Scottsdale, AZ—Long time lawyer Dave Appleton, 59 apparently called police for help because a motorist had chased him and threatened him with a motor vehicle. The chase ended in a fatal shooting at a CVS pharmacy parking lot at Pima and Pinnacle Peak Roads @ 7:30 PM. The aggressor, Paul "Tom" Pearson, 50, attacked Appleton through the window of his Toyota SUV. Soon thereafter the Pearson lay dead from a single gunshot. Police grilled Appleton for hours and finally charged him with Second Degree Murder despite a claim to self-defense. Appleton told police the younger man was trying to strangle him.
I’ve known Appleton for 25 years and found him to be a bookish and gentle soul. He is hardly a combatant and I know him to be reasonable and anything but aggressive. He’s not the kind of guy that would flip off another driver with a middle finger or look for trouble. I can't imagine him hurting a soul unless he was in fear of his life.
I suspect that a lot of people know about the dead assailant and I’m asking for any and all information that would assist Appleton in getting a fair trial.
It will take a while to get the toxicological report that would disclose what was fueling Appleton’s attacker.
If you have information about Paul Pearson by all means e-mail or call me. You can even leave a comment with a way to contact you and I won’t publish it. I will forward the information to the proper place.
Appleton is being held on a draconian $500.000.00 cash bail requirement and is due back in court on November 17th @ 8:30 AM.
Appleton being a lawyer should have known better than to talk to the police but he is a cooperative kind of guy. It might have cost him everything. Never talk to the police if you must use force to defend yourself or a family member. I'm on my way to Scottsdale and will get to the bottom of this case.
Comments
Pearson's tough guy macho act cost him his worthless life. Tough shit! His family is much safer without that dangerous fool around anymore.
Why are the cops wasting the court's valuable time with this bogus arrest?
Maybe a new post on this incident is warranted.
Thank you
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/elderly-man-raped-socorro/nFT9K/
You guy's are just a bunch of classless clowns.
Scottsdale Police always screw up major cases. The victim here was the lawyer!
Like it or not Arizona lawmakers have given everyone the same legal protections that allow deadly force to be used on home invaders when criminals invade our motor vehicles.
The cops know that the lawyer’s shirt was ripped. The cops claim that the lawyer was not injured. I did not know that police academies trained police officers in medicine. Why didn’t they take him to a physician and let their theory be validated by a professional?
Where are the 911 calls? They always love to release them to the media but not on this case. What’s that about?
For the Scottsdale police to claim that the lawyer’s two previous calls to 911 reporting other drivers is suspect or an indication of unreasonable behavior is a sure sign that they don’t have evidence to support their theory.
I feel bad for the dead cowboy’s lovely wife and daughters. They are in a financial mess and don’t deserve what they are going through. They are innocent bystanders that deserve the love and support of the community.
The fact is sometimes people’s tempers control them instead of the other way around. The fact that Pearson lost his temper and tried to throttle a driver that pissed him off cost this father of three his life.
The lawyer deserves nothing less than a fair review by the County Attorney before charges are actually filed or an indictment sought. The law is the law and the lawyer’s use of deadly force was in fact authorized by law.
We need more people defending themselves the way Appleton did. The sad part is the Pearsons of our world still don't get it.
Scottsdale police proved once again to be real dopes in yet another major case.
The burden is on the state to prove a crime her, not for Appleton to prove anything at all.
There is a sad side of this for a wife and three daughters having to face the fact that Tom Pearson lost his temper and tried to become a punitive traffic cop. His using physical force on someone seated in the safety of their own vehicle cost him his life.
The Scootsdale police have done absolutely everything they can to try and force this innocent man to stand trial. I guess some Scottsdale cops hate the Castle Doctrine. That is the law of the land you don't get to extract other drivers from their cars or choke them unless of course you're willing to get shot.