Jason Coday

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Jason Michael Coday (born February 7, 1978) [1] is a man from Vernal, Utah. [2] [ clarification needed ] On May 15, 2007, he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Simone Yung Kim behind the Fred Meyer store in Juneau, Alaska on August 4, 2006. [3] It was the city's first murder in five years. [4]

Vernal, Utah City in Utah, United States

Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, United States, about 175 miles (280 km) east of Salt Lake City and 20 miles (32 km) west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown to 10,844 as of the 2014 population estimate.

Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are located in the western U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company merged with Kroger in 1999, though the stores are still branded Fred Meyer. The chain was one of first in the United States to promote one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, bank, clothing, jewelry, home decor, home improvement, garden, electronics, restaurant, shoes, sporting goods, and toys.

Contents

History

Coday was a drifter doing odd jobs. The week before Kim's death, he had worked in Ketchikan, Alaska at a fish processing plant; he had planned to do similar work in Juneau. [4]

Ketchikan, Alaska City in Alaska, United States

Ketchikan is a city in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost city in Alaska. With a population at the 2010 census of 8,050, it is the fifth-most populous city in the state, and tenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included. The surrounding borough, encompassing suburbs both north and south of the city along the Tongass Highway, plus small rural settlements accessible mostly by water, registered a population of 13,477 in that same census. Estimates put the 2017 population at 13,754 people. Incorporated on August 25, 1900, Ketchikan is the earliest extant incorporated city in Alaska, because consolidation or unification elsewhere in Alaska resulted in dissolution of those communities' city governments. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, so named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver.

Fish processing economic activity

The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming.

I never really had one [job] to stick with.
— Jason Coday, during a police interrogation [4]

Two months prior to Kim's death, he had been accused of a similar gun crime in Nevada, when he allegedly harassed the Top family in Sandy Valley. Upon being arrested, he was found with methamphetamine (which he admitted to having used when questioned by police) and marijuana in addition to a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition. He is a registered felon in that state.[ clarification needed ] Coday skipped bail and a warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2006. [4]

Nevada State of the United States of America

Nevada is a state in the Western United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 32nd most populous, but the 9th least densely populated of the U.S. states. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital, however, is Carson City.

Sandy Valley, Nevada Unincorporated community in Nevada, United States

Sandy Valley is an unincorporated community in the Mesquite Valley in west-central Clark County, Nevada, United States. Sandy Valley has a variant name of Sandy, Nevada. The population was 2,051 at the 2010 census. Sandy Valley is bordered on the East by the southern extension of the Spring Mountains and on the west by the California state line. Sandy Valley began in the 19th century as the five mining communities of Kingston, Sandy, Ripley, Mesquite, and Platina. It is approximately forty-five miles from Las Vegas.

Methamphetamine chemical

Methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphetamine was discovered in 1893 and exists as two enantiomers: levo-methamphetamine and dextro-methamphetamine. Methamphetamine properly refers to a specific chemical, the racemic free base, which is an equal mixture of levomethamphetamine and dextromethamphetamine in their pure amine forms. It is rarely prescribed over concerns involving human neurotoxicity and potential for recreational use as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant, among other concerns, as well as the availability of safer substitute drugs with comparable treatment efficacy. Dextromethamphetamine is a much stronger CNS stimulant than levomethamphetamine.

Coday came to Juneau on August 2, 2006 aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry M/V Matanuska. That same day, he is believed to have illegally taken a gun from Rayco Sales, a Juneau gun store located across Egan Drive from Fred Meyer, leaving $200 on the counter. He also bought ammunition at the Fred Meyer store using cash. The murder of Simone Yung Kim, a painting contractor from Anchorage who was involved in construction work occurring at the store, was apparently a random act of violence. Coday allegedly shot Kim in the face and continued to shoot the victim using two more rounds of ammunition. [4] Juneau resident Ed Buyarski attempted to take the gun from Coday but the latter escaped into the woods behind the store. [5] Buyarski, whose training in hunting had included muzzle control, notified the police. On July 19, he was awarded a commendation from the Alaska Peace Officers Association for his actions. [6]

MV <i>Matanuska</i>

MV Matanuska, colloquially known as the Mat, is a mainline Malaspina-class ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Alaska Route 7 is a state highway in the Alaska Panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It consists of four unconnected pieces, serving some of the Panhandle communities at which the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop, and connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.

