"Someone rang the doorbell, I remember it clear as day"

Rhett August was playing Call of Duty with two friends when he heard his doorbell rang. "Someone rang the doorbell, I remember it clear as day." This is minutes before he was shot on May 15.

Because of the wounds, 75% of his liver, lobe of his lung, and his diaphragm had to be reconstructed.

Rhett August purchased two 22 caliber pistols and a bullet proof vest he wore every where, even to sleep.

Rhett August stopped doing drugs when he went to East Coast to be with his family."Where I went, no one does drugs," he said. "I want to quit drugs, I want to get out of the lifestyle. I want to start a new life".

Today, Rhett August's testimony started with Ms. Firpo asking him about his level of intoxication. "Everyone was drinking, " he said. "I wasn't paying attention to what everyone was drinking."

Rhett August said Tyrell Brandon "had a little bit more." When Ms. Firpo asked why he thought so, Rhett August responded, "He was acting a bit crazier than anyone else."  Rhett August said that Bodhi Tree had three shots of the Patron, "like most other people" but that Bodhi Tree became "a little intoxicated during the course of the party."

Everyone but Bodhi Tree was smoking marijuana because "he was on probation."

Ms. Firpo showed Rhett August a photo of his apartment and the surrounding area. He pointed out where the first fight had occurred. He then described when people left and what he did after the party was over.

Responding to questions by Ms. Firpo, Rhett August said he had no contact with Bodhi Tree on May 13 and that he tried to take Bodhi Tree's cell phone back to the house on May 13 but that Bodhi Tree wasn't there and he left the cell-phone for him. No contact with Bodhi Tree on May 14.

He could not recall any contact with his friends Steve Upton and John Buhne but remembers them vaguely talking about the fight and what happened the night before.

Rhett August does not recall the morning of 5/15 but he still had no contact with Bodhi Tree. No call, no text. That evening, he was playing Call of Duty with Upton and Buhne.

"Someone rang the doorbell, I remember it clear as day," Rhett August said. "It was about 10 p.m. I went to the weight room and from the window, I looked out. No one was there but the motion sensor light was on, I called my pitbull and went downstairs. " Rhett August said he opened both doors to his apartment, one is a security door with a screen. When Ms. Firpo asked why he went outside, he said he wanted to see who was there.

"I said, 'Hello'. I could see someone in a crouching position." He said the person was crouching behind a neighboring building. "Right after I said hello, someone started shooting." Rhett said he could only see a silhouette, could not tell if the person was male or female. He told Ms. Firpo that the shooter was "about my height."

Rhett August said he thought he heard four shots. "One after the other. I could not do anything but stand there and get shot." After the shots, Rhett August said he heard "someone run on the gravel, the sound of the footsteps was quick and he heard a car door slam. I didn't chase because I did not want to bleed."

"At first I didn't realize I was shot. Then I lifted up my shirt and saw blood pouring."

He said he was not paying attention to the car leaving because "I was more worried about myself. I ran upstairs and told my buddies I was shot. My buddies were still playing video games. They said, 'you are just kidding, those were firecrackers.' When I lifted my shirt, Steven said, 'Oh my God, you got shot. Oh My God, you got shot'. "

Rhett August asked Buhne to stay with his dog and Upton took him to the hospital. Rhett August said when they left to go to the hospital, they were crouching as they approached Upton's Mercedes, "in case the shooter was still there."

"On the way to the hospital, Steven kept saying, "Don't fall asleep. I told him, don't worry, I've seen the movies."

Rhett August said once they arrived at the hospital, he asked Steven to leave because he did not want him involved in anything. When he showed his wounds at the hospital, they rushed to take care of him and he heard them say, "We need 5 pints of blood."

"I woke up 9 days later."

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August if he remembers speaking to law enforcement.  "I was in a drug induced coma," he responded. "They had me on a drug 7 times more potent than morphine. Yeah, I remember talking to a Detective. I cannot remember if I told the Detective who shot me." When Ms. Firpo asked if he remembered law enforcement asking him about other people as potential suspects and mentioned a specific name. "I don't know who Melvin Matthews is," said Rhett.

Ms. Firpo showed Rhett August a photo of stairs leading up to his apartment. Asked him if he could see something on the screen. Without hesitating, he said, "I know what that is; a stab wound  in the middle of the screen door." Rhett August said that a neighbor of his was responsible for the damage to the door and that this happened six months before the shooting.

Rhett August said he was in the hospital for 19 days. "75 % of my liver, my diaphragm had to be reconstructed and they took a lobe of my lung. There were two different wounds."

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August if he recalled talking to  Detective Kress a second time on May 28. She asked him if Detective Peter Kress asked him  about other people at his house and the fight on May 15.

"I think his name was Peter, pretty sure he recorded my statement," responded Rhett August. "I was trying to get the Detective out of my room. I was in excruciating pain. Talking was torture."

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August if he had  seen Bodhi Tree on May 15. He said no. And then in answer to Ms. Firpo's question whether he was surprised when he was shot, Rhett August said, "I was pretty surprised." He said he had never seen Bodhi Tree with a firearm.

