Courtroom gavel

A Mill Hall man convicted in a 2022 shooting will spend nine to 20 years in prison, Judge Ryan Tira said Tuesday morning.

Nigel Lee, 39, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime, though the jury could not reach a decision on a charge of attempted homicide.

The charges stem from an incident on Feb. 4, 2022, in which Lee shot Adam Butler, 44, at the residence of his friend, Mark Baskin, 64, in Porter Township.

“He wasn’t trying to kill him, he just wanted to get away,” defense attorney Jeana Longo said during the trial.

Longo argued that Lee was the target of aggressive behavior from Butler after arriving at the residence and effectively being trapped due to an ice storm.

Butler was described as “acting weird,” calling Lee a “scumbag” and referring to himself and Baskin as the “superior race,” Lee testified.

At one point, Butler said that if Lee had a problem with him, they could “go outside like men,” further threatening Lee by saying “(expletive) him, I have a gun in the truck,” Longo said.

During a phone call just prior to the shooting, Lee testified that Butler asked if he was speaking to the police, before stating words to the effect of “it won’t matter anyway. I know them. I’ll (expletive) you up before they get here,” according to Longo.

Rather than an act of aggression, Longo argued that the evidence clearly showed Lee was justified in his actions, and was only seeking to remove himself from a threatening situation.

In contrast, assistant District Attorney Matthew Welickovitch argued that the scene “strongly suggested an unprovoked, unwarranted attack.”

Baskin and Butler denied any threats or racial attacks had occurred before the shooting, Welickovitch pointed out.

Lee’s actions after the shooting, Welickovitch said, constituted a “consciousness of guilt,” stressing that Lee made no attempt to contact police after extricating himself from the situation and had discarded several items, including the gun used in the shooting, into a storm drain.

“I can’t put myself into the mind of Nigel Lee, but you have to ask yourself, would an innocent person do these things?” he asked.

Both sides testified to extensive drug use within the house that night.

Several people testified on behalf of Butler, repeatedly referring to him as a “great and loving father.”

Some described Lee as a “loyal friend, who is always there to help out in difficult times,” with one calling him a “grounding force,” who has helped quell her own temper flares.

“Nigel is not the sum of his mistakes,” one witness offered, pleading for a lenient sentence.

Welickovitch presented a number of prior violent acts Lee had been a part of including a 2000 shooting for which he served 2.5 years after taking a plea deal.

Lee has a “demonstrated history of unlawful firearm violence throughout his life,” Welickovitch said.

“Lee has a constitutional right to defend himself, but what he does not have a constitutional right to do is take the stand and lie, which is what the jury decided he did,” Welickovitch said, adding that the case was “only inches away from being a murder trial.”

While acknowledging Lee likely met confrontation from Butler, citing prosecution witnesses’ descriptions of Butler as a sarcastic, in-your-face type of guy, as well as the heavy drug use of those at the residence, Tira left no doubt as to the gravity of the shooting.

“When you point a gun at someone and pull the trigger, your aim is to stop the person on the other end from moving,” he told Lee.