Jurors find man not guilty in 2021 road rage shooting

SALT LAKE CITY — A man whose homicide conviction was overturned by the Utah Court of Appeals was acquitted on Thursday in his second jury trial.

This time around, Patrick Koaneil Brown took advantage of his right to testify before a jury composed entirely of men. He told them that he thought his car would be hit again or he would be shot at, so he chose to defend himself.

His attorney, Rudy Bautista, said he thinks the testimony from Brown had a "huge impact" on the jurors — it showed that he still has trauma from continuing to try to escape. He testified that the violence escalated to the point he felt like his only choice was to act — he was worried about getting shot or about the man following him to his home and taking the violence to his family.

Jurors found him not guilty of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two first-degree felonies and one third-degree felony.

Brown, 47, has been in custody for over five years since he was initially arrested in April 2021.

Case history

The 2022 jury found Patrick Brown was guilty of murder but that he acted with imperfect self-defense — meaning he thought he was legally justified but was not. This meant his conviction on that charge was a second-degree felony instead of a first-degree felony. He was also found guilty of the three felony discharge of a firearm charges on Aug. 25, 2022.

On the morning of his death, Darnell Brown was driving with his fiancee and two daughters while Patrick Brown was selling clothes in his car to Darnell Brown's friend, according to testimony from witnesses.

Darnell Brown stopped to talk to his friend and began to make fun of Patrick Brown's Range Rover. Darnell Brown's fiancee reported that he wanted to fight Patrick Brown and got out of the car, leading Patrick Brown to get a gun from his car.

Patrick Brown then got into his car and drove away, but Darnell Brown followed for several blocks while yelling, honking and trying to cause a fight, witnesses testified, until they arrived at a red light. At that point, witnesses said Patrick Brown told the other man if he continued to follow he would shoot him, and Darnell Brown then hit the back of Patrick Brown's vehicle, backed up, and got out of his vehicle.

Patrick Brown then made a U-turn and fired out his window at Darnell Brown, charges said.

"I got caught in the situation. I'm accepting responsibility. I ain't acting like I'm innocent. I know what I did was wrong. I wasn't tryin' to kill him. I wasn't trying to shoot him up there. But when he dumped out the truck, it scared me. I thought he had a weapon," Patrick Brown said in a quote appellate judges included in their opinion.

On appeal, Patrick Brown argued a detective should not have been able to testify at his trial that Darnell Brown ramming into Patrick Brown's car caused damage that could be considered criminal mischief more than aggravated assault. Prosecutors used that testimony to argue to the jury that justified self-defense under Utah's law did not apply.

The judges agreed that the detective should not have testified about legal conclusions and that it caused prejudice against Patrick Brown.

Verdict and outcome

This time, the jury was instead asked to consider a charge of manslaughter instead of murder. It found Patrick Brown not guilty on each charge after deliberating for about five hours on Thursday.

He was found guilty of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony, by 3rd District Judge Adam Mow after the trial. Jurors were not asked to consider that charge. Brown was a restricted person based on charges from 1997, Bautista said.

Because of the conviction, the judge ordered that he should be released on an ankle monitor ahead of his sentencing, which is scheduled for Nov. 5. Bautista said he expects Patrick Brown to be sentenced to probation.

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