A Multnomah County jury on Tuesday found Richard M. Henderson not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of 35-year-old David M. Lomas after a confrontation outside the Platinum Pub in Gresham. Jurors concluded that Lomas died unexpectedly and that his death was not caused by injuries from the bar brawl.
The decision capped a trial that revolved around dueling forensic interpretations and hours of surveillance footage, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Prosecutors told jurors the state medical examiner had found blunt-force trauma to be the cause of death and relied on a probable-cause affidavit describing video that showed Henderson on top of Lomas during the fight.
Prosecution's case
Prosecutors leaned on an autopsy report and court records that initially listed blunt-force trauma as the cause of death, highlighting injuries they argued matched a fatal beating outside the Platinum Pub at 4245 S.E. 182nd Ave. The Gresham Police Department’s public notice announcing Henderson’s November arrest stated that detectives learned Lomas had been in a physical fight with Henderson just before he collapsed, and that an autopsy at the time determined blunt-force trauma was the cause of death.
Defense questioned the medical findings
Henderson’s attorneys pushed a very different narrative. They argued that vomit in Lomas’ airway and the force of emergency chest compressions, including use of a LUCAS automatic compression machine, offered a more plausible explanation for his collapse. Broken ribs, they suggested, could have come from resuscitation efforts rather than from a beating.
The defense also zeroed in on a deputy state medical examiner’s notes that described the “lack of internal hemorrhaging in the lung” as “striking and remarkable,” using that language to challenge the blunt-force trauma conclusion during testimony, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Video, timeline and the verdict
Jurors also saw surveillance video that prosecutors said showed Lomas reaching for a gun and being disarmed during the clash. Additional footage, according to investigators, captured Lomas walking for roughly 40 seconds after the fight before he collapsed onto the ground.
After weighing the timeline on video against the conflicting medical testimony, jurors opted for acquittal and returned a not-guilty verdict on the criminally negligent homicide charge.
What happens next
With the criminal case now closed, other avenues such as potential civil action or administrative review remain possibilities, although prosecutors did not immediately announce any further steps. Community members and relatives have previously urged anyone with information to come forward, and the Gresham Police Department asked for tips when Henderson was arrested in November.
Earlier coverage
We first covered the case shortly after Henderson’s arrest that followed the November investigation, when early reports from local outlets detailed the scene outside the bar and the charges that were filed. For background on the initial allegations, see our earlier coverage on the Gresham man charged with manslaughter and the Gresham Police Department’s November release for the original autopsy findings.