Anchorage, Alaska Consolidated city-borough in Alaska, United States

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state's total population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state's population. At 1,706 square miles of land area, the city is the fourth largest city by land in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, at 1,212 square miles.

Trial details

Coday's bail had been set at $1 million. [2] The trial, State of Alaska v. Coday, [7] began on Monday, May 7, 2007. The defense attempted to have Coday's arrest and the gathering of evidence in the case deemed illegal, due to inconsistencies in witnesses' description of the suspect at the time of the arrest, [8] but Juneau-based Alaska Superior Court Judge Michael Thompson decided against the motion. [5]

Jury selection began on May 8 and concluded the following day. [9] Testimony lasted from May 10 [10] and ended on May 15, when the jury began deliberation. [11]

Jury selection is the selection of the people who will serve on a jury during a jury trial. The group of potential jurors is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. Jury lists are compiled from voter registrations and driver license or ID renewals. From those lists, summons are mailed. A panel of jurors is then assigned to a courtroom. The prospective jurors are randomly selected to sit in the jury box. At this stage they will be questioned in court by the judge and/or attorneys in the United States. Depending on the jurisdiction, attorneys may have an opportunity to mount a challenge for cause argument or use one of a limited number of peremptory challenges. In some jurisdictions that have capital punishment, the jury must be death-qualified to remove those who are opposed to the death penalty. Jury selection and techniques for voir dire are taught to law students in trial advocacy courses. However, attorneys sometimes use expert assistance in systematically choosing the jury, although other uses of jury research are becoming more common. The jury selected is said to have been "empaneled".

The prosecution used the testimony of two Fred Meyer workers who witnessed the killing. In addition, the owner of Rayco Sales, Ray Coxe, testified that Coday had illegally taken a .22-caliber rifle from the store and left two $100 bills on the counter. The rifle was identified as the murder weapon. DNA evidence pointed to Coday as the killer with the odds of an error being about 1 in 49 billion. [12] Tracks from Coday's shoes at the crime scene were another factor. [8]

Upon the reading of the verdict, Coday head-butted his own attorney, public defender [1] David Seid, and was taken out of the courtroom. [3] Coday received 99 years in prison for Kim's death, and an additional two years for weapons misconduct, for sawing off the end of the murder weapon. He will be eligible for parole in 2046. [13]

The Juneau Empire reported on July 31, 2008 that Kim's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Coday and Coxe. Court documents filed in the suit allege that Coxe should have known better than to leave Coday alone in the store with the firearm he wound up stealing.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Defendant - Summary (1JU-06-01007CR State of Alaska vs. Coday, Jason M)". CourtView. Alaska Court System . Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Bail remains at $1 million for Utah man in murder case". Juneau Empire . 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  3. 1 2 Skinner, Greg (2007-05-16). "Coday found guilty, attacks his attorney". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Skinner, Greg (2007-05-06). "2006 Shopping center slaying: Trial set for 1st murder in 5 years". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  5. 1 2 Lewis, Ken (2007-05-08). "Shopping center slaying: Judge rules that Coday was legally arrested". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  6. ↑ Keeker, Korry (2007-07-20). "The right man at the right time". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  7. ↑ "State of Alaska Department of Law Monthly Report, May 2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  8. 1 2 Lewis, Ken (2007-05-07). "Shopping center slaying: Defense claims man's arrest 'illegal'". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  9. ↑ Skinner, Greg (2007-05-09). "Shopping center slaying: Jury selection to enter its second day". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  10. ↑ Skinner, Greg (2007-05-10). "Shopping center slaying: Testimony begins in murder trial". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  11. ↑ Skinner, Greg (2007-05-15). "Jury deliberates in Coday murder trial". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  12. ↑ Skinner, Greg (2007-05-13). "Coday prosecution reveals DNA evidence". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  13. ↑ Skinner, Greg (2007-08-12). "Coday receives 101 years". Juneau Empire . Retrieved 2008-01-17.
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