dictionary

Friend says she saw teen-ager pull trigger

Defendant Nathaniel Brazill listens to his attorney in a Florida courtroom on Wednesday.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- One of the two girls Nathaniel Brazill was trying to see when he shot a popular teacher testified Wednesday that she saw the teen pull the trigger.

Dinora Rosales, 14, said she was standing near the door when Brazill asked Barry Grunow, their language arts teacher, to see her. She said she could tell that Brazill was upset by the look on his face and by his voice, which was "deeper" than normal, she said.

VIDEO CNN's Mark Potter has more on the first degree murder trial of Nathaniel Brazil in West Palm Beach, Florida (May 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Rosales said Brazill pulled out a gun and cocked it when Grunow refused to let him into the classroom. She said she hoped Brazill was joking at first. Grunow was trying to close the door when he was shot, she said.

Brazill, who was 13 at the time of the shooting on May 26, 2000, is being tried as an adult on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm. If convicted, he faces life in prison. The incident took place at Lake Worth Community Middle School. Lake Worth is the town immediately south of West Palm Beach, the county seat.

Rosales said Brazill often sent her flowers and cards to try to persuade her to date him. She said he continued to give her gifts even after she told him she was not interested in a relationship.

Under cross-examination, Rosales said she did not feel threatened by him even after Brazill said, as quoted by Rosales, "If I can't have you, no one will."

She also testified that Brazill would often tell people that he was putting them "on his hit list" if they offended him. Rosales testified she thought it was a joke at the time, but that now she is "not so sure."

In opening statements, prosecutor Marc Shiner told the jury of nine women and three men that Brazill was angry the day of the shooting because he had been sent home for misbehaving and had recently received a failing grade.

"This young man had more than one motive to kill Mr. Grunow," said Shiner, an assistant state's attorney. "You're going to see in this trial that this young man had a storm brewing within himself."

Brazill, now 14, had been sent home by another teacher earlier that day for playing with water balloons.

Shiner said Brazill told another student that he was going to "be all over the news" for killing that teacher. He then went home to get a .25-caliber handgun he had taken from his grandfather's house, Shiner said.

Defense attorney Lance Richard told the jury that Brazill was a "good kid" who admired Grunow and had no ill will toward him. He said the .25-caliber Raven was a "junk gun" or "Saturday night special" that was easy to fire by mistake and went off accidentally.

Richard said Brazill pulled the gun so that Grunow would "take him seriously" and let him talk to his friends.

The police officer who arrested Brazill said that the teen flagged down his patrol car as he was responding to the shooting. Michael Mahoney, a Lake Worth police officer, said Brazill then got on his knees and put his hand on his head. When Mahoney asked him what he was doing, Brazill told him that he had shot a teacher, Mahoney testified.

Mahoney also showed the jury the .25-caliber handgun he said he found in Brazill's pocket. During the demonstration, one juror asked him to demonstrate how the weapon's safety worked.

During the lunch break, defense attorney Robert Udell said that Mahoney's testimony helped his client because cold-blooded killers do not turn themselves in.

Udell said that in the end the case would hinge on whether the jury believes Brazill when he testifies that he did not intend to shoot Grunow.

"If you believe Nathaniel when he said he didn't, it doesn't matter what anyone else says," Udell said.

Brazill is being held without bond in the Youth Detention Wing at the Palm Beach County jail.

Brazill was charged with attempted witness tampering while in custody. Authorities said he sent letters to former classmates asking them to testify in a favorable way if called upon by prosecutors.

Brazill's lawyers contend police and prosecutors misinterpreted those letters. After filing that charge, authorities said they confiscated additional letters written by Brazill in which he allegedly asks a friend to have a gun waiting for him if he is ever set free.

CNN Correspondent Mark Potter contributed to this report.

Florida teen offered plea in teacher shooting
April 17, 2001
Grand jury weighs charging 13-year-old as adult in teacher shooting
June 12, 2000

See related sites about LAW

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.