given the opportunity over and over to talk about what happened,” Brower said, referring to a police interview an hour after the shooting, “and he did not mention what he told you in court this week.”
Brower added the testimony doesn’t add up, and, “If everybody is telling the truth, then there’s a problem.”
Duran had told a different story when he was on the stand. He said the last thing he remembered was playing the guitar on Nalan’s bed and seeing the bedroom door open. That scenario infers the bullet came from the hallway, which is contradictory with police testimony.
But Hedland told the jury during an hour-long closing argument the state’s case was weak, and in fact, he couldn’t even figure out what it was.
“I do not — and I don’t mean this disparagingly — I do not understand the state’s theory. I don’t understand it,” Hedland said.
Hedland wondered out loud if Brower was arguing Nalan’s fear was unreasonable, or if Nalan was being reckless and a round was fired off accidently, or if Nalan shot Duran because he just wanted to.
“The state at one point said if you see somebody come out with a gun in your house in your room with the hammer cocked, it’s reckless to go grab that gun,” Hedland added. “That should be categorically dismissed. That’s ridiculous. What are you going to do? Trust him?”
As for the disputed police interview, Hedland said his client conceded making conflicting statements and omitting facts immediately after the incident. When Nalan testified, he admitted he doesn’t know why he made some of those statements, but that it was a chaotic moment when he feared Duran was dead. Nalan was also visibly drunk during the interview.
“Mr. Brower said, ‘Well, why didn’t you tell police’ — I mean, what is the context of this? He’s not giving a speech after winning an election or something,” Hedland told the jury. “This is in the context of being at a police station wondering if this guy’s dead. If you’re going to convict somebody, please don’t convict them because they’re inarticulate.”
Hedland once more pointed to a lack of physical, scientific or forensic evidence. Just one example of that, he said, was when responding police officers compromised the crime scene as he took the gun from Nalan’s table and secured it in his belt before it was placed in an evidence bag.
Hedland also questioned whether Duran was lying when he took the stand and during his subsequent police interviews because Duran didn’t know if he was a suspect himself.
Hedland wrapped up his argument by asking jurors what they would do in a similar situation.
“What do you do?” Hedland asked. “According to Mr. Brower, you just stand there and ask him not to shoot you.”
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (27)
Add commentCongratulations
Now stop being a drunken fool. Stop inviting creeps into your house. Stop keeping loaded handguns in your house. Start being a responsible father.
Father of the Year
Ditto to Latitude 58.
“Thank God,” was the only thing Nalan told reporters as he hugged his two daughters and left the courthouse with his wife, Angela.
Sober up, be a father and a husband instead of being a drunken liability to your family and society.
What a crock
Nalan was reckless. Public defender acts like the victim has full memory? He was shot in the head. This case should have been moved to another city. Even the paper shows it favors the shooter. Police failed, DA failed, State failed. The victim is hurt for life! Nalan changed his story quite a few times. Just unbelievable how this turned out. What kind of Jury was that? Should have at least got him for recklessness. Self defense? What a bunch of BS!!
Jon Day has to tell the truth someday.
Nalan is guilty of negligents. Just shot him in the head with no warning? Guilty!
Hoaky Juneww Alascaca. Turned out to be another hill billy state.
jus sayin
Ditto to Tude and Doog's comments
And while you're at it, Nalan, start paying your bills. There are more small claims actions listed against you on Courtview than I could take the time to open and read.
Could have been worse
Considering there was a loaded gun in the house and children that lived in the house, I would much rather see drunken fools shooting each other instead of a child finding the gun and doing the unthinkable. Fact, children are much smarter than drunk adults.
from one dad to another
Mr. Nalan, I don't know you, nor do I know what exactly happened that night to lead up to the incidents that occurred. What I do know is that when you surround yourself with bad people, bad things happen. My hope is that you take this opportunity to reflect on your life and consider some changes to improve your family's situation. If nothing else, choose good people to be your friends, and cut back on the drinking. Good things will happen. Remember, your children are depending on you.
@futomake
Not much for stirring a pot, are you troublemaker? BTW... how did you determine which Ken Nalan each of those documents belonged to??? Since you are so talented at investigating, you should be aware there's more than one.
separated?
I thought when the trial first started the JE reported that his wife didn't live in the home as they were separated so the children weren't there. BUT this is a wake up call for sure--hopefully he can get his life on track for his children and become a better citizen, husband, and father.
I recommend all the folks
I recommend all the folks involved in this incident to take the time to rethink their lives.
If Duran wants, he can use his injury for a tough guy story that he seems to enjoy doing. He can say he got the injury as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan shooting it out single-handedly against two hundred Taliban, or something of that nature.
Lesson Learned
I wish the best for Mr. Nalan and I hope he has learned from this incident and makes something positive of it! It's never too late to turn your life around (including the people you surround yourself with)!
