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SALT LAKE CITY — The federal murder case against a man accused of killing one person and wounding another is headed to trial after a ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and a new indictment.
Philbert Rentz is accused of firing a single shot that passed through the body of Verveen Dawes and into the heart of Tedrick Francis, who was standing behind him. Dawes survived the shooting, which happened in July 2011 at a Navajo Nation housing complex in Aneth, San Juan County. Francis, however, died at the scene.
Rentz was indicted one month later on charges of murder while within Indian Country, assault resulting in serious bodily injury while within Indian Country, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The federal grand jury assigned to the case also indicted him on two counts of using a firearm to commit a violent crime.
That's where the case hit a snag.
Lawyers for Rentz argued that he only fired the gun once; therefore, charging him with two counts of using a firearm amounted to double jeopardy. A federal judge agreed and dismissed one of the counts.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah challenged that decision, arguing that one count was connected to the murder charge and the other was connected to the assault charge.
In November 2013, a three-judge panel from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with federal prosecutors and reinstated the second charge for use of a firearm.
The defense appealed the ruling and asked the entire 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to look at the case. In February, the majority of the court ruled that the second charge should have been dismissed.
The ruling came after an extended analysis of the statutory language, which Judge Neil Gorsuch — writing for the majority — described as "a bramble of prepositional phrases" that "may excite the grammar teacher" but have "certainly kept the federal courts busy."
Our job is always in the first instance to follow Congress' directions. But if those directions are unclear, the tie goes to the presumptively free citizen and not the prosecutor.
–Judge Neil Gorsuch
"Our job is always in the first instance to follow Congress' directions," Gorsuch wrote. "But if those directions are unclear, the tie goes to the presumptively free citizen and not the prosecutor. Here that means the government must prove both a use, carry or possession (of a firearm during a violent crime), as well as a qualifying crime."
Based on the appellate court's ruling, federal prosecutors obtained a new indictment Wednesday. Rentz, 28, is still charged with murder, assault, use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Now he also faces a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon while within Indian Country.
Rentz claims in court records that he shot Dawes and Francis in self-defense. The two men approached a pickup truck Rentz was riding in after it drove through a housing complex more than once before stopping in front of a home.
Dawes and Francis started talking to the driver, Llewellyn Dee Benally. Both Benally and Rentz were holding rifles, according to charging documents.
Dawes told the FBI that Benally pointed an AK-47-type assault rifle at him, so he grabbed the barrel of the gun. That's when Rentz leaned across the front seat, pointed a 9 mm Hi-Point rifle through the driver's side window and pulled the trigger, investigators said.
"The bullet passed through Dawes and hit Francis, who was standing behind Dawes," the charges state.
Benally fled the housing area, firing his rifle four times as he left, investigators said. He, Rentz and a third man then drove around for several hours discussing how to get rid of the guns, according to the complaint.
The men were caught after a police chase that ended when Benally rolled the truck several times. During an interview with police, Rentz admitted to firing the shot that injured Dawes and killed Francis, according to the charges.
Benally pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and fleeing in May 2012. A federal judge sentenced him to two years in prison.
Rentz has been in custody since his arrest in 2011. A five-day jury trial in his case is scheduled to begin May 11.
