Libby's friend testifies

EPHRATA - Two witnesses testified Ian Libby was calling Julian Latimer the morning of Sage Munro's murder.

Julian Latimer and his mother, Nanette Latimer, testified about waking up to Libby's phone calls. David Nickels' attorneys Jackie Walsh and Mark Larrañaga are arguing Libby, not Nickels, shot Munro outside of his Ephrata home on Dec. 29, 2009.

Deputy Prosecutor Tyson Hill had a brief set of questions for both witnesses before trying to end any further testimony about Libby being the shooter.

Nickels, 31, of Helena, Mont., is on trial for first-degree murder in Grant County Superior Court.

Julian Latimer testified he couldn't remember much about what he was doing the day before or the morning of Munro's murder, saying he learned it was a murder a couple days after the incident.

Defense attorneys have previously argued Julian Latimer was with Ian Libby at the time of the shooting.

The Latimers lived with his mother down the street from Munro's E Street home. He testified to having previous convictions for second-degree theft and third-degree possession of stolen property, and was on probation at the time of the shooting.

When Walsh questioned Julian Latimer about how often he saw Libby, he testified to meeting him occasionally, but not every day. Walsh brought up a previous interview with Moses Lake Detective Juan Rodriguez, asking if Julian Latimer remembered saying he saw him on a daily basis.

"I don't recall saying that," Julian Latimer said. "(It was) not on a daily basis ... Yeah, I've seen him. Ephrata is a really small town, you see people every day."

When Julian Latimer was pressed on where he was the day before and the day of the murder, he admitted to needing to ask his fiancee for details about what happened.

"My fiancee says he had stopped by (on Dec. 29, 2009), and he was the person who woke us up; knocked on my window to tell me about all the cops, and stood out in front of the house, because he lives on E Street too," he said. "When he came out he saw all the cops and the news crews and came down to tell me that something had happened. There were like cops everywhere ... I didn't recall that when I was being asked about it until my fiancee reminded me."

When Walsh questioned if Libby threatened Julian Latimer before he testified, he answered Libby hadn't.

Nanette Latimer provided a different story, testifying her family was going through a difficult time in 2009, and Julian Latimer was spending time with people he shouldn't be and using drugs.

She testified to learning about the murder within the day, when her daughter-in-law's mother called her with the news.

Nanette Latimer testified Libby began calling shortly after 6 a.m., waking her up. Her phone didn't ring again until 6:45 a.m.

"There was probably 50 phone calls between that time and when my son, Julian, woke up," she said. "They were all from the same cellphone number."

Nanette Latimer testified to asking Libby if he committed the murder. He laughed and said he did it.

When Hill asked Julian Latimer whether Libby was acting strange when he met Libby, Julian Latimer replied Libby wasn't.

"He was acting curious about what was going on?" Hill asked. "He didn't appear to be heightened?"

Julian Latimer agreed with that.

When Hill asked Julian Latimer if he was involved in Munro's murder, he said no.

Hill questioned Nanette Latimer about the phone calls from Libby, asking if Julian Latimer was at home when the first call came.

Nanette Latimer replied he was.

She also testified, when prompted by Hill's questions, Libby laughed after his statement.

Following Nanette Latimer's testimony, Hill argued that the defense should not be allowed to introduce any more testimony pertaining to Libby being the potential shooter.

"So far what we have as far as incriminating statements is Crystal Tycksen's statement that Ian, Julian and some gang guy were involved, and he denied being the shooter and then Ian saying 'I'm going to kill you like I killed that guy,' ... and finally the statement you just heard from Ms. Latimer saying Mr. Libby said, 'I did it,' and then laughing about it.

Following Tycksen's and Nanette Latimer's testimony none of the remaining witnesses could testify Libby was at Munro's house at the time of the hooding, Hill argued. The defense attorneys didn't have any evidence placing Libby or Julian Latimer at the scene, such as DNA or fingerprints. The remaining witnesses would contradict other previous testimony.

"We're going to spend two weeks on things that don't present additional evidence," he argued. "This is simply wasting time so the state is unable to get to the jury to show whether or not we've proven our case."

Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline denied the prosecution's motion to stop further testimony about Ian Libby being the shooter.

"Under the circumstances of this case, to put it simply, where the evidence against the defendant is entirely circumstantial, with one exception, and that exception is a purported bar room confession to a civilian, and the defense wants to argue the chain of events, consisting of some measure of Mr. Libby's own statements, that amount to potentially evidence of the same quality that is Mr. Libby allegedly confessed to some civilian. It's appropriate, in the court's view to allow the defense to present that kind of evidence," he said.

The second portion of the argument suggests the defense attorneys should be allowed to call witnesses to question other people's credibility, Sperline said.