California jury considers death penalty in murdered cop trial

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Former Sacramento County deputy Julie Robertson said on the stand Monday that she felt law enforcement was her calling — until her partner was killed while in the line of duty by Anton Lemon Paris in 2018.

Testifying Monday in the penalty phase of Paris’ trial, Robertson said she became a deputy because it suited her personality. She said she’d do whatever it took to help someone and usually held up under pressure.

She changed after Sept. 17, 2018 — the day Paris fatally shot Deputy Mark Stasyuk and tried to kill her at a Pep Boys in Rancho Cordova, some 15 miles east of Sacramento. Robertson said she’s lost her motivation and feels disconnected from the world. She left her law enforcement job in November.

“Many days, I don’t feel like getting up,” Robertson said. “I’m not sure what to do with my days.”

Convicted in July of first-degree murder, attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the 44-year-old Paris faces two possible sentences in the penalty phase that began Monday: death or life in prison without the chance of parole.

In the “mini-trial” expected to last through Labor Day, Deputy District Attorney Omar Singh will present evidence that would persuade a juror to vote for the death penalty.

Paris’ public defenders, Thomas Clinkenbeard and Norman Dawson, said in opening statements that they will offer the jury evidence meant to sway them to the other side — friends, family members and medical experts who will testify about Paris’ harsh upbringing and struggles with mental illness.

Clinkenbeard told jurors Monday he understands and respects their verdict against his client. He added that the evidence he’ll show them over the next two weeks isn’t meant to excuse what happened, but shine a light on his client’s humanity.

Experts will testify about inter-generational trauma that Paris experienced, Clinkenbeard said.

According to the attorney, Paris’ maternal grandfather died young, leaving his wife with several children — one of whom became Paris’ mother. Later, he said, Paris’ parents had a violent relationship.

“Anton’s parents would scream at each other, they would yell at each other,” Clinkenbeard said. When older, Paris would suffer from closed-fist punches.

Despite this, Clinkenbeard said, Paris was a good student and involved in his school’s marching band. However, he began exhibiting mental health issues like paranoia and manic episodes, some of which put him in the hospital. He felt unsafe and kept a firearm on him.

Clinkenbeard said that a mental health crisis led to the fatal shooting that took Stasyuk’s life.

Authorities have said that Paris was with an ex-girlfriend that day in the Pep Boys when he began pacing through the store, saying he’d kill everyone in the business. The deputies arrived after an employee called for help.

Stasyuk asked Paris if they could talk. Paris then ran toward the front doors, pulling a semi-automatic gun and firing before reaching them. Officers arrested him a short distance from the store.

Anticipating the evidence the defense team would present, Singh told jurors that they can consider the type of person Paris was on the day he fatally shot Stasyuk. They can examine the human impact of the shooting and how his actions showed a disregard for human life.

Answering Singh’s questions, Robertson said she looked up to Stasyuk, and that he’d helped her with some tests and they worked together on a special team.

Singh reminded Robertson about her testimony during the trial that led to Paris’ convictions, asking if she remembered watching a video of the incident.

Singh asked if Robertson ever replays the incident in her mind.

“All the time,” she said. “I don’t know how I was able to make it out of there and Mark wasn’t.”