By admin 
MARANA, Ariz. (13 News) — A criminal complaint obtained by 13 News spells out new details about a road rage shooting at Ina Road and Interstate 10 in Marana earlier this month, raising questions about whether a self-defense statute applies.
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The interim complaint states that four seconds passed from the moment the victim stepped out of his car to the moment 42-year-old Brian Pace shot the victim in the face.
Pace’s attorneys will have to prove that, within that time frame, he feared for his safety enough to believe that was the only reasonable action to protect himself.
Local attorneys said the threshold for “reasonable actions” in a self-defense case can be difficult to determine in a split-second decision.
“A lot of people may think that it’s, you know, I have the right to defend myself from- yeah, whatever. It’s not from your point of view, it’s from a reasonable person’s perspective,” said Chris Scileppi, a local attorney.
What the complaint alleges
According to the interim complaint, Pace claims he “lawfully discharged his firearm in protection of himself” after he felt a man was trying to run him off the road.
A witness says the man hit Pace’s vehicle with his hands more than once before pace opened fire.
Investigators also looked at video from dash cameras in the suspect’s vehicle and claims they did not show evidence Pace’s car was hit.
Scileppi said part of the “reasonable perspective” standard includes whether the opposing party was believed to be armed.
“There’s levels of self-defense. I mean, if somebody came up to your vehicle, you have a right to defend yourself. Yeah. Of course. If they have no weapons, though, you can’t use a gun,” Scileppi said.
In this case, the victim did not appear to be armed. According to the interim complaint, Pace’s window was rolled down as the man approached, and Pace had an escape route, meaning he could have driven away without firing.
Duty to retreat
Criminal defense attorney Louis Fidell said if the force was found to be justified, the existence of an escape route would not matter.
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“If a person is justified in using, uh, physical force or deadly physical force, uh, they don’t have, uh, there’s no duty to retreat,” Fidell said.
Scileppi said getting a jury to rule the force was justified is doubtful in this case.
“In these circumstances, I think it would be a tough,” Scileppi said.
The interim complaint cites other factors including “no verbal warning” and the speed of the decision.
Comparison to prior case
Scileppi said in a similar road rage case in which a victim was killed in a split-second altercation, the application of self-defense was not viable after the defense tried to allege the shooter did not know if the victim had a weapon.
“Ultimately a jury found that it was unreasonable for the person to use that force, and therefore the justification did not apply,” Scileppi said.
Scileppi did emphasize that the details of every case are different and while it is not a direct comparison, in that case, the charge was second-degree murder. Pace is charged with aggravated assault.
Fidell laid out the reasoning prosecutors use when determining charges to bring to a grand jury for final approval, which he said comes down to probable cause and the possibility that evidence in this case may not have shown intent for a more serious charge, such as attempted murder.
“If a prosecutor does not believe that evidence exists, then the guidelines are to not pursue that charge,” Fidell said.
Case details
Police said the man who was shot suffered severe injuries to his face, requiring reconstructive jaw surgery.
Pace is a Marine combat veteran and an arms instructor.
13 News attempted to reach Pace for comment but did not receive a response before 10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14.
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