Man sentenced to probation for gun possession after second trial leads to acquittal for killing

SALT LAKE CITY — A Midvale man charged following a Murray road rage incident that ended in a fatal shooting avoided a murder conviction and prison and was instead ordered to spend time on probation.

Although he was acquitted in his jury trial, Patrick Koaneil Brown, 48, will spend 36 months on probation after the judge found him guilty of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony.

At the sentencing on Nov. 5, 3rd District Judge Adam Mow suspended the statutory prison sentence of one to 15 years for the second-degree felony, instead ordering probation. He gave Patrick Brown credit for the 1,979 days — over five years — he already spent behind bars in the case. He also ordered Patrick Brown to do a cognitive behavioral course and an anger management course.

His attorney, Rudy Bautista, recommended probation "so that he can prove that this was not the man he wanted to be at that time and that this was an isolated incident."

Patrick Brown questioned why he needed to take the courses since he was found not guilty by the jury and said he doesn't have an anger issue. Mow responded that the conviction was "based on you choosing to show a firearm at a time when I don't think there was a threat posed."

Darnell Brown (who was not related to Patrick Brown) was shot and killed after a road rage confrontation on April 21, 2021. Charging documents said Darnell Brown was driving with his fiancée and two daughters while Patrick Brown was selling clothes in his car to Darnell Brown's friend. Darnell Brown made fun of Patrick Brown's Range Rover, according to a summary of the case in an appellate opinion, and Darnell Brown's fiancée reported that he wanted to fight Patrick Brown and got out of his car.

The document said Patrick Brown got a gun from his car, leading Darnell Brown to be more interested in fighting. When Patrick Brown drove away, Darnell Brown followed several blocks while yelling and honking. The opinion said that at a red light, Patrick Brown threatened to shoot if he continued, and Darnell Brown rammed into the back of his vehicle and then got out of his vehicle.

Patrick Brown turned around, telling police he was looking for a tag number, but he fired four shots out of his window as he passed Darnell Brown, according to the summary. It said he reported thinking Darnell Brown had a weapon.

In 2022, a jury found Patrick Brown guilty of murder, but determined he acted with imperfect self-defense, or thought he was justified, so he was convicted instead of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.

On appeal, Patrick Brown argued that a detective should not have been able to testify at his trial that Darnell Brown ramming into Patrick Brown's car caused damage that would be more likely to be considered criminal mischief than aggravated assault. The appellate judges agreed and reversed the conviction.

On Sept. 17, a second set of jurors found him not guilty of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two first-degree felonies and one third-degree felony.

Patrick Brown testified in his second trial about the trauma he still has from trying to escape, and that he felt his only choice was to act.

He asked 3rd District Judge Adam Mow to consider the charge for possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, rather than the jury. In support of that count, Patrick Brown was convicted of bank robbery and aggravated assault in an Alabama case.