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Hernando Today

Opening Testimony Sets Stage For Murder Trial

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: May 13, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Laura Barnes heard a fierce argument coming from next door, but that was not unusual.

The trailer in DaMac Estates, north of Brooksville, belonged to her fiance's father and carried a reputation as a place to score drugs.

What caught Barnes' attention was James Ray Booth's parting words as he stormed out of 21330 Canal Drive: "I'll kill you."

Barnes next told jurors Monday in circuit court how she carried on with her day after that, including a trip to the park with her young daughter and nephew.

But early in the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2006, Barnes heard the familiar rumble of Booth's sport utility vehicle returning and the threat resurfaced in her mind. She heard shouting again, angry shouting, but Barnes couldn't make out what they were saying. Then she heard a bang.

"It sounded like a gunshot," she told prosecutor Pete Magrino.

The first bang was followed by several more - three or four by her count. Barnes stepped outside to see a person named Thor and Booth struggling for a gun.

"Could you tell me if it was a long gun or a handgun?" Magrino asked.

Barnes wasn't sure: "I think it was a shotgun."

Thor, Thor Richmond to authorities, wrested the gun away from Booth, who drove off in his SUV. Richmond ran down the street. Of the two other people in the trailer, Sammy Rodriguez bolted out the front door and someone who goes by "Bones" made a break out the back window.

What happened inside the trailer is for jurors to decide over the next few days. Some of the facts will be disputed, but there's no denying the outcome of that argument: The death of Kenneth LaPointe Sr.
LaPointe was sitting at his kitchen table when he was hit in the chest by one of the shots fired from the rifle.

Prosecutors contend that Booth was responsible for that shot. Booth didn't deny bringing weapons to the house or that there was a struggle or that several shots went off, according to an affidavit.

But it's Booth's position that the struggle was a matter of self defense and that Richmond pointed the gun at him first.

The first half of Monday's proceedings was spent whittling down a pool of 42 jurors to the six people who will decide if James Ray Booth is guilty of first-degree murder.

Booth, 58, who sports a white mustache and eyeglasses, wore a dark gray suit Monday in court. His attorney, Patricia Jenkins, said "it wouldn't be appropriate" to make any comments while the trial is ongoing.

Two of Booth's charges, including first-degree murder, carry life imprisonment sentences. Magrino isn't seeking the death penalty.

Booth had the option of pleading to a lesser charge of manslaughter with a firearm.

That would have given him up to 10 years in prison, with a minimal stay of three years for a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. The latter charge has since been dropped.

The defendant had a counter-offer that involved serving less time that was rejected.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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