BAKERSFIELD, CA - Breaking news in the Taft Union High School shooting case.
Two years after the shooting, Bryan Oliver pleaded no contest today to two counts of felony attempted murder without premeditation and could be sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Oliver pleaded no contest to two charges of attempted murder. He pleaded as an adult.
In exchange, he is set to receive 27 years and 4 months behind bars. He was due back in court today for a readiness hearing. His re-trial was set to begin in less than two weeks on Jan 26.
Oliver was tried last month, and the trial ended in a hung jury.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Oliver was bullied repeatedly at school by Bowe Cleveland, and other students.
Oliver said he felt hopeless after years of relentless name calling, including a derogatory word used to describe homosexuals. The bullying extended to his red hair. And during a fight his freshman year, Oliver said another student placed a portion of his testicles on Oliver's face. Oliver said he told school administrators and teachers, but the bullying continued.
The gag order for the case remains in effect until the sentencing, set for Feb 26.
Oliver will be eligible for parole after 13 years.
There never was any doubt Oliver fired the shots that seriously wounded Cleveland and missed a second student. Oliver, now 18, but 16 at the time of the shootings, took the witness stand and admitted he was the shooter.
Prosecutor Mark Pafford argued the shootings were a premeditated attack in which Oliver planned to exact revenge for perceived campus mistreatment.
Trying to kill someone for that motive would be attempted murder, he told the jury.
Defense attorney Paul Cadman told jurors that witnesses proved Oliver was a closeted and confused gay adolescent who was relentlessly bullied by classmates, including Cleveland.
That bullying, which included sexual battery, caused Oliver to snap the day of the shooting, Cadman told jurors. He said Oliver was bipolar and a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder.
A shooting that resulted from that set of circumstances would be attempted voluntary manslaughter, he told the jury.
A conviction of attempted murder could lead to a life prison sentence. A sentence for attempted voluntary manslaughter could be as little as five years.
And those are adult sentences. If Oliver were to be sentenced as a juvenile, the sentences could be much less severe.
Cleveland was not Oliver's only intended target that day, prosecution witnesses said.
After he shot Cleveland, Oliver called for student Jacob Nichols, another 11th grader, who slid out of his chair and cowered behind a lab bench in the classroom.
Oliver fired at Nichols, but missed.
Witnesses said tears streamed down Nichols’ face as he begged Oliver for his life.
Before he fired again, Campus supervisor Kim Fields and teacher Ryan Herber convinced Oliver to put the shotgun down. Fields grasped Oliver in a bear hug until police arrived. Officers found the shotgun held six shells, and Oliver had 29 others in his pockets.
Nichols testified he had "messed with" Oliver for the first few years of high school because Oliver was a newcomer to Taft. At one point, Nichols momentarily choked up on the witnesses stand, telling jurors he, too, was bullied growing up in foster care and picked on Oliver just to fit in with other students.
Oliver testified he remembered little of the shooting. He recalled waking up that rainy Thursday morning and getting ready to go to school. He said blacked out before the shooting and the next thing he remembered was the sound of the gunshot.
Cadman, the defense attorney, brought in local psychologist Dr. Thomas Middleton, who said Oliver’s description of events is typical in some cases of PTSD.
Middleton told jurors it was possible Oliver was in a disassociative state when the shooting happened, and possible Oliver did not realize where he was or what he was doing.
Pafford, the prosecutor, brought in nationally-known psychologist Dr. Kris Mohandie who contradicted Middleton's assessment of Oliver's condition.
Mohandie testified Oliver's response to detectives -- that he knew how many shells were placed in the shotgun -- suggests Oliver was fully aware of what he did. Mohandie also testified Oliver did not suffer from bipolar or post-traumatic stress disorders.
Instead he said Oliver displayed characteristics of a conduct disorder with anti-social tendencies and narcissistic behavior. Oliver is semi-paranoid, Mohandie suggested.
Pafford painted Oliver as fixated on gore and violence. The prosecutors showed jurors a cartoon video Oliver reportedly watched within a day of the shooting that shows a My Little Pony character dismembering another cartoon horse.