Jury begins deliberations after closing arguments in Tyler Ashbaugh shooting trial

Judge Stephanie Boyd of the 187th District Court sent jurors to deliberate Friday after attorneys delivered closing arguments in the trial of Tyler Ashbaugh, who is charged in an incident last year that the state says involved gunfire directed at San Antonio police officers.

The judge read the court's instructions to the jury before sending the panel to the jury room. In instructing the jury, Judge Boyd reviewed the elements the state must prove for aggravated assault against a public servant and for deadly conduct and told jurors they were "the exclusive judges of the facts proved, of the credibility of the witnesses, and of the weight to be given to the testimony," language the court repeated in its charge to the panel.

The state told jurors it had proven the case against Ashbaugh beyond a reasonable doubt, pointing to physical evidence collected at the scene and during the investigation, and to electronic records the prosecutor said showed the defendant's intent that night. Prosecutors argued the recovered firearm and shell casings, together with forensic testing and messages recovered during the probe, linked Ashbaugh to the shots fired toward a marked patrol vehicle.

Defense attorneys countered that jurors had the benefit of far more information than officers had at the moment they perceived a threat. The defense asked jurors to consider alternative explanations, including poor nighttime visibility, the defendant's admitted intoxication on alcohol and marijuana, and his documented need for corrective lenses. Defense counsel said those factors could have contributed to a misperception of the vehicle and its occupants and thus undercut the state's claim that Ashbaugh knowingly and intentionally shot at police officers.

Judge Boyd had previously read that, under Texas law as she explained it in the charge, aggravated assault against a public servant requires proof that the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon while intentionally or knowingly threatening imminent bodily injury to a public servant while that person was lawfully performing official duties. The court also explained the elements of deadly conduct and how the jury should treat voluntary intoxication: it is not an affirmative defense but may be considered on the issue of the defendant's mental state if the jury finds other elements proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

After closing remarks by the parties, the jury retired to consider its verdict. No verdict was announced from the bench at the close of the court day; the jury's deliberations will continue until they return a unanimous verdict or notify the court that they cannot reach one.

The case name in the court record is State of Texas v. Tyler Ashbaugh; the charges heard by the jury included two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and a count of deadly conduct, as read to the jury by Judge Stephanie Boyd. The court admonished jurors not to research the case or discuss it with anyone until they reached a verdict.