Judge upholds charge against Southeast student

After hearing testimony from a young woman that a 21-year-old college student brandished a shotgun on the Southeast Missouri State University campus on May 6, less than a month after the Virginia Tech shootings, Associate Circuit Judge Micahel J. Bullerdieck decided to uphold the charge against Lemell Harlston.

His arraignment is set for July 30.

Harlston, of St. Louis, is charged with unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly flourishing a shotgun at Nastashia Johnson, 19, and her roommate over an altercation they'd had with his girlfriend.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Johnson, who transferred from Southeast Missouri State University to a different school following the incident, testified that on the evening of May 6, she and her roommate had been loading their luggage into a truck they were using.

They were outside their campus residence at Towers Circle when Harlston drove up in his red Dodge Magnum hatchback, two other cars in tow, Johnson said under examination from Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

According to Johnson's testimony, she had been standing about 15 feet away from Harlston when he got out of his car, popped open the trunk, removed a shotgun and began yelling.

On cross-examination by Harlston's attorney, Daniel Rau, Johnson testified the incident might have been related to an altercation where she said she and her roommate had been "jumped" by Harlston's girlfriend and more than two dozen other women.

Though Johnson admitted she hadn't seen Harlston load the shotgun, she testified that she found the fact that he had a gun to be intimidating enough to feel threatened.

"If he pulled the trigger, I'm sure someone would have been dead," Johnson said.

Sgt. David Willingham of the Cape Girardeau Police Department also testified. He apprehended Harlston by initiating a traffic stop in response to a call from the campus that a man had pointed a shotgun at someone.

When questioned by Willingham and another officer, Harlston told them he'd gone to Towers Circle to confront a group of students who'd threatened to beat up his girlfriend, according to Willingham's testimony.

At first, Harlston said he'd grabbed a baseball bat for protection when one of the students threatened him with a stun gun, Willingham said, but the story changed upon further questioning.

"Eventually, he admitted to pulling a shotgun," Willingham said.

Police searched Harlston's car after stopping him and did not recover the shotgun, Willingham said. Harlston later told police he'd passed it off to one of his friends, Willingham said.

Because neither witness presented by the state was able to testify the gun had been loaded, Rau argued that there was no evidence that the gun had been capable of illegal use.

Swingle countered by citing that case law dictates that flourishing the gun is substantial for proving the charge, and Buller-dieck agreed that the evidence was significant to uphold the case against Harlston.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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