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Manslaughter trial nears end Deliberations could start today By CHRIS BRISTOL Jurors heard closing arguments Thursday in the manslaughter trial of two homeless men. The defendants -- Howard Baker, 51, and David Zahner, 37 -- are accused of beating to death another transient in a fight last November that exposed not only the problems of homelessness in Medford but also chronic alcoholism and urban blight. The case was expected to go to the jury today. Jackson County Judge Dan Harris is presiding. Baker and Zahner claim they accidentally killed Ronald Pageau in self-defense after Pageau, 39, instigated the fight, which occurred outside a boarded-up and abandoned house on North Central Avenue. A postal carrier found the body the next day, Nov. 17, in the yard. An autopsy revealed Pageau's skull was fractured. In closing arguments Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert conceded that Pageau, described in court as a surly and combative drunk, started the fight. "No one is disputing that Mr. Pageau was the initial aggressor," she said. The fight apparently began after Pageau threatened a homeless woman who was staying at the house with her 8-year-old son and then attacked Baker when he tried to intervene. The woman had and on-and-off relationship with Pageau, and had invited him over the night of the fight. Baker and Zahner lived in a shed out back. They knew the woman, but neither man had ever met Pageau before that night. Heckert argued that physical evidence and witness testimony proved the defendants angrily overreacted to Pageau's provocation -- that they kicked and stomped Pageau's head after he had been knocked out and then casually dumped his body in the front yard. "What could Mr. Zahner and Mr. Baker possibly fear from Mr. Pageau when he was down on the ground?" she asked the jury. "Self-defense does not apply." Zahner's defense attorney begged the panel to differ. "This is a classic case of self-defense," Angie Lanier said. "I said so in my opening statement and I'm saying it again now. "Mr. Zahner was not the aggressor," she continued. "He did nothing to provoke. In fact, he attempted to calm Mr. Pageau down." Baker's lawyer, Lorenzo Mejia, noted that neither the defendants nor the woman and her son realized Pageau had suffered life-threatening head injuries in the fracas. Instead, they all feared Pageau would wake up and start trouble again. "We can all sit here now and know the sad result," Mejia said, "but that's not how you should evaluate the situation." Earlier Thursday, Zahner took the stand in his own defense and testified that he struck Pageau, who outweighed him by more than 60 pounds, only with piece of a crutch and only after Pageau attacked his pal. He denied stomping Pageau. Baker did not testify. "He was threatening my life, he was threatening Howard's life and possibly the woman and her son," Zahner said. "I did what I had to do." On cross examination, Heckert had the jury listen to Zahner's taped interview with detectives the day after fight. The jury followed along with copies of the transcript. Sounding noticeably less sober and a touch belligerent, Zahner complained that Pageau "got stupid" over the woman. He said nothing about fearing for his life. "What would you do if someone was beatin' on you?" he asked the detective in a challenging tone of voice. "That's what I'm asking YOU," the detective replied. "What did you do?" Zahner: "I beat back." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA