Prosecutor questions girlfriend’s testimony in murder trial
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UPDATE: Idaho Falls jury finds Jake Eilander not guilty of murder
IDAHO FALLS – The sixth day of Jake Eilander’s second-degree murder trial on Monday focused on whether certain videos should be shown to the jury and whether his girlfriend’s statements to police were accurate.
Eilander is accused of killing 44-year-old Ulises Rangel behind Planet Fitness in Idaho Falls. The investigation into Eilander started after Rangel was found shot to death by a passerby in March 2022. Police later obtained video footage that showed an argument between Rangel and Eilander. Eilander was later found at an Idaho Falls home, where officers found a loaded handgun with ammunition consistent with evidence at the scene.
During Monday’s hearing, the prosecution argued for a video of Eilander’s girlfriend, Brandy Carlson, to be shown to the jury. The video shows Carlson being interviewed by police shortly after the shooting of Rangel and Eilander’s subsequent arrest.
Eilander not talking to police
A portion of the lengthy video reportedly shows Eilander not speaking to the police. That was something the defense took issue with.
Jordan Crane, Eilander’s attorney, argued that portion of the video showing Eilander refraining from speaking to police should be taken out and not shown to the jurors because Eilander has the right to remain silent.
“What is going to be in the back of their (the jury’s) heads?” asked Crane. “Why didn’t Jake take the opportunity to say anything?”
Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal argued the defense would try to tell the jury that Eilander stayed quiet rather than answer questions from police, because he was in shock and “traumatized” after the shooting.
RELATED | Second trial begins for man accused of murder behind Planet Fitness
“If they don’t make that argument, then we have no problem,” said Neal. “If they’re going to plant it in the mind of the jury that the reason that they didn’t call the police and hid in the garage was that they were traumatized, that argument will need to be testified to by an expert.”
Judge Stevan Thompson agreed with the defense’s argument and ultimately rejected the admittance of the portion of the video showing Eilander remaining silent.
However, Thompson allowed the admittance of most of the video showing Brandy Carlson, Eilander’s girlfriend, giving her statement to police after Eilander’s arrest.
The prosecution argued what was shown in the video differed from things Carlson said during her testimony on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Carlson told the jury she saw Eilander with a gun on the day of the shooting. But in the previous interview with police, Carlson said she had not seen a gun.
As a result, Carlson was recalled to testify again and was questioned after the prosecution showed the footage of her interview to the jury.
Girlfriend speaks to police
In the video, Carlson says she and Eilander were watching her cats play in the parking lot when a man came around the fence line and “just started glaring at us.”
“Jake said, ‘How’s it going?’ And I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ and he just went off on us,” says Carlson in the video. “It just kind of escalated from there. Jake kept telling him, you know, back off.”
Carlson then tells the officer that they did not know the man, and that he began yelling at them seemingly without reason.
“Honestly, we don’t even know what happened; the dude just came at us. I told him, ‘Hey, nobody needs any trouble, just calm down,'” said Carlson. “The guy looked at me and said, “F*** you too, you f****** b****!”
Carlson says Eilander is protective and told the man not to talk to her like that. She then says the man looked like there was something wrong with him.
“We had never seen that guy before. I have no idea who he was,” said Carlson. “Me and Jake both stood there like, holy s***,” said Carlson. “The dude didn’t look right, though. He didn’t look like a very nice guy. You could tell he was not. Something was not right about him.”
When asked what Eilander did after the shooting, Carlson says they walked off together until Eilander walked in a different direction.
Carlson tells the officer she went to find her cat and saw it run in front of a little girl, making her crash her bike, which is consistent with earlier testimony from one of Carlson’s neighbors who saw the little girl fall off her bike.
From that point, Carlson says she eventually met up with Eilander at a friend’s home, where Eilander was later arrested.
The officer asks Carlson if Eilander is “pretty big on the Second Amendment.”
She responds, “He generally packs one. He usually has it in a holster, but he didn’t have it in one today for some reason.”
Carlson says she never saw the gun but heard it go off when Rangel was shot.
“I just, I was kind of like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ And then I looked over, and I didn’t think anybody had been shot because the guy was still trying to scuffle with Jake,” says Carlson. “I thought somebody had shot, and somebody had missed. I don’t know.”
Officers then ask Carlson what she thought when she realized Rangel had been shot. Carlson responds that she doesn’t want to say anything else without an attorney. She then leaves the room.
She later returns, and officers ask what Carlson and Eilander talked about in the garage before his arrest. Carlson says they didn’t talk about much and tells officers that she wants to protect Eilander.
“I don’t want to incriminate Jake. I don’t. I want to help you guys,” says Carlson. “But at the same time, I don’t want to do anything derogatory toward Jake.”
The officer then asks Carlson if Eilander shot Rangel. Carlson says she doesn’t know for sure.
“I did not witness Jake shoot him,” says Carlson. “I did hear the gun. I did not witness Jake shoot the man with my own eyes.”
He then asks her if she believes Eilander shot Rangel.
“I don’t have an opinion. You can’t make me answer that,” says Carlson. “I would prefer not to answer that without an attorney present. I’m sorry, no disrespect.”
The video ends with Carlson stating that before the shooting, Eilander told her to “go, get away,” so she walked toward the fence.
“Maybe after that is when I heard the gunshot,” says Carlson. “Jake is really not a bad person.”
‘The testimony you gave last week was not truthful,’ says prosecutor
After watching the video, Neal questioned Carlson, asking her about some inconsistencies in her initial testimony and her statements to the police on the night of the shooting.
“The testimony you gave last week was not truthful in that right, is that correct?” asked Neal.
Carlson responded through tears, saying, “The statements that I made in the interview are, of course, accurate. However, it has been a year; it’s been a traumatic year,” says Carlson. “I don’t remember everything that was said that night.”
Proceedings are scheduled to continue on Tuesday at 9 a.m.