GRETNA, La. -- Ronald Gasser, the Gretna telecommunications contractor convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 road rage shooting death of former NFL running back Joe McKnight, will soon learn how much time he'll spend in jail for the crime.
Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is expected to sentence Ronald Gasser this morning.
A Jefferson Parish jury convicted Gasser, 56, in January after six days of testimony. He had been charged with second-degree murder.
Gasser now faces up to 40 years in prison. He would have faced mandatory life imprisonment if found guilty of second-degree murder, as charged.
Never up for debate was if Gasser killed McKnight on Dec. 1, 2016, following a 5-mile long chase that began on the Crescent City Connection and ended at Behrman Highway and Holmes Boulevard in Terrytown.
At issue during the trial was if Gasser was justified for shooting McKnight.
Gasser's attorneys argued that McKnight "lunged" into their client's Infiniti; prosecutors argued that while McKnight was angry and also drove aggressively that day, he never tried to get into Gasser's car. Physical evidence, prosecutors argued, disproved the claim that McKnight tried to get into the car.
Gasser's attorneys are now seeking a new trial.
In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys Matt Goetz and Gerard Archer argued several factors, including their belief that Gasser acted in self-defense and that prosecutors’ introduction of a decade-old road-rage incident was prejudicial.
Additionally, they argued, Gasser "had no duty to retreat" from McKnight during the chase. "The defendant was legally in a place he had the right to be and was not under any duty to retreat not to take any action," they wrote.
Gasser did not testify in his defense during trial. His attorneys argued that prosecutors "called undue emphasis" to Gasser's right to not testify during jury selection, "constantly reinforcing the jurors perception that it was natural to want to hear from the defense."
Sentencing is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
He would be entitled to a delay of one day if Kovach denies the motion for a new trial.