Defense claims Portland man on trial for murder, hate crime was too drunk to knowingly kill High Dive patron

Rahnique Jackson’s wild mood swings and erratic behavior at a crowded bar patio shattered the convivial air of a hot summer night last year before he provoked a fight and then suddenly stabbed a patron 11 times, prosecutors alleged this week as his murder trial began.

The defense has conceded that Jackson, now 25, fatally stabbed 32-year-old Colin M. Smith at the High Dive bar in Southeast Portland just before closing time last July 2.

But his lawyer argued that he was too drunk to understand what he was doing and can’t be held culpable for the stabbing.

Smith’s friends and family, who filled both rows in a Multnomah County courtroom, previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Smith was defending a transgender friend who had been targeted by a hateful slur uttered by Jackson.

Jackson is also charged with bias crime, the legal term for a hate crime, and unlawful use of a weapon. He didn’t appear to have any family or friends in the courtroom Tuesday as the trial opened.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeff Auxier told jurors that Jackson had gotten into six different confrontations — taking offense when a bartender ribbed him for not tipping, annoying groups of women at the bar and alternating between telling strangers he “loved” and “hated” them — when his two friends and girlfriend tried to escort him out of the bar.

Instead of leaving, Jackson reached over the patio railing and threw an arm over Sara Claussen, one of Smith’s coworkers at the restaurant Ox, the prosecutor said. Claussen told Jackson to stop. When another friend, Bo Martinez, laughed nervously, Jackson became enraged and used the slur, Auxier said.

As Smith’s friends rose in consternation, Jackson shoved Martinez, then pulled out a knife, the prosecutor said.

It’s unclear if Smith knew Jackson was armed when he rushed into the fray. The defense claimed the two grappled momentarily with their hands on each other’s shoulders before the stabbing.

“He just wanted to stand up for his friends,” Auxier said.

Defense attorney Jason Steen described Jackson as a “recovering alcoholic” who nevertheless drank during a friend’s birthday while hopping from the Margarita Factory to the rooftop bar at Revolution Hall before ending up at the High Dive, where he consumed another two tequila shots and a beer.

“Nobody wants to be the guy who can’t handle their alcohol,” Steen said, but the question before the jury would be “what was the mental state of Mr. Jackson at the moment of the stabbing incident?”

Steen’s argument has significance because the charge facing Jackson, second-degree murder, requires that the jury find Jackson acted with knowing intent. But if the jury determined Jackson was too intoxicated to know what he was doing, the next available charge is manslaughter, which typically carries a sentence of 10 years. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence.

Witnesses gave varying descriptions of Jackson’s mental state during the first day of trial. The bar didn’t have cameras.

High Dive bartender Marcie Hennessy said Jackson showed none of the classic signs of heavy intoxication — he wasn’t stumbling drunk, slurring his words or exhibiting glazed over eyes, she testified.

Under cross-examination, Hennessy said she’s aware that Smith’s family has sued her employer for $9 million, alleging the bar is at fault for overserving Jackson. Hennessy acknowledged it would “not be in my best interest” to say otherwise, but said she was telling the truth regardless.

A patron at the bar, Lauren Turner, said she intervened earlier in the night when Jackson refused to leave two women alone. Turner, a former rugby player, said Jackson backed down immediately.

“We were nose to nose and we had our own little understanding,” said Turner, an intensive care nurse. “He wasn’t stumbling, falling or knocking over drinks, but he didn’t have a very straight gait.”

The trial before a jury of 11 men and three women, including two alternates, is expected to last until Monday.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe.