More than three years after a shouting match between two drivers on West Main Street ended in gunfire, the man accused of killing Christian Girola is finally set to face a jury. Mark Kottka, charged with first-degree murder in the July 2023 death of Christian Girola, is scheduled to return to court Monday morning as jury trial proceedings begin in Norman, Oklahoma.
According to News 9, Kottka is accused of killing Girola after the two men stopped their vehicles in the roadway during a road-rage altercation on Main Street. Norman Police say Kottka was the aggressor in the confrontation, while Kottka's attorney has claimed self-defense. Those competing accounts have defined the case since the shooting and will now be put before a jury.
How the Confrontation Unfolded
Norman Police officers responded to the 4100 block of West Main Street around 4:23 p.m. on July 18, 2023, after two drivers stopped in the roadway during a verbal altercation that escalated into gunfire, according to the Norman Police Department. Officers found Girola in the roadway suffering from a gunshot wound, while 62-year-old Kottka remained at the scene and was detained. Girola was taken to a hospital and later died.
Dueling Arguments Over Self-Defense
At a 2024 hearing, Kottka's attorney claimed self-defense.
Norman Police have characterized Kottka as the aggressor during the verbal confrontation, per the same account.
Judge Rejected Stand Your Ground Immunity
The case has included pretrial court proceedings ahead of trial. Kottka was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center after his arrest.
Under Oklahoma Statute Title 21, Section 1289.25, the state's Stand Your Ground law grants statutory immunity from prosecution for people who use justifiable deadly force, with an exception for a person engaged in unlawful activity. Oklahoma law requires a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm.
Why the Case Took Three Years to Reach Trial
Kottka's case is now set for trial after earlier pretrial proceedings.
Oklahoma courts generally do not allow criminal defendants to pursue interlocutory appeals of lower court decisions denying Stand Your Ground pretrial immunity, according to a review published by the Oklahoma City University Law Review. That procedural rule can leave disputed factual self-defense claims to be resolved at trial rather than beforehand on appeal.
What Kottka Faces if Convicted
Oklahoma's truth-in-sentencing framework requires serving 85 percent of a sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to the Law Office of Douglas Parr. That framework leaves Kottka facing serious consequences should the jury reject his self-defense claim.
The trial will ultimately turn on the same question that has shaped the case since 2023: whether Kottka's actions on Main Street qualify as justifiable self-defense or mark him as the initial aggressor who forfeited that legal protection. The jury trial is scheduled to begin Monday morning in Norman.
