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On Wednesday afternoon, Milwaukee jurors began deliberating the fate of Theodore Edgecomb for the 2020 road rage killing of immigration lawyer Jason Cleereman.
The jury will decide if Edgecomb is innocent of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree intentional homicide, first- or second-degree reckless homicide, among other charges.
Before his testimony on Tuesday, Edgecomb’s legal fate appeared to be clearly headed for an acquittal in the killing. But Edgecomb may have severely undermined his credibility–and self-defense argument–by his testimony that the gun “just went off,” which was quickly pounced on by the prosecution.
Edgecomb’s testimony that the gun “just went off,” was riduculed by the prosecution as him saying that the shooting was accidental, and not in self-defense.
The case revolves around the September 22, 2020 killing of Cleerman, 54, who was white, by Edgecomb, 32, who is Black. The case, because of its self-defense ramifications, has been likened to another Wisconsin case: that of Kyle Rittenhouse.
The state contends the deadly incident was precipitated by Edgecomb who punched Cleerman while he was sitting in a car with his wife. However, Edgecomb testified that the confrontation started minutes earlier when he alleges that he was struck by the Cleermans’ car while he was riding his bike.
After Edgecomb punched Cleerman, he rode off–but was quickly pursued by the Cleermans, who drove into a bike lane to catch up to Edgecomb. After Edgecomb went onto the sidewalk, Jason Cleerman followed Edgecomb who killed him with a single shot to the head.
