Jurors at the attempted-murder trial of Robert Zlahn got a heavy dose of DNA on Wednesday as scientific experts offered different conclusions about whether another man touched the pistol used in the crime. <\/p>\n
The third day of Zlahns trial for the shooting on Main Street on July 1, 2011, was dominated by lengthy testimony from two DNA experts. A state crime lab expert who tested for gunshot residue and the first police officer to interview Zlahn also testified Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Zlahn, 26, is accused of shooting a .45-caliber pistol three times at Ryan Grosulak at the intersection of Main Street and Pemberton Lane. The shooting happened after Grosulak, a former star football player and a bodybuilder, tried to confront the men who had allegedly harassed his girlfriend outside the couples apartment. <\/p>\n
Zlahn is charged with attempted deliberate homicide, criminal endangerment and tampering. His trial before Judge Mary Jane Knisely began Monday with jury selection and opening statements. Court officials said Wednesday that the trial will continue into next week. <\/p>\n
Testimony on Tuesday included the accounts of Grosulak and his girlfriend, Alanna Vincent. She said she was terrified by two black men in a maroon minivan who confronted her outside her apartment and made sexually offensive remarks. <\/p>\n
Grosulak told jurors he went looking for the men and found them in the minivan at the busy Heights intersection at about 3 p.m. After exchanging words, the driver of the van whom Grosulak described as a black man with short hair shot at him three times, Grosulak said. <\/p>\n
Sean Bowers also testified Tuesday, telling jurors he had stepped out of the van during the verbal exchange with Grosulak and saw his friend, Zlahn, fire the pistol during the confrontation. <\/p>\n
Former police officer Joseph Dickerson was the first witness to testify Wednesday, describing how he was called to the shooting scene and interviewed Zlahn after another officer stopped Zlahn, Bowers and a third man, Samuel Bettie, as they were walking on Bench Boulevard shortly after the shooting. <\/p>\n
Zlahn denied being involved in a shooting, Dickerson said, and encouraged officers to go try to find the people responsible. <\/p>\n
Bahne Klietz, a forensic chemist at the Montana State Crime Lab, also testified Wednesday. She said swabs taken from Zlahn, Bowers and Bettie showed all three men had some amount of gunshot residue on their hands or faces. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nDNA experts testify at Main Street shooting trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"