Love
Beautiful picture of my family. It's always sad when unfortunate things happen because of drugs or alcohol. I'm glad JD is okay. But i'm even happier my uncle/foster dad got off for something that was a very tragic mistake.
I love you uncle. And I miss you family!!!
Grandma:) Penny, Crystal, My little sisters Erynn and Haeley and my foster parents Angela Day-Nalan and Ken Nalan. I miss you all.
Biiiiig hugs from Atown:)
@preciousfive
Dear Precious,
Guess what, I can add!
Yes there is more than one Kenneth Nalan listed in Courtview but most of the entries pertain to an individual with a 1976 birthdate. The Empire story reports that the Kenneth Nalan in question is 36.
Clear enough for you?
Mr. Nalan has made his own trouble. Not me.
Some of your comments and
Some of your comments and accusations towards people never ciese to amaze me. What does Mr Nalans unpaid bills have to do with any of this? If you have kids and I do, you would know that a trip to the hospital is very expensive, from there births, sickness and injury. Not all of us have medical insurance. Add a house payment, utilities, and the general cost of living I know its a struggle. Join the very large american crowed.That is not a crime. I dont know Nalan personally but I have seen some of his construction work and heard from other people that Nalan is a very hard working, artistic well rounded carpenter, one of the best in town. That cant be said about a drunken idiot. Nalan was in fact found Not Guilty by a jury of his peers. We were not in that court room, the jury was. Time will heal as it always does and life goes. Good luck to all that were involved in this, I am sure the lesson was learned
To KayDay
Ya everything is great for Mr. Nalan. Great for his daughters and wife and other family members. A new start for Nalan.
But JD is not great, He suffers for life and I am surprised that JD or the people on his side did not mention the fact during the trial or maybe they did and JE did not mention this. JD lost his eye, smell, and taste and has insomnia... oh and constant Headaches of course. Fact: JD is not doing great.
I do hope things go better for the Nalan family from now on but only because of his children. I completely disagree with the outcome of this trial. Mr. Nalan should have been convicted with something. A Horrible incident.
Optimusprime
Yes I understand that. But you don't know my family or my uncle. I know JD. My uncle would not do anything to hurt someone for no reason. He is a really good guy. He is not even violent at all.
JD is a agressive person. I have no problem with him though. I have hung out with him and my Father a few times and he is agressive and always talking about Cali gangs and what not.
I don't agree with what happened. What happened was very shocking for all of us. Our whole family was hurt by this too. Not just JD. This was a very unexpected incident.
I feel for JD but I do not feel my uncle deserved to be charged. Or if he was with something small because I know my uncle would not have done that unless he felt neccessary.
Now people lets keep negative comments to ourselves. Everyone has their own opinion but this is peoples lives and families you are talking about. Nothing can change what happened. All we can hope for is a bright future.
People really must be miserable always talking down upon people when they have their own dirty secrets. Just because other people get theirs put in a paper everyone has to butt in. Remember, make sure your hands are clean before judging others. Everyone makes mistakes. Tragic mistakes. Some in the wrong place at the wrong time and some are real criminals that do deserve jail time. My uncle is not one of them. Like I said. I don't agree with what happened. Let's all grow up people and worry about whats going on in our own lives.
Optimusprime
Yes I understand that. But you don't know my family or my uncle. I know JD. My uncle would not do anything to hurt someone for no reason. He is a really good guy. He is not even violent at all.
JD is a agressive person. I have no problem with him though. I have hung out with him and my Father a few times and he is agressive and always talking about Cali gangs and what not.
I don't agree with what happened. What happened was very shocking for all of us. Our whole family was hurt by this too. Not just JD. This was a very unexpected incident.
I feel for JD but I do not feel my uncle deserved to be charged. Or if he was with something small because I know my uncle would not have done that unless he felt neccessary.
Now people lets keep negative comments to ourselves. Everyone has their own opinion but this is peoples lives and families you are talking about. Nothing can change what happened. All we can hope for is a bright future.
People really must be miserable always talking down upon people when they have their own dirty secrets. Just because other people get theirs put in a paper everyone has to butt in. Remember, make sure your hands are clean before judging others. Everyone makes mistakes. Tragic mistakes. Some in the wrong place at the wrong time and some are real criminals that do deserve jail time. My uncle is not one of them. Like I said. I don't agree with what happened. Let's all grow up people and worry about whats going on in our own lives.
Optimus said..."I completely
Optimus said..."I completely disagree with the outcome of this trial. Mr. Nalan should have been charged with something."
Hey genius, he was charged with something. He went to court and a jury of his peers decided their wasn't enough evidence to convict him of the charges against him.
You're right though. This was a horrible incident and more evidence that guns and booze don't mix.
akbrdguru
well said:)
Mixing guns and booze is
Mixing guns and booze is stupid enough, but when you throw in idiots, that's a recipe for disaster! Grow up and learn from this Nalan and "raise" your responsibilities.
Dutchlady
Okay because you know everything and you are so perfect urself.
Thanks for the advice. We will take it into consideration but i'm sure it will be put on the back burner like all the other people that have nothing better to do with their lives then judge other people.
Hope you enjoy your day.
You just got A second chance at life.
There are no winners here you got very lucky Mr. Nalan hope you learn from your mistakes.
KayDay - your family is being judged because it was in court
No one else is responsible for that except Nalan - having wild drunken parties with a gun and crazy people (with children present) where someone gets shot gets you in the newspaper. Most families don't have that happen, so yes, people start to judge. Criminally, Nalan was found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt - but there is no doubt from the testimony that people there was so drunk that their credibility was limited. Tell everyone in your family if you don't like people talking about them - stay out of court.
First of all
There was no crazy party. It was three people. There were no children in the house when it happened. Get your facts right before you talking about it.
And yes it was in court. It's called life.
But it's whatever.
We know the truth and that's all that matters. I hope my family's names tastes good in all your mouthes:)
First of all
There was no crazy party. It was three people. There were no children in the house when it happened. Get your facts right before you talking about it.
And yes it was in court. It's called life.
But it's whatever.
We know the truth and that's all that matters. I hope my family's names tastes good in all your mouthes:)
Denial is not a good thing
Most people's lives do not involve criminal court KayDay, and more than 3 people testified about being in attendance at that party.
Truth? No one was even sober enough to remember what happened, how do they know what they truth was?
NALAN IS A VERY HARD WORKING AND A LOVING FATHER!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think anyone that doesn't know Nalan personally shouldn't have anything to say about the whole situation!!! I know him personally and lived with the family for. Over a year and like KayDay said he is not a violent person!!
As for "wild drunken parties" I am sure if he wasn't scared of something happening, like a year ago him trying to get people out of his house because he didn't want them there he got beat up, then he would have stopped it before anything could have happened but he was scared that something would happen to him again and something almost happened to him. If Nalan didn't try to get the gun away from JD then it is possible that Nalan or Day could not be here today due to JD's choice to go and grab the gun to begin with. Nalan was protecting himself and obviously was not nearly as drunk as the others there.
I am glad Nalan didn't get charged for defending himself. JD is the one that should stop drinking because alcohol isn't the thing for him. He has a very violent past and i am sure alcohol is the main factor in that.
Nalan takes care of his responsiblities just fine before he even drinks so who are you all to say anything about him not taking care of his family???
I suggest anyone that doesn't like the out come of this story you should just leave it at that and don't think that just because Nalan was found not quilty that he won't learn from this and not change some things in his life.
As for JD if he didn't go and grab the gun to begin with this wouldn't have happened and yes granted Nalan in the past showed it to him and shouldn't have but he did it trusting JD before he knew how JD really was and didn't think that JD in the future would grab it, JD still shouldn't have grabbed it. It wasn't his home to go threw a closet and grab it. And this shows that JD had the gun on his mind from the time he saw it.
I wish for some quick healing to the Nalan family and In-Laws. I miss you guys very much.
I wish and hope and pray that JD changes his ways!!
A bunch of idiots posting comments they no nothing about
Its a good thing most of you have not served on a jury. Or obviously appear that you haven't. Or maybe you sent some innocent person to prison. The idea of this, is to be impartial. To look at the full evidence, or lack of. Our judicial system is setup to see every person as innocent until proven guilty. Now you and I can sit here and say what we would, or wouldn't do. Or what he should do for securing our fire arms. But let me say this as fact. This country was founded by people owning them, and for those of use that do have them. We are the very people that stand between tyranny from our own government. We provide you with the very comfort that you take for granite. The freedom to run your mouth about stuff that you speculate about! We are that last resort. That is why we have a constitutional right to own them. Now with that said, No doubt a tragedy. And yeah I feel bad for JD. He had no business picking up a firearm that didn't belong to him. He did it with out permission. As a result a tragedy did happen. His Bad. Now he needs to man up and except the consequences for his choices. What he did, in my state whether or not I had a half gallon of whiskey or a six pack of beer. He would have been shot, and "Nalan" would have never been charged. Period. You all preach oh that firearm should be taken serious and children could have found it. Well if your a good parent, you would do the right thing in the fist place and kids would know they don't pick the gun up with out permission is the first rule. Second its always loaded. Safe gun handling 101. Take a look at yourself in the mirror, walk a mile in another person shoes before judging them. And always look at the other side of the story, no matter how hard it might be to comprehend.