Wild trial ends in 75-year sentence

Lawrence shows the pump action of a shotgun. He took the stand Friday, acting as both attorney and witness, to recount his tale of the early morning events of March 17, 2009.

Concluding a stormy sentencing session Wednesday morning, Judge William Acey sentenced Lewis Lawrence, 22, Moscow, to 75 years in prison. Lawrence was convicted of three counts of attempted murder Friday.

The sentence was the maximum for the three attempted murder counts and three enhancement counts of using a firearm in the shooting at a Pullman apartment March 17, 2009.

Judge Acey told Lawrence he decided to give him the maximum sentence after hearing the defendant threaten one of the victims, Yuteson Fuaau, in the courtroom. Lawrence, who was shackled for the sentencing session, threatened Fuaau under what he said was a Nez Perce creed.

Fuaau, who had testified earlier at the sentencing, stood up from his seat at the back of the room and moved menacingly toward Lawrence after he issued the creed. His move prompted deputies to remove him from the sentencing which was done in the Public Service building auditorium. He was later allowed to return.

Judge Acey told Lawrence he was convinced the defendant intended to take three lives when he drove to the Fuaau apartments in Pullman over a year ago and discharged a newly-purchased shotgun in the apartment.

“You did take a life that night. You took your own,” the judge said.

Judge Acey pointed out the sentencing options open ranged from 60 to 75 years and he opted for the maximum.

The judge, who reminded Lawrence his final statement was supposed to be directed to the bench, said Lawrence had created an “alternate reality” with his version of the case, but he stressed the jury did not believe the defendant’s version when they convicted him Friday on a unanimous verdict.

Lawrence continued to deny the shooting. He contended if he had been the one to shoot into the Fuaau apartment, they would have been dead.

Lawrence’s outburst came after his foster mother, Paula Marley of Moscow, testified they had accepted him as a foster child and raised him since the age of six. She said when Lawrence arrived at their home he had a dark outlook, but that began to change as Lewis accepted love from the foster family.

She and Ben Day of Pullman, who is married to a foster daughter of the Marleys, pointed out Lawrence suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome when he was a child. Day noted Idaho cut off social services for Lawrence when he became 18.

Mrs. Marley said they decided to allow Lewis to move to an apartment in Moscow when he started working at Schweitzer Engineering. She said she began to realize Lewis was having troubles and urged Moscow police to check it out.

Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau, who presided in the state’s case, read a statement from Michael Fuaau, Yuteson’s brother, who was wounded in the shooting. Michael said he forgave Lawrence for his actions, but urged Lawrence to seek help and admit he was the shooter.

Yuteson Fuaau, obviously rattled by initial challenging statements by Lawrence, took the stand and stated his own challenge.

“An eye for an eye?” he said to Lawrence. “Please believe, you give me an hour in a room with you… forget that life sentence, bro. If it was up to me, you’d be dead, man.”

He forcefully told Lawrence to admit the shooting and repeatedly asked him why he did it.

“Fess up, man!” he shouted, pounding the table.

The jury’s verdict Friday ended a four-day trial on charges involving a March 17, 2009 shooting in which Lawrence discharged a 12 gauge shotgun into an apartment on college hill in Pullman. One of the three occupants in the apartment, Michael Fuaau, was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital for treatment of head wounds sustained in the shooting.

The jury returned its verdict after two hours and eight minutes of deliberation.

Lawrence, who has been in custody since his arrest early that morning, represented himself in court. The trial ended after Lawrence took the stand in his own defense and provided jurors a question-answer narrative of his account of the events the night of March 16-17.

Lawrence told jurors he intended to rob a different apartment at the Providence Court complex that morning. He said his intent was to take marijuana, black diamonds and cash from the occupants after learning they were trying to sell the items in what he considered his territory. Lawrence told jurors he was an OG, which he said stands for original gangster.

Deputy Prosecutor LeBeau in his final argument Friday said Lawrence’s actions that night stemmed from a dispute he had had with Michael Fuaau, Yuteson Fuaau and Aferom Zerai, the other two occupants at the apartment. LeBeau said Lawrence became upset when they had made plans for a dinner and Lawrence was asked by Michael Fuaau to provide a bag of rice. After Lawrence declined to bring the rice, he was told not to show up at the dinner.

Lawrence told jurors he and alleged the victims, whom he described as his “Samoan homies,” used to hang out together.

A video of the Pullman police interrogation of Lawrence, concluded the state’s case Friday as the jury trial moved into its fourth day.

The video shows Lawrence telling Pullman Police Officer Greg Umbright he had felt threatened by the alleged victims of the blasts. He told police he had been “hanging out” with the victims and they “just pissed me off.” Lawrence was shown on the video telling officers he took his last paycheck and purchased a gun to use on the occupants of the apartment “for justice.”

Among the state’s 13 witnesses was Rylan Wallace who was arrested with Lawrence in the early morning hours March 17, 2009, by Moscow Police. Wallace described a chain of events after he called Lawrence March 16 from Airport road where Wallace’s car broke down after he had worked at Schweitzer Engineering. He and Lawrence met while working at Schweitzer.

Wallace said later that night Lawrence purchased a shotgun at Wal-Mart in Moscow and said he planned to hunt turkeys. They went back to Wallace’s residence in Moscow where they smoked marijuana before driving to Pullman in Lawrence’s Chevrolet Blazer to the Providence apartment complex off Stadium Way.

Wallace remained in the Blazer at the apartment while Lawrence took the shotgun and went into the apartment entry. Wallace heard two shotgun blasts, and saw one man running away from the apartments.

Wallace, still in the Blazer, said he decided to leave when Lawrence appeared, jumped in and told him to “drive, drive.”

Lawrence in his cross examination pressed Wallace on what kind of an agreement he made with officers or whether he had been coerced. Wallace, who was sentenced to a year and a day, actually served seven months in prison after being allowed good behavior time. He pleaded guilty June 12, 2009, to a reduced charge of rendering criminal assistance.