2nd jury convicts man in fatal shooting in Billings

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A second jury has convicted a man in a fatal shooting in Billings.

The Gazette reports 36-year-old Joseph Polak II was found guilty Friday of deliberate homicide in the April 28, 2015, death of 29-year-old Scott Hofferber. Polak was previously convicted in the case, but the Montana Supreme Court ordered a new trial based on wrongly excluded evidence.

Polak’s defense attorneys called Hofferber a “meth-crazed maniac” and said he had a nail puller in his hand when he was shot. They also argued that half the methamphetamine in Hofferber’s system that night could have been enough to cause irrational thoughts, paranoia, aggression or violent behavior.

But prosecutors said a self-defense claim wasn’t supported because Hofferber’s threat didn’t warrant the shooting.

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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com