Held at Gunpoint, Put on Trial for Shooting Back: Portland Jury Delivers Verdict
In a story that feels ripped from a dystopian novel, a Portland pot shop employee who survived being held at gunpoint by three armed, masked robbers somehow ended up fighting for his own freedom in court.
As Colion Noir put it, the quickest way to go from victim to defendant in Portland is simple: survive the attack.
The case centered on 35-year-old Jason Steiner, who was working alone at the Lamoda Cannabis Shop on October 3, 2024, when three masked men burst in and held him at gunpoint.
Surveillance video shows the robbers forcing Steiner out of the building. Once outside, Steiner went around the corner, retrieved a semi-auto pistol from his bag, returned, and fired 13 shots: killing the armed assailants. He immediately retreated across the street and called 911.
That should have been the end. Instead, prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of murder and unlawful use of a weapon, arguing he “could have just left.” His legal team countered that he acted in pure self-defense after being kidnapped at gunpoint.
Steiner then spent a week and a half in trial reliving the moment a gun was pressed to his head. Only now with the state treating him as the threat.
The jury didn’t buy it.
They returned not-guilty verdicts on every major charge, including two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and one count of attempted murder. Steiner broke down in court as the decisions were read, finally cleared of wrongdoing in the very incident he barely survived.
No Score
Guns America
Hat tip to AW1 Rod for the link.
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms….The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
— Thomas Jefferson
Wow. A frikin jury in Oregon actually acquitted this man. I am gobsmacked. I don’t even know what that means. I read an article that stated 2 of the 3 robbers were killed and their families ran out of the courtroom crying after the verdicts. Sorry, maybe junior shouldn’t rob folks. The 3rd was shot and killed in a separate incident later. These fools were going for citizen of year awards, obviously. Their deaths are a tragedy for their families but appear to be well deserved.
Mr. Steiner has won the criminal fight, and properly so IMO. If you decide to do an armed robbery and shove a gun in the victims face you deserve to be removed from the gene pool with extreme prejudice.
Now I am sure there will be at least 2 wrongful death suits because the family of the felons will demand “justice” ignoring the fact that their offspring caused the situation and got justice at the scene.
I hope Mr. Steiner has some funding backing as he will likely be in debt the rest of his life over this. Lawyers aren’t free.
Hate to be the contrarian, but this is almost the definition of a bad shoot. Yes, the store was being robbed and he was assaulted. But he was disengaged, able to go around the corner – coulda gone around the block even – but after arming himself chose to reengage despite the imminent threat having passed. If I were his lawyer, I would want to be paid in advance. Kudos to his lawyer, though, for winning that dog of a case.
Yes, but I’m glad the jury nullified that. Plus, the legal argument could be made that he did fear that they would further their attack after a disagreement concerning possible witnesses. The point is, you never know.
I agree, but to carry it further – he was far enough away to be around a corner and to arm himself – think he was in pretty good position to just get the heck out of there, and there was no mention of disposing of witnesses. His being prosecuted is no surprise. Him WINNING is a huge surprise – Portland isn’t exactly redneck heaven.
I don’t think you hate being the contrarian 😂
Remember what Polonius said…
Our friend, the drunk raccoon break-in artist, has done that twice before:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/raccoon-caught-alcohol-fueled-bender-035226170.html
An excellent example of “jury nullification”.