Bend man’s 2014 murder conviction overturned

(Update: DA confirms retrial, says ruling was not ‘finding of innocence’)

More than two months after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the murder conviction of a Bend man in the 2013 shooting death of a house guest, attorneys met with the judge in the case Tuesday morning to begin the process of preparing for a retrial.

In its eight-page ruling, the appeals court agreed with Luke Anton Wirkkala, now 37, that on the night of the February 2014 shooting, “police impermissibly continued their interrogation after (Wirkkala) invoked his right to counsel,” and that Deschutes County Circuit Judge Stephen Forte “erred in denying the motion to suppress” that taped interview as a result.

A jury convicted Wirkkala after five hours of deliberation and he was sentenced in August 2014 to life in prison and at least 25 years before he could seek parole.

Wirkkala shot and killed David Ryder, 31, with a single shotgun blast at close range after a night of Super Bowl partying. He insisted that he acted in self -defense after being attacked and sexually assaulted by Ryder.

During a brief hearing held in Forte’s chambers Tuesday morning, a May 30 hearing was scheduled to set new dates for a trial and motions, court records showed.

District Attorney John Hummel confirmed to NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday that the case will be retried.

“The basis for the court overturning his conviction did not have to do with a finding of innocence,” Hummel said. “The basis was a procedural error in the trial.”

“There was no evidence of a sexual assault. There was evidence of a sexual encounter,” Hummel said. “We believe the two engaged in a consensual sexual encounter, and Wirkkala murdered the victim.”

At his sentencing, Wirkkala said, “I felt remorse from the second this happened, every moment since then. That being said, I believe every human being has a right to self-defense, and I was attacked in my home.”

Forte said at sentencing that he believed Wirkkala had the time to make a choice and made the wrong decision. He also said one lesson to be learned from the tragedy is that guns and alcohol never mix.

In reversing the conviction and remanding the case back to the trial court, the appeals court wrote, “It is undisputed that, after the defendant and the victim spent an evening drinking together, defendant shot and killed the victim.”

It then steps through some of the dialogue of a police interrogation the night of the shooting involving an officer and detective, including this comment by Wirkkala about five minutes in: “I appreciate the hospitality here, fellas, but I think I’m going to get a lawyer.” But the conversation continued, with Wirkkala soon getting upset with his questioners.

The court said the video was important, as the jury decided on Wirkkala’s claim of self-defense, it “was the state’s only evidence of defendant becoming defensive and hostile toward police upon mention of the victim.”

Wirkkala was returned from state prison and booked last Thursday into the Deschutes County Jail, held without bail.