A first-degree murder trial set to begin next month is likely to involve the defendant’s claim he shot the victim in self-defense, a court hearing Friday revealed.

A room full of eyewitnesses saw Lafayette D.E. Cosby, 25, walk up to Robert Tyrone Martin, 28, and shoot him at close range April 4 as Martin sat on a couch during a late-night gathering at Jefferson Commons apartments, 2511 W. 31st St. But Cosby and his attorney maintain there was more to the shooting than witnesses saw.

In a pretrial hearing Friday, police testified that Cosby told them, “Nobody knows what happened, just me and Rob,” and, “They (witnesses) saw what they thought they saw, but not before.”

Moments before the shooting, the two acquaintances had been alone in another room in the apartment.

Cosby’s attorney, Greg Robinson, told Douglas County District Court Judge Jack Murphy he wanted to present evidence to jurors that Martin was a well-known Lawrence drug dealer with a history of carrying and using firearms. Robinson implied in his arguments that Cosby knew something that would have caused him to fear for his safety, but didn’t go into detail.

“I’ve already had people tell me that Mr. Martin stuck a gun in their face,” Robinson told Murphy. “There’s no question Robert Martin has — what’s the word — an interesting past.”

Assistant Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel, however, is asking Murphy to not allow statements about Martin’s character into the trial, which is set to start Nov. 5. He argued that what police and others in the community thought of Martin is irrelevant to Cosby’s mind-set at the time of the shooting.

Murphy put off ruling on the matter Friday.

During the hearing, Murphy ruled that Lawrence Police detectives properly informed Cosby of his rights after his arrest, which means a series of unsolicited comments he made while being taken to jail can be used during trial.

Cosby

According to testimony Friday, when Lawrence detectives M.T. Brown and John Hanson went to interview Cosby after he was arrested in Topeka, he told them he wanted an attorney and invoked his Miranda rights.

But Brown testified that after waiving his rights, Cosby said, “I will say I didn’t want this to happen. I will say that.”

As Hanson and police Detective Amy Jumisko drove Cosby back to Lawrence on Interstate 70, Cosby made more unsolicited comments, Jumisko testified.

“The very first thing he said was, ‘I am not a killer,'” Jumisko said, referring to her written notes from the drive.

Jumisko said Hanson replied, “But someone is dead.”

After another silence, Jumisko testified, Cosby asked, “Did you find the gun on him?” Jumisko said Hanson replied that police couldn’t discuss it with Cosby because he’d asked for an attorney.

Murphy also denied a motion by Robinson to forbid prosecutors from referring to Martin as “the victim,” and denied a motion by Zabel seeking to prevent two of the state’s witnesses from being asked about their employment as exotic dancers.

In 1997, Cosby stabbed and killed one of Martin’s friends, David E. Walker II, in a fight after a party at Colony Woods Apartments, 1301 W. 24th St. A jury acquitted Cosby, finding he acted in self-defense.

Some of Martin’s acquaintances have questioned whether that history had anything to do with the recent shooting. But testimony at a preliminary hearing this summer yielded no clues to a possible motive — other than one witness testifying that, shortly after the shooting, he heard Cosby say something about needing to accept Jesus.

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