COEUR d’ALENE — A judge will weigh a request to dismiss a murder charge against a DoorDash driver accused of fatally shooting a pedestrian during a road rage incident near Stateline Speedway.

Edsel R. Johnson is charged with first-degree murder in the May 9 shooting of Bradley Rex, an offense that carries maximum possible penalties of life in prison or the death penalty. He’s also charged with reckless driving and battery, both misdemeanors. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

That Johnson shot and killed Rex is not in dispute. In court Thursday, defense attorney Ben Onosko and Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen sparred over whether the killing was justified. 

After a preliminary hearing in May, a judge found probable cause to bind the case over to the district court for further action. 

Onosko asked the court to dismiss the murder charge, arguing Thursday that the state didn’t meet its burden in the preliminary hearing and that his client acted lawfully. Under Idaho law, homicide is justifiable when committed against someone who is attempting to enter an occupied vehicle by force. 

“No evidence or testimony showed or indicated that Mr. Rex did not intend to offer violence against Mr. Johnson when he was holding open that car door,” Onosko said. 

Prosecutors said Johnson was attempting to deliver food May 9 when he encountered vehicle and pedestrian traffic along North Beck Road. Thousands had gathered in the area for the Lantern Festival at the Speedway. 

Johnson allegedly grew impatient and drove through the crowd of pedestrians. Several people jumped out of the way, Mortensen said, but Rex did not, instead remaining in place. Logsdon argued that other pedestrians were on the sidewalk and Rex was the sole person standing in the road, blocking Johnson’s path. 

As Johnson drove past Rex, prosecutors said Rex swung a lawn chair at Johnson’s van, hitting a rear window. Mortensen said Johnson got out of his van and “body slammed” Rex to the ground, then returned to his vehicle. 

Johnson got up and grabbed the driver’s side door, an action about which the defense and prosecution drew different conclusions. 

Mortensen said Rex had witnessed Johnson commit the crimes of reckless driving and battery and thus was within his rights to stop Johnson and attempt to place him under citizen’s arrest. 

“Mr. Rex was allowed to stop him from continuing his reckless driving,” he said. 

Mortensen said it’s possible to infer what Rex’s intent was based on the evidence. 

“I can’t put a dead man on the stand,” he said. “I’ve been deprived of that opportunity because he was killed.” 

After Rex grabbed the car door, Johnson grabbed a gun and shot Rex in the chest, killing him. 

Prosecutors said Johnson drove away from the scene but soon returned. He also called 911 to report that he had shot someone, Mortensen said. 

When police detained Johnson, he allegedly admitted to shooting Rex. 

“Ultimately, though, if that man didn’t hit my car, he’d be alive right now,” Johnson allegedly told police. “The reality is that this dude is dead over nothing. This guy is just dead because I couldn’t be more patient.”   

Onosko presented the shooting as the culmination of “two guys who are mad at each other and are going at each other” and argued that Rex was attempting to enter his client’s vehicle to “continue that violence.” 

“That is, under the letter of the law, on its face, a justified killing,” he said. 

In court Thursday, First District Judge Regina McCrea questioned whether defense counsel’s characterization of the lawn chair as a weapon was a “red herring.” 

Mortensen said Rex used the chair as a tool to stop Johnson from driving through a crowd. He said Rex didn’t attempt to use the chair as a weapon during the scuffle with Johnson, though he had it in hand. 

Onosko called the state’s reasoning that Rex was justified in hitting Johnson’s van with a chair “ludicrous.” 

“Obviously there are very divergent views of the facts,” McCrea said. “There are different ways of characterizing them.” 

McCrea said she will take the matter under advisement and issue a written ruling at a later date.