Pretrial hearings began Wednesday in the trial of a Shandaken man accused of shooting at an Ulster County sheriff’s deputy during a confrontation in the Town of Esopus last year.

Clayton Shafer, 53, is charged with felony counts of first- and second-degree attempted murder of a police officer, second-degree attempted murder, attempted assault of a police officer in the second degree, attempted assault in the second degree and menacing a police officer. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted on the most serious count.

Shafer was arrested following a Feb. 9, 2021 confrontation with Ulster County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Benjamin on Shafer’s property at 352 Mountainview Ave. in Ulster Park, where he kept an RV, shipping containers and equipment for his business, Acme Tree Services. Benjamin was dispatched to the site after a friend of Shafer’s called Town of Ulster Police to conduct a welfare check after Shafer posted an alarming video on Facebook Live. The friend told police that when he called Shafer to check up on him, Shafer said, “I don’t want to talk to anybody right now, I don’t want to be here.” The friend reported that he had tried calling Shafer back, but he did not answer.

On Wednesday, prosecutors played the 911 call and the Facebook Live video during a suppression hearing to determine which evidence can be introduced at trial. In the video Shafer, appearing heavily intoxicated, lies on the floor of the RV looking up at the camera rambling, at times incoherently, about his childhood, his family and his anger at the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

“I cannot stand alone by myself, I need your help,” Shafer slurs into the camera. “So we can get through this bulls--t and bury these liberal scumbags.”

Deputy Benjamin arrived at the Mountainview Avenue property around 6:30 p.m. As he pulled into the lot in and exited his marked patrol vehicle, Shafer emerged from the RV with a cell phone in one hand and an AR-15 mounted with a scope in the other.

The ensuing confrontation was caught on Benjamin’s body camera and another camera mounted inside his vehicle. As Shafer yells for the officer to get off the property, Benjamin, sidearm drawn, backs away towards Mountainview Avenue, imploring Shafer to put down the rifle. As Benjamin backs into the road and begins ordering a passing civilian vehicle to back up away from the scene, Shafer fires a single shot as Benjamin continues retreating up the street while calling for backup.

Following the standoff with Benjamin, Shafer dropped the AR-15 and retreated towards the rear of the property and, according to testimony from lead investigator Emmet Vedder, may have taken cover on a hill armed with another weapon.

Other video played by Chief Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji depicts the immediate aftermath of Shafer’s arrest after he emerged from the property and surrendered to deputies. Body camera video from several deputies at the scene depicts Shafer face down in the snow complaining of pain in his shoulders and wrists as he’s handcuffed. He repeatedly expresses support for police and questions why he’s being cuffed.

“Look what’s on my truck, look at the hats I wear, I’m on your side,” said Shafer, still appearing heavily intoxicated. (A breathalyzer test administered two hours after his arrest showed a blood alcohol level of 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit to drive). “Why are you doing this to me?”

Elsewhere on the body camera video, Shafer is heard wailing in pain as he’s manhandled into a police vehicle, cursing President Joe Biden, claiming that he can shoot a target at 1,000 yards and asking an officer to put a gun to his mouth and allow him to pull the trigger. At one point Benjamin tells him, “You shouldn’t have shot at me,” to which Shafer responds, “I swear to God I didn’t shoot at you.”

When it was time for Shafer’s defense attorney, Joe O’Connor, to cross-examine Vedder, he raised a series of questions about police actions, starting with why officers were dispatched to the Esopus property in the first place. Vedder conceded that the Facebook Live video that triggered the welfare check did not contain any threats by Shafer to harm himself or anybody else. Vedder also said that no one from the sheriff’s office had attempted to contact Shafer by phone before going to the property.

“The only basis for the arrival was his Facebook post and someone calling in to say you should do a welfare check?” asked O’Connor. “Calling him was a simple step that could have been taken before showing up at night unannounced in a police vehicle.”

O’Connor also implied that Shafer may have been unaware that the armed person in his driveway was a police officer. Under questioning, Vedder said that the patrol car was pointed towards the RV’s entrance with the headlights on and that the vehicle’s flashing red and blue lights were not activated. O’Connor also elicited testimony that the rifle’s scope was obscured by snow when the shot was fired, and that Shafer did not actually raise the rifle to his shoulder until Benjamin drew his own weapon. When the shot was fired, Vedder testified, Shafer was holding the weapon sideways attempting to manipulate the safety catch while the weapon was pointed towards Benjamin. (Prosecutors contend that Shafer aimed at the deputy and attempted to pull the trigger twice before realizing the safety was on).

O’Connor has contended that his client did not actually shoot at Benjamin and the attempted murder counts are an example of the District Attorney’s Office “overcharging” what should have been a much less serious offense. Cross-examining Vedder, he asked why Shafer had been initially charged with menacing a police officer, a Class D felony but indicted on the more serious charges five months later. Vedder replied that he was not privy to discussions about higher-level charges. O’Connor also questioned why the District Attorney’s Office did not call upon state police to conduct a video analysis that could have better illustrated whether Shafer’s rifle was actually pointed at Benjamin when he fired the shot.

The pretrial hearings are expected to wrap up on Thursday. County Court Judge Bryan Rounds is expected to render a decision on defense motions to suppress evidence before a jury trial slated to begin on Sept. 12.

Shafer has been in Ulster County Jail without bail since his indictment in July 2021. Shafer previously turned down a plea deal that would have resulted in a sentence of 20 years to life in state prison.