The old "She just wouldn't shut up" defense

...otherwise known as the "she had it coming" defense. Brian Krans has the story:

A 39-year-old Carbon Cliff man said Thursday he doesn't remember shooting his East Moline girlfriend Oct. 1, 2004, but said if she hadn't pushed him that night, she might still be alive.

Lorenzo Davis Jr. testified during his murder trial in Rock Island County Circuit Court that his girlfriend, Susan Terronez Burge, 40, always started the fights in their rocky relationship.

"If Susan wouldn't have pushed me that night, this never would have happened," Mr. Davis said during nearly two-hours of testimony.

He's charged with first-degree murder and could face up to 85 years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Davis said he and Mrs. Burge were both married to other people but began their relationship on Christmas in 2003. During their on-again-off-again relationship, Mr. Davis said he was never the instigator in the regularly-occurring fights.

"I don't start arguments, I just finish them," he said.

During questioning by his attorney, public defender F. Michael Meersman, Mr. Davis said he and Mrs. Burge had several fights the day of the shooting. At about 11 p.m., Mrs. Burge began to argue with Mr. Davis and told him to go to his wife's house in Carbon Cliff, he said.

"She was steadily cussing me out," he said.

He said Mrs. Burge punched him in the back of the head as she was trying to push him out the front door. The punch aggravated a skin condition that caused sensitive skin and migraines and he "blacked out," he said.

"And that's all I remember of the incident until I woke up in the woods," Mr. Davis testified. "What happened that night, it just happened."

Mrs. Burge's alleged punch was a detail Mr. Davis didn't tell East Moline investigators when he was arrested four days after the shooting in Memphis, Tenn.

Assistant Rock Island County State's Attorney John McCooley objected to some of Mr. Davis's testimony, saying Mrs. Burge obviously wasn't around to give her side of the story.

Under cross examination, Mr. McCooley questioned Mr. Davis about several key facts of the case, including the reason for the shooting. "She brought it upon herself, right?" Mr. McCooley asked.

"It escalated," Mr. Davis responded.

Jurors heard Mr. Davis' taped confession in court where Mr. Davis admitted shooting Mrs. Burge in the neck and head with his .22-caliber handgun.

"I pulled out the gun and shot her," Mr. Davis said on the audio tape. "I just went 'pop' two times."

Mrs. Burge's daughter, who was home at the time of the shooting, found her mother bleeding to death on the floor, but Mr. Davis had already left. Mrs. Burge died at University Hospitals in Iowa City later that day.

There ya go. I'm sure the jury will see things his way.
(and why in the hell is Meersman letting this idiot testify?)