“I\u2019m sure it was my body but not my mind\u2026 This body did this. This mind never could.”
\nThat\u2019s what Hans Petersen told a jury March 11 as he tried to explain what happened when he allegedly shot a former neighbor and his former brother-in-law in separate incidents in La Jolla in 2013.
\nPetersen, 50, of University City, insisted that he blacked out during both shootings and does not recall anything until being struck in the head with his own gun by Ronald Fletcher around 6:45 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2013.
\nThe former CEO of several biotech companies was asked if he recalled any details from the 3 a.m. shooting of Steven Dowdy or of wounding Fletcher in the stomach, but Petersen said he didn\u2019t remember anything.
\nThe only clear memory he has, he testified, is waking up on the carpeted floor of Fletcher\u2019s home on Cottontail Lane under arrest and with his head bleeding. Before that, Petersen said he only remembered going to bed that night and taking prescription medication.
\nPetersen is charged with three counts of premeditated attempted murder of Steven and Lisa Dowdy and Fletcher and firing into an occupied dwelling. He is also accused of displaying a firearm in a threatening manner to Michael Nielsen, an emergency room physician, on his way home at 5 a.m. on Ravenswood Road in La Jolla.
\nPetersen was to conclude his testimony March 12 before the six-man, six-woman jury and San Diego Superior Court Judge Leo Valentine Jr.
\nSteven Dowdy, a UCSD professor, hired Petersen to be CEO of a biotech company he founded in 2006, but Petersen was fired in 2010. Fletcher\u2019s sister was Petersen\u2019s wife for many years, but they divorced in 2012. Fletcher, 51, is a real estate agent in La Jolla. Petersen testified in detail about his history of seizures and medications taken to lessen them. He also said he took tranquilizers, anti-depressants, alcohol and other prescription drugs. He told the jury several times one anti-seizure medication was “a horrible drug.”
\nFletcher\u2019s surveillance video camera captured a struggle between the two men in a family room after Fletcher was wounded. He was asked if he remembered the fight, the attempt to destroy Fletcher\u2019s phone and his repeated lecturing him. Petersen said he only recalled being hit in the head by Fletcher with his gun.
\nUnder cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Amy Maund, Petersen said, “I\u2019m saying I have no memory until I\u2019m in Ron Fletcher\u2019s home.”
\nMaund cited details, such as Steven Dowdy recalling that he heard the back gate open, and that after several shots were fired Dowdy saw a person wearing a hoodie and with a gun. Petersen said he had “no memory of that entire event.”
\n“I don\u2019t know how I managed to get there. Whatever they say I did, it must be true,” said Petersen. “I don\u2019t know what I was doing with the hoodie on.”
\n“You shot into the Dowdy home, didn\u2019t you?” asked Maund.
\n“Apparently, yes,” replied Petersen, adding that he had no intent to kill.
\n“This mind was not there at this crime scene. I wasn\u2019t there. This mind wasn\u2019t there,” said Petersen. “I hate that person in the (Fletcher) video,” he added, referring to himself.
\nMaund held up the large rock used to break into Fletcher\u2019s home and asked him where he got it. “I\u2019ve never held that rock; at least my mind hasn\u2019t. The evidence shows I did, but I have no recollection of what I did,” said Petersen.
\n“You wanted Ron Fletcher to die, didn\u2019t you?” asked Maund.
\n“I don\u2019t want Ron Fletcher to die,” replied Petersen. Maund asked Petersen if he recalled telling the intake nurse in jail that he had not suffered any seizures in years, but Petersen said he doesn\u2019t remember saying that. He told jurors that the medications he had taken had “ruined my life.”
\nPetersen’s attorney, Marc Carlos, told jurors in his opening statement that they must determine what Petersen\u2019s state of mind was during the shootings. Carlos said the medications affected his conduct and that a brain injury in 1987 started with him suffering seizures.
\nPetersen said he purchased the .45 semi-automatic pistol in April of 2013, when he was temporarily living in Washington. He said he never fired it before. Maund showed him his receipt, which said it was purchased for $949. He remembered buying the gun, noting there was a waiting period in Washington.
\nWatching the trial over two days were students from Torrey Pines High School. Petersen has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces three life terms plus 25 years on each gun allegation. He remains in jail on $5 million bail.
\n— Neal Putnam<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“I\u2019m sure it was my body but not my mind\u2026 This body did this. This mind never could.” That\u2019s what Hans Petersen told a jury March 11 as he tried to explain what happened when he allegedly shot a former neighbor and his former brother-in-law in separate incidents in La Jolla in 2013. Petersen, 50, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":260641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Not my mind,' Petersen testifies in dual shooting trial","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}