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Harrison...gunned down outside his home.
The prosecution did not prove Shane Anthony Liggins killed Edward "Roi" Harrison, the defendant's attorney told jurors during her closing argument.

But, attorney Sandra Thompson continued, if jurors did determine Liggins fatally gunned down Harrison outside the victim's home, then it's a case of self-defense.

Thompson took 54 minutes Thursday afternoon to outline her argument to jurors deciding the fate of Liggins, 19, of 3400 Eastern Blvd., Apt. K2. He is accused of first-, second- and third-degree murder for the March 7, 2007, slaying.

Harrison, 25, worked two jobs and lived in the 700 block of Wallace Street with his wife and their three children. He was standing outside talking to a friend on his cell phone when he was shot three times, testimony revealed.

Immediately before being shot, Harrison said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I ain't got nothing, I ain't got nothing," according to Curtis Johnson Jr., the friend he was speaking with on the phone.

Earlier this week, senior prosecutor Joshua Neiderhiser presented three witnesses who testified that Liggins confessed to them.

Thursday morning, Thompson called witnesses who claimed that two of the three "snitches" confessed they were lying about their testimony in exchange for consideration in their own criminal cases.

Like the prosecution's three witnesses, the defense's own witnesses were criminals or accused criminals with pending charges -- and two are accused killers.

Who's credible? It will be up to

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the jury to decide which of these men were telling the truth, and Thompson did her best during her closing argument to discredit the prosecution's witnesses.

But during Neiderhiser's 38-minute closing argument, he told jurors that critical parts of the witnesses' testimony jibe.

"The same elements keep showing up in different people's statements," he said. "That's called corroboration."

Neiderhiser reminded the jury that Liggins confessed to York City detectives, saying he shot a man who "jumped out" from an alley and was holding a gun.

The prosecutor argued that Liggins knew he'd gunned down a man "essentially in cold blood" and therefore lied about Harrison jumping from an alley and carrying a gun.

"He knows he needs something to cover his own butt," Neiderhiser said.

But Thompson maintains that Liggins' statement to police showed the defendant shot in self-defense.

Defense at issue: Before closing arguments -- and with the jury out of the courtroom -- the attorneys and presiding Common Pleas Judge John H. Chronister discussed at length whether Thompson could argue self-defense.

"Can you even argue self-defense if your position is (Liggins) didn't do it?" the judge asked Thompson. "The two (theories) are completely in conflict."

After much back-and-forth, Chronister said he would allow Thompson to argue self-defense to the jury -- but then she would be unable to also argue that Liggins didn't commit the slaying.

Instead, the judge said, she could only tell jurors that the prosecution didn't prove Liggins killed Harrison, which is what Thompson did.

The jury was expected to begin deliberations Friday morning after being instructed on the law by Chronister.

-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com or 505-5429.