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August if he was using other drugs on May 15. Rhett said, "I was, heroin. I used it, about once a week. It was an addiction. It left me feeling euphoric." He said he may have passed out when doing heroin, but he would not fall asleep.

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August about the bags of marijuana found in his apartment. Rhett said he does not sell marijuana. "I smoke a lot and share it with my friends." He said he drank, "about once a week." regarding amount, "Depends on how much is there". He said yes when Ms. Firpo said he engaged in "binge drinking."

He said his friend Steve Upton and John Buhne "drank and smoked weed, no heroin." Rhett August said he quit both alcohol and marijuana but when he got out of the hospital, because of the drug they had prescribed for him to detox, he started using heroin again. "Every time I would breathe, I was in pain." He said that the hospital had given him pills for a month to help with the pain and that he finished the entire supply in 7 days.

"Instead of every week, I did heroin every day." After he got out of the hospital, he stayed with his mom in McKinleyville but he "would leave and go stay with friends for days, come back, shower and eat when he could."

Ms. Firpo asked him about his state of mind. "I was in a bad mental state, I could not work out any more, at least then I couldn't." Ms. Firpo asked him about his emotional state. "Shattered for a while. I have to feel good physically to feel good emotionally."

"I would think about being shot from time to time," said Rhett August and that he had a general paranoia of being shot again.

Ms. Firpo asked him about his temper. "I always had a short fuse, " he said. She then asked him about an incident on June 24 which resulted with law enforcement arresting him. Rhett said he did heroin that day. he was at 2122 Spring Street and he knew the guy whose house it was since 5th grade.

"I left my girlfriend (now ex) standing outside. She was banging on the door". Rhett came outside and they were arguing. "One of the neighbors called and reported a domestic disturbance. Law enforcement responded."

They asked Rhett August if there was any contraband in the house. "I told them 2.5 ounces of heroin and 1 ounce of crystal (meth) and two 22 caliber pistols and a bullet-proof vest. I wore the vest all the time, even when I was asleep."

"If I got shot again, they wouldn't kill me; I was prepared to shoot back," he said. He had acquired the firearms shortly after he left his mother's house. "I had hoped to sell some of the meth, maybe a bit of the heroin. I was hoping to use the heroin." Rhett August told Ms. Firpo that he had used meth before but it was not a habit.

He said his girlfriend drove him there but had no idea "I had this stuff on me."

Ms. Firpo asked Rhett, "You have not been sentenced yet for the June 24 incident."

Rhett said he was cited and released. He ended up in custody on Halloween because he of drugs. He said Bodhi Tree and his path never crossed in jail. When he was released in February 2014, he went to the East Coast ans stayed with family, uncles and cousins. "I worked on cars with my uncle; had pig roasts with my family." He said he does not drink or smoke, not even cigarettes anymore.

Then he said, "I smoked some weed in jail."

He is 25 years old now. "I smoked weed since I was 14. Alcohol when I was 19 or 20. And other drugs since 22." Rhett August said that these were all major factors for his past criminal history. "It was all liquor based. When I am drinking, my short fuse gets worse."

Ms. Firpo asked him, "Why did you stop?"

He responded, "Because I left Humboldt County. Where I went no one does drugs. I want to start a new life. I don't want to do drugs. I want to get out of the lifestyle."

Mr. Russo did his cross of Rhett August. He mentioned he was on felony probation. This was the assault case already mentioned when he was testifying earlier. Then he mentioned the June 24 incident, which was also discussed in detail earlier.

Rhett August corrected Mr. Russo's narration of the assault incident. Rhett August said to Mr. Russo, "You said I punched him but he punched me. I was blackout drunk." Then Mr. Russo said that Rhett August was pleading for a guarantee of probation in the June 24 incident for which he is to be sentenced next week. Mr. Russo told Rhett August that it could be charged as a misdemeanor or felony.

"I don't know about guarantee, I am hoping for probation." Mr. Russo said that the Cruz waiver was offered by Ms. Firpo.

Having covered that case that Mr. Russo is referring to, when the Cruz waiver was offered, Mr. Brownfield was in court that day not Ms. Firpo. So when Ms. Firpo brought up this point on re-direct, that several prosecutors had covered the case, I knew it was the truth.

There was one part of Rhett August's testimony where after thinking it over said, he tried to stop the first fight but encouraged the second one. Mr. Russo tried to make it sound as if he was inconsistent and referred to Rhett August's previous testimony. Rhett August said to him that when he was talking to the Detective, "he was high on painkillers."

As stated in the smackdown post, Mr. Russo was unsuccessful in shaking Rhett August and his frustration was obvious because he ended his cross by saying, "Ah, just leave it."

In her re-direct, Ms. Firpo asked Rhett August if anyone had given him transcripts or reports and he said no. He was testifying from memory. She pointed out that Rhett August had no legal knowledge and that when Mr. Russo was questioning him about misdemeanors and felonies and penal codes, he would not know what that meant in terms of his sentencing. Rhett August agreed. Ms. Firpo brought up the point that there had been several prosecutors on his case.

She asked Rhett August "has the fact that you have not been sentenced colored your testimony?" Rhett August said No." Ms. Firpo asked if anyone had promised him a better deal if he testified and he said, "No."