July 13, 2000
Attorneys for a man who gunned down two Wal-Mart employees after they chased him as an alleged shoplifter claimed Wednesday that their client was defending himself from an overzealous security guard who took the law into his own hands. But prosecutors said witnesses will testify that Michael Gherman fled the store after trying to steal a television and ended up shooting Robert Poduch and Hans Hummel as they sat in Poduch's car.
Jurors in the trial, which began Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court, must decide whether the shootings were premediated or a self-defense measure, and may consider the broader issue of how far employees should go in trying to catch a suspected thief.
Gherman, 44, faces two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Poduch, 32, and 17-year-old Hans Hummel on October 11, 1998 in Gilbert. The shootings occurred after Gherman was suspected of shoplifting a television and chased 10 miles from Mesa by the two employees.
Prosecutors exhibited a photo of Hans Hummel's bloodied left hand and the back of a notebook, found in Poduch's Pontiac Sunbird, that had "Toyto 890 BAP" written on it, figures prosecutors say match the license plate number of Gherman's Toyota 4-Runner.
Gherman's attorneys don't deny that he killed his two pursuers. But they claim he never tried to steal the television, and that Poduch, a security guard, violated store policies when he chased after Gherman.
Mostly, though, the defense is banking on testimony that points to Poduch as the aggressor, promising to put on witnesses who will testify not only to Poduch's reputation for aggressive behavior but also that his actions the day of the chase made them scared for Gherman.
"Gherman is not guilty of first degree pre-mediated murder. (Poduch) is a cowboy overly aggressive in his pursuit of shoplifters with his own brand of justice ... a bounty hunter who put people in physical risk and put Michael at risk when he did that," said David Cantor, Gherman's attorney.
The trial continues before Judge Robert Oberbillig.
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