Local

Man accused of killing brothers takes stand in own defense

ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Late Wednesday afternoon Jason Clair took the stand to explain what happened outside a St. Cloud bar last year.

Clair is on trial, accused of killing two brothers.

Clair said he shot Joel and James Kun in self-defense during a fight outside of Len'z Dug-Out Pub in St. Cloud last year.

He calmly told jurors he thought he was going to die outside the bar where he had been arguing and fighting with two brothers. He said he had to defend himself.

Moments after taking the stand in his own defense, Clair told jurors his memory of the night he shot James and Joel Kun was foggy because the brothers had beaten him so badly.

"I was covering myself and trying not to get beat to death. I was afraid for my life at that point," Clair said in court.

Clair said one of the Kun brothers had a knife. He said both brothers had threatened to kill him.

He told jurors that by the time he pulled out his gun, his eyes were bloody and so swollen he could barely see.

Clair testified that he fired blindly and didn't even know he had hit anyone until the police told him later.

"I had concussions to my head, blood in my mouth. I don't remember being at the hospital," said Clair.

His testimony followed other defense witnesses who said they also saw the Kun brothers attack Clair.

"They were kicking him in the face, stomping him in the head, I couldn't watch anymore," said witness Jamie Terrell in court.

That's in sharp contrast to state witnesses who told jurors that Clair was not seriously hurt during a scuffle with the Kuns, and that his injuries came from an angry mob that tackled him after the shootings.

State witnesses said the brothers were walking away from Clair in the bar's parking lot when Clair grabbed a gun and fired.

Some of the testimony contradicted Clair's arguments of self-defense, and so far, the biggest example of that came at the beginning of testimony.

Jurors heard from medical examiner Gary Utz. He used a diagram to show them the injuries sustained by the Kun brothers in the shooting. Utz testified that Joel Kun was shot in the head, chest and arms, and that James Kun had a total of 10 gunshot wounds on his body.

On Tuesday, witnesses testified that Clair fired at the brothers even after they were already on the ground and unable to move.

The brothers and Clair had been kicked out of the bar for fighting, and not long after, Clair shot them in the parking lot.

There was a big crowd of people in the parking lot moments after the shootings, some whom tackled Clair and held him down.

An officer who was there the night of the shooting described the scene for jurors.

"I seen about 40 people outside of the establishment yelling and screaming. Complete chaos. I approached and seen three white males holding one white male to the ground, saying he's the shooter," said the officer.

The defense attorney questioned whether people had access to the crime scene and if any evidence may have been tampered with. But so far, there is no indication that happened.