By Diana Hefley
Herald Writer

A Snohomish County jury today ruled that the man who fatally shot a Kirkland teen at a Halloween party last year did not commit a crime.

However, the panel also made clear they didn’t believe the killing was justified as an act of self defense.

Jurors acquitted Bryce Fortier of second-degree murder. They also rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Chris Chandler’s killing may be manslaughter.

In a separate verdict, the jurors said they didn’t agree with the defense claim that Fortier, 23, acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Chandler, 18.

The jury on Friday began deliberations after hearing two weeks of testimony.

Chandler, of Kirkland, was shot once in the chest during an apparent struggle with Fortier at a Halloween party in 2007 in the Mill Creek area.

Today’s verdict was greeted by brief applause by Fortier’s supports and stunned silence by Chandler’s family and friends.

Fortier testified he shot Chandler out of fear for his life. He said he was being punched, kicked and stomped for a second time that night and believed his only option was to pull the trigger.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Sherry King said Fortier, then a student at Central Washington University, brought a loaded semiautomatic gun to an underage drinking party. She accused Fortier of shooting Chandler out of retaliation for being assaulted earlier in the night.

Defense attorney Pete Mazzone told the jury that testimony and evidence doesn’t support King’s theory. Fortier was being beaten to a pulp and felt his life was in danger. The law gives him the right to stand his ground and not retreat, he said.

With the criminal portion of the case decided in the defendant’s favor, the judge sent the jury back to deliberate whether Fortier’s self-defense claim was justified. If jurors had found the shooting an act of self defense, the state would have had to pay Fortier’s legal bills.