Attorneys disagree over how Marcus Keith came to be shot at the home of his longtime friend, Shannon Frank Ketchersid, on April 3, 2015.
Ketchersid is on trial for reckless aggravated assault in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman.
Keith was gravely wounded after being shot in the chest, but he later recovered and was to testify at the trial.
Prosecutor Leslie Longshore said of the shooting victim, "All he did was try to prevent his friend from doing something stupid. For his trouble he got a bullet in the gut."
Attorney Ben McGowan said when Ketchersid went for a gun after fighting another man who was coming back after him that Keith grabbed the Glock handgun and it went off.
Prosecutor Longshore said Keith decided to visit his friend at his home at 6809 Pine St. when his wife took their three-month-old daughter for an out-of-town visit. He said they were four-wheeling buddies and fellow gun enthusiasts. He said both drank freely during the evening.
Ketchersid's girlfriend, Ashley Parsons, was also present, and a former employee of Ketchersid who he had to fire and also kick out of his home showed up to retrieve some of his items.
The prosecutor said early in the evening that they examined Ketchersid's guns, then he put them away. She said when the ex-employee, Zack Hamlin, came in he brought marijuana with him and Keith made a comment about it being poor quality. She said that irritated Hamlin, who was finally ordered out of the house by Ketchersid.
She said Ketchersid wound up in a fight with Hamlin, and got much the better of it.
Prosecutor Longshore said when Ketchersid retrieved the gun that "it made Marcus very uncomfortable." She said he told him, "No, no, no. You don't need to do this." She said there was then a struggle and the visitor fell to the floor after being shot.
She said when police arrived that Ketchersid was in the shower.
Attorney McGowan said Keith had brought a 12-pack of beer to the residence and there was much drinking. Ketchersid and his girlfriend provided whiskey.
He said when Hamlin became angry at Keith that "Shannon tried to keep the peace" and finally got Hamlin out of the house. He said their fight went all the way around the house as Hamlin kept getting clobbered and climbing back up.
He said Ketchersid went for the gun when Hamlin began banging on the door and rattling the knob. He said it was known that Hamlin carried a gun and he thought he might have gone for it.
The defense attorney said Keith grabbed for the gun, inflicting an injury to his hand as he was burned by the slide. He said as he pulled the gun away it went off "and he shot himself in the abdomen."
He said Ketchersid went to the aid of his friend and began trying to revive him with CPR. He said he later turned the resuscitation over to his girlfriend and he went to take a shower because he was dirty from the fight and planned to go to the emergency room.
The jury heard the 911 tape with the girlfriend saying the victim was not responsive and was not breathing. Ketchersid could be heard in the background trying to get Keith to awaken.
Keith family members later credited quick action by paramedics with saving his life from the dangerous injury.