The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled last week that a Tucson man shot several times by a Tucson police officer in 2019 received a fair trial, a justified sentence, and a proper order to pay for damage to a patrol vehicle.
Antajuan Stewart Carson Jr. is serving 35 years in state prison for convictions of attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault, and weapons misconduct by a prohibited possessor. The crimes occurred March 17, 2019, just six months after Carson left prison for convictions for negligent homicide stemming from the 2013 shooting deaths of two young men outside a house party.
Carson, 26, appealed his convictions and sentence for his 2019 shootout with a Tucson PD officer who had made what he believed was a routine traffic stop of a speeding driver. The basis of Carson’s appeal was multiple alleged errors by a Pima County judge before, during, and after his trial.
Court records show Tucson PD officer Alvaro Silva was on duty around 2 a.m. when he witnessed a car pass his patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed. The driver, later identified as Carson, stepped out of the car holding a gun and began to run toward Silva.
Carson fired as the officer took cover behind the patrol vehicle’s driver-side door. Silva then tried to get to the rear of his vehicle as Carson continued shooting and coming closer.
Silva, however, fell to the ground and while in a sitting position returned fire at Carson, who made it to the driver’s door of the patrol vehicle despite being struck by several rounds from the officer’s gun.
Investigators determined Carson fired 14 rounds in the direction of the officer, with numerous bullets striking the patrol vehicle. Records show Silva was not injured in the gunfight which sent Carson to the hospital in critical condition.
Silva would later tell investigators he started shooting when he saw Carson coming towards the patrol vehicle with a gun. The officer could not, however, recall if Carson fired first, detectives noted.
But at trial, Silva testified it was Carson who shot first and that the officer had simply been “very shook up” during his first interview. The Pima County Attorney’s Office and Carson’s defense attorney agreed the sequence of shots was unclear.
A jury convicted Carson of attempted first degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and a Pima County judge later imposed a 35-year sentence. Carson was also convicted in a separate trial of weapons misconduct by a prohibited possessor based on a 2013 felony conviction.
According to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Carson argued the trial court erred by not allowing jurors to hear testimony from a second Tucson PD officer about a comment Carson made at the scene within two minutes of the shooting.
That officer was prepared to testify Carson inquired as to Silva’s condition by saying something along the lines of “please tell me he’s okay.” However, the trial court agreed with the prosecutor that the jury should not hear what the judge characterized as “self-serving hearsay.”
On Dec. 10, the appellate court unanimously affirmed the trial court’s ruling, noting “whatever its probative value [of Carson’s statement], that value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.” The decision also found the trial court did not abuse its discretion by precluding the jury from hearing about Carson’s injuries.
Carson’s appeal included a challenge to how his prison sentence was calculated and to a court order that he pay restitution to Tucson PD for damage to its patrol vehicle, both of which were denied by the court appeals. And the appellate decision denied Carson’s claim that the trial court should have dismissed the aggravated assault charge prior to trial due to a Double Jeopardy violation.
Not mentioned in the court of appeals decision is information about Carson’s criminal history at the time Silva made the traffic stop. That history includes a 2013 aggravated assault, as well as two convictions connected to Carson’s involvement in the house party shooting.
Records from the Arizona Department of Corrections show Carson was released from its custody in September 2018.
