BATON ROUGE, La. -- Attorneys questioned prospective jurors Tuesday in hopes of seating a 12-member jury to decide manslaughter charges against a man claiming he shot and killed a Japanese high school exchange student in self-defense.
Defendant Rodney Peairs, 31, has admitted firing one round from his . 44 magnum pistol into the chest of Yoshihiro Hattori, 16, on Oct. 17, 1992, beneath the carport of the Peairs family residence as the victim and an American classmate were trying to locate a nearby Halloween party.
Defense attorneys have said they will argue that Peairs shouted 'freeze' at the teenagers and then fired the fatal shot in self- defense because Peairs feared for his family's safety due to a recent rash of thefts and vandalism.
Investigators said Hattori, of Nagoya, Japan, and Webb Haymaker, a member of Hattori's Baton Rouge host family, rang the doorbell of the Peairs residence. But when Bonnie Peairs opened the door, she became frightened of the teenagers, slammed it shut and told her husband to get his pistol.
Police said that Peairs then confronted the youths outside the house, where Hattori moved toward Peairs saying, 'I'm here for the party.' Police said Peairs then shouted 'freeze,' but shot Hattori as the boy continued to approach him.
The case attracted widespread public interest in Japan, where 1.6 million people have joined a petition drive sponsored by Hattori's parents urging elimination of handguns from homes in the United States.
Masaichi Hattori, the father of the victim, was among those attending the trial. Outside the courthouse, the father distributed copies of a Japanese compact disc recording dedicated to his son entitled, 'Yoshi -- A Boy who Loved America.'
