A Marion County Circuit Court judge on Oct. 20 dropped an unlawful use of a weapon charge in the case of man charged with killing a Black man in east Salem. A jury trial is scheduled to start Nov. 12.
A Marion County grand jury in November 2020 indicted Manuel Elisha North, 47, on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree bias crime and unlawful use of a weapon for the death of 48-year-old Herman Graham III.
Circuit Court Judge Courtland Geyer on Oct. 20 dismissed the unlawful use of a weapon charge, according to a judgement of dismissal.
Police arrested North on Oct. 26, 2020, in connection with the shooting death of Graham in east Salem near Interstate 5. North hurled racial slurs at Graham and tried to run him off the road before shooting him in a fatal confrontation, according to documents filed in Marion County Circuit Court.
A 12-person jury trial is scheduled for nine days starting Nov. 12, with 75 jurors requested, according to court records.
Following North’s indictment, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office release few details about the circumstances of the shooting. But a document filed in Marion County Circuit Court provided details and eye-witness accounts of the incident, which drew concern from the community and Salem-Keizer branch of NAACP.
Salem police on Oct. 26, 2020 responded to multiple 911 calls of a shooting at 3350 Pipebend Place Northeast. Police arrived and police found Graham lying unconscious with a handgun in the street near him and a white BMW sedan parked nearby, according to a motion filed by Marion County Deputy District Attorney Katie Suver.
North made unsolicited statements to police and earlier to 911 that he acted in self-defense, the court filing said. North said that Graham had “pulled a gun” and attempted to carjack him. Police also found a .50 caliber handgun lying in the street behind North’s Volkswagen Golf wagon, according to the filing. It’s not clear from the filing if other weapons were found and if Graham was armed.
North is being held at the Marion County Jail, the jail’s roster showed.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
