"This is a third world country, wild west in Humboldt County"

DDA Kelly Neel's closing:

Ms. Neel showed a photo of Neil Decker to the jury and the shotgun Matthew Brown used to kill Decker. She had his last words typed on the screen, very powerful and emotional. "Mr. Decker can't be here to tell you what happened because Matthew Brown killed an unarmed man." Ms. Neel said that the killing was not justified and that Brown did not have a valid excuse to kill Neil Decker. "
She then picked up the shotgun and said that Brown had "this firearm strapped on his back." Ms. Neel said that Matthew Brown not parking in the driveway but a longer distance away was "so he wouldn't be seen coming and going."

In his testimony, Brown had said he parked where he did because he was concerned and wanted a safe route. He had said this after explaining why he feared for his life and things that night about being called up to Scott Johnson's house that set off red flags for him.

Ms. Neel said that "Matthew Brown knew he was going to kill someone" and that witnesses said that Neil Decker and Scott Johnson were unarmed. These witnesses were Decker's girlfriend and Johnson's girlfriend who openly on the stand stated how much she disliked Matthew Brown.

"So what the heck is this all about? Doesn't matter what I believe, what Mr. Elvine-Kreiss believes, it matters what you believe," she said to the jury. "Matthew Brown had nowhere to go, that's why he killed Neil Decker."

Ms. Neel brought up that Brown lied to law enforcement in his initial interview and brought up two felony convictions as reasons not to believe him. The only lie he told in that interview was denying shooting Decker. He did not go to prison for his two convictions and the prosecution's own witness, Johnson's girlfriend, Johanna Hames, who was in the adjoining room upstairs where Decker was shot, testified on the stand and the prosecution's own witnesses contradicted some of her testimony.

Ms, Neel said that Brown was "trying to position himself with Scott Johnson instead of Neil Decker."
Ms. Neel quoted Brown's ex-girlfriend and an ex of Scott Johnson's, Kara Williams (Kessler) saying that Brown had allegedly told her,"I will kill Neil for my dad if I have to."

"It does not matter how many crocodile tears he (referring to Brown taking the stand) cries up here, it does not change what happened that day," said Ms. Neel. She asked the jury to watch the interviews again and "juxtapose it with the sad face in court." Ms. Neel said that because Brown had loaded the shotgun and parked a distance away from the house, he had an "escape plan" and that showed pre-meditation. The jury did not convict Brown of  the charge of "wilful, pre-meditated murder."

"The person who can tell the truth is dead," said Ms. Neel. She was referring to Scott Johnson. It was the defense who questioned HCSO about Johnson's death and who the suspect was and they were tight-lipped.

Referring to Brown's testimony on the stand, Ms. Neel said, "Matthew Brown had six to seven months to concoct this version."

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss' closing:

"We all have moments we react to to based on our life's experiences. Neil Decker and Matthew Brown had a moment and sadly, Neil Decker is dead."

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss said that  the "evidence consistently shows the killing is justified."

"Matt experienced Neil as a vigilante in the Wild West. He knew as an outsider living in that area put him in a different position. He reasonably thought Neil Decker would harm him when Neil Decker came around that bed." Brown had testified that he shot Decker when Decker came at him and reached behind his back and that he had done this previously as if reaching for a gun.

"You heard Ms. Neel make theories. You can make up theories," said Mr. Elvine-Kreiss. "It's not reasonable to think there's a plan." Mr. Elvine-Kreiss said if there had been a plan, "Neil Decker could have been killed in the dark, in the driveway, with no witnesses. Why kill him in a bedroom with others around?" Brown had testified that he initially ran into Decker in the driveway that night and no one else was around.

"Each of you individually has a responsibility to weigh what is reasonable or not reasonable and give my client a fair trial."

"Matt got up on the stand and said he lied and why. He was honest, he was sincere, he was terrified." Mr. Elvine-Kreiss quoted Williams (Kessler) saying Brown " was scared shitless."

"This is not a plan he contrived so he could stay at a horrible place, you saw the property. These people chose to live in a lawless place with vigilantism and the wild west."

 Don't let emotions overcome the facts."

"Ms. Hames, she loved Neil and Scott. I have lost someone I loved. She tells you Neil was calm, that's not realistic or credible. Kara (Williams/Kessler) told you Neil was angry, my client told you Neil was angry."

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss referring to a statement Ms. Neel had made said, "At any point thinking that he could get away with it, is ridiculous. "

Referring to Brown's state of mind in that room before the shooting, "He was trapped upstairs with nowhere to go, he jumped off the balcony. Neil was pissed off, he reaches behind his back, Matt is thinking that this is the moment he is going to get killed. Scott (his dad) is not doing anything. He is lying on the bed near a gun hidden under the headboard."

"Matt lived  in intimidation in the Wild West." Mr. Elvine-Kreiss brought up the fact that law enforcement wouldn't give details on Scott Johnson's death. He was the only eye witness to the shooting.

"The People can sanitize this, but there are certain facts in this case. One, my client killed Neil Decker. Two, my client was scared shitless."

"In this well-lit room, we cannot understand the condition my client was in."

He brought up the credibility of prosecution witnesses. "Melissa Toner and Johanna Hames loved Neil Decker. Of course they are going to paint Neil in a different light. Neil Decker's family sitting in a courtroom intimidated Kara Williams (Kessler)." Williams still testified that "Neil was intimidating."

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss brought up that a prosecution witness, Laura Hall testified that Brown came to her the day after the shooting and testified that Brown showed genuine remorse for what he did. "This is not a cold-blooded killer."

"He was a caretaker so he moved the tools" to keep them safe, he was kicked out of living on Johnson's property (after Williams broke up with him) and he still came back to work. This is not someone trying to position himself."

"Everyone is trying to make a big deal that Matt didn't make a self-defense claim (to law enforcement). He is a felon with a gun who killed someone, he is not going to tell law enforcement that he hated Neil Decker. He is not going to write a self-defense claim, he gets a lawyer."

"People do not run away if they are not scared." Mr. Elvine-Kreiss brought up that HCSO Sgt. Sam Williams said that in seven years, he did not go that area alone. Others had testified that they usually went up there with someone, unless they had to alone, and preferred a partner.

"This is a third world country, wild west in Humboldt County."

 Mr. Elvine-Kreiss brought up that when DOJ's Kay Belschner testified, blood and fingerprints were not tested on a hammer from the crime scene. Forensic pathologist Dr. Super did not give any definitive answers but did say that the "victim could have been lunging towards the shooter."

Greg Benson, someone who had testified earlier about Decker shooting him "was not happy to be here" because Decker and he were friends. Defense had called him as a witness. "So in court, he tells you a different version of what happened."

"I brought detectives to show you the lawlessness of the area, they won't tell you who killed Scott Johnson, it wasn't my client." Referring to the gas can found by Johnson's body that was discovered 4 days after Decker was shot and what Brown told law enforcement in that first interview, Mr. Elvine-Kreiss said that "common sense would tell you  they were coming down to the cabin to burn it down and kill my client."

"I don't know why law enforcement won't talk about the deaths of Scott Johnson and Garrett Rodriguez. No one wants to talk about meth. Neil Decker's blood had  high levels of meth." Brown had admitted to doing meth earlier that morning. Decker did meth regularly but no one testified to any timeline. "Meth did not make my client kill Neil Decker, he could have killed him in the drieway, in the dark, with no witnesses."