TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A man charged with killing a doctor in a road rage incident last month, is headed for trial for a felony, but Jason Jameson will face a less serious charge than prosecutors asked for.
In the case of a road rage incident that left a visiting doctor shot to death, a Justice Court judge had ruled that it should be tried not as the original Second Degree Murder charge but as manslaughter instead.
Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies say Jason Scott Jameson shot Doctor Jeffrey Honer in a road rage incident. Deputies say Jameson told them Honer walked to the door of his truck, punched him in the face then turned away. Jameson’s calling it self defense.
Prosecutors asked Justice Court Judge Alex Ball to decide if there’s enough cause to move the case to Superior Court for prosecution as a felony. That’s an alternate method to the more familiar method where prosecutors ask a Grand Jury for an indictment.
Second Degree murder asks a jury to conclude someone meant to kill someone but did not plan ahead to do it.
Judge Ball ruled because there was testimony that both Jeffrey Honer and Jason Jameson drove and acted aggressively and that it led to a heated argument, that it was more appropriate to send Jameson to trial for a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Judge Ball said, “The court notes that it does not say the victim was the one who initiated it or started it, just that during that quarrel or heat of passion that there was adequate provocation. I do find uncontroverted that that did happen.”
Doctor Honer’s family urged Judge Ball to raise Jameson’s bond above its current 185 thousand dollars but the Judge declined.
Honer’s brother Kenneth asked that Jameson pay a higher bond. “He intentionally shot and killed my brother and beyond the pain of that, I have not been able to sleep because I am so afraid that justice will not be done.”
A manslaughter conviction can lead to between four and ten years in prison. Second Degree Murder carries a range of 10 to 25 years. Now the case transfers to Superior Court for prosecution there.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
