MOSES LAKE — Mike Cook doesn’t need a variety of words to describe what his late father, Robert Cook, meant to him. His descriptions of his dad paint a picture of family man who worked hard, loved his three children, was involved in the lives of his grandchildren and loved the outdoors.

“He was kind of an outspoken individual. He was a mechanic by trade for a long time and after he moved over here he retired and did contracting part-time to make bills. He loved fishing and hunting and he passed that down to me and my son too. He was my friend.”

Robert was 68 when his life ended almost two years ago in June 2016 after a stray bullet struck him in the back of the head as he was driving away from a Moses Lake bar. When Mike and his family received word about what happened they initially thought his death could have been a result of his outspoken nature.

“I was thinking somebody did it on purpose, you know. That was my first thought,” Mike recalls. “But it just turned out that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I really believe that is what happened. My mom had passed away in 2015 and a little over a year after she passed is when he got shot. He was just starting to get back to living again.”

Mike’s “wrong place at the wrong time” assertion hits the nail on the head. In the hours before Cook was shot court documents indicate a man by the name of Jose Rodriguez became involved in a physical altercation with a man named Loren Meade inside of Neppel’s Dockside Pub, since renamed Midway Pub and under new ownership. Rodriguez’s friend, Ismael Ortiz, got involved in the squabble and the three men were tossed from the bar.

Meade has stated that after he left the bar he retrieved a gun from his car and fired shots at a nearby vehicle. At around the same time Robert and his female companion got into his truck and started driving away from the bar. It was then that Robert was fatally struck in the back of the head by a bullet.

It was the prosecution’s stance that Ortiz fired the fatal shot in an act of retaliation against Meade. Ortiz and Rodriguez fled the area and were later taken into custody after Rodriguez attempted to convince a pair of fishermen to provide them with an alibi. Prosecutors believed the evidence pointed toward Ortiz as the shooter and the case went to trial in February. Mike describes the time period between his father’s death and when the case went to trial with only a few words.

“It was terrible. I just wanted it over.”

Ortiz opted for a bench trial and the matter was heard by Judge John Knodell. Days of legal arguments and witness testimony ensued. Knodell ultimately found the prosecution was not able to prove that Ortiz was the shooter beyond a reasonable doubt, which would have constituted a murder conviction, or that his actions, as Knodell states in his ruling, “proximately” caused Robert Cook’s death, which would have resulted in a manslaughter conviction.

The key evidence used by the prosecution during the trial revolved around eye witness testimony from a man who claimed he saw the shooter. The witness testified to only seeing the shooter for a few seconds, but he said he could see the man was light skinned, Hispanic, was wearing a white T-shirt with a gray insignia and jeans, had a goatee and weighed between 150 and 175 pounds.

The problem with the testimony is that when Ortiz was arrested after the shooting he weighed anywhere from 100-110 pounds more than the shooter the witness saw. Knodell states the witness’ description of the shirt immediately after the shooting was vague and he was not able to pick Ortiz, who was still wearing the shirt, out of a photo lineup shortly after the shooting took place.

In his written ruling Knodell asserts the witness’ memory of the shooter was “likely” a mixture of the characteristics of at least two people who ran by him. The judge also suggests Rodriguez could have very well been the shooter. Ortiz was acquitted on all counts, while Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness and was sentenced to 30 days in jail with credit for time served. Eleven of the days were converted to 88 hours of community service.

Mike says Knodell’s ruling wasn’t a big shock to him and, in his assessment of the situation, the prosecution “did what they could with what they had.”

“I think that John Knodell had an opportunity and missed it here. I think that Ortiz is just as guilty as Rodriguez and Meade. They were all there doing the same thing. They were all involved,” he said. “I think it was luck on Mr. Ortiz and Mr. Rodriguez’s part that nobody saw exactly what happened. Nobody saw their faces. Nobody was able to identify them and the gun wasn’t found.

“I guess they are good with some innocent bystander getting killed.”

Prosecutor Garth Dano told the Columbia Basin Herald his office is "horribly disappointed" about the ruling and he believes the evidence, even if "circumstantial," points toward Ortiz as being the shooter. Dano said the prosecution didn't feel Rodriguez had culpability in the shooting itself based on what he was wearing and the description of the shooter offered by the witness.

The prosecutor says the actions of both Ortiz and Rodriguez immediately after the shooting weren't the actions of two people who had nothing to do with the incident. In addition, he says he believes the gun that was used in the shooting was possibly stashed in the vehicle the shooter arrived at the bar in and driven away from the area as Ortiz and Rodriguez were running toward the Alder Street Fill after the shooting.

"I believe with all of my heart that Ortiz shot and killed Robert Cook," Dano firmly stated. "We are sick about this."

Ortiz’s defense attorney Michael Morgan offered his condolences to the Cook family and reiterated his stance that his client was innocent all along.

“I am sorry for the Cook family's loss,” Morgan offered. “It has always been the defense position that the evidence in this case was insufficient and that Mr. Ortiz was actually innocent. Judge Knodell was very careful in his consideration of this case and authored a well reasoned decision.”

The Cook family is ambivalent when it comes to the decision and Knodell himself. Mike has several reasons for feeling this way he says, one which relates to the beginning of the trial. He said he heard Knodell remark, in open court, the prosecution had a “weak case,” which Mike said made him feel like Knodell already had his decision made before the trial was underway.

“I kind of feel like he has forgotten that he (Robert Cook) was somebody’s father. Things that you say can have an effect.”

“I absolutely do not feel that my father got justice.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.