A 19-year-old West Fargo man accused of conspiring to kill a Bismarck police officer in August was convicted of different crimes Friday.

Brandon Keller was found guilty of three misdemeanors in the July shooting of a Bismarck teenager and his vehicle with a BB gun.

The incident described by prosecutor Brandi Sasse Russell as a case of "road rage" began at an east Bismarck intersection. Witnesses testified that Keller hung out the passenger window of a car and shot a BB gun numerous times. One of the BBs struck a 17-year-old Bismarck boy in the hand.

"The defendant was fortunate that it only hit the victim in the hand. What would've happened if it hit him in the eye?" Russell said in her closing arguments. "Don't let him minimize his behavior. Tell him this is not accepted in North Dakota."

Keller's attorney, Wayne Goter, argued that the charges didn't match the crime. He asked the jury to read through the charges carefully and consider lesser charges.

Keller was originally charged with felony aggravated assault and terrorizing and misdemeanor criminal mischief but South Central District Judge Donald Jorgensen decided to include lesser charges.

The jury found Keller guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and assault instead of the felonies. Keller also was found guilty of criminal mischief. He will be sentenced after a presentence investigation.

Keller will return to the courtroom at 9 a.m. Monday for a second jury trial in connection with an August shootout. Keller and Michael Sherman, 27, of Fargo, shot it out with police from a mobile home in south Bismarck. An officer was injured and Sherman was killed in the 14-hour standoff that began after police tried to execute a search warrant for meth and paraphernalia.

Jorgensen will decide Monday if unbiased jurors can be found in Burliegh County or if the trial should be moved. Jorgensen denied motions to suppress evidence seized from the mobile home and an interview between Keller and a Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent.

Goter said the evidence should not be allowed in court because police didn't properly execute a "knock and announce" warrant and Keller was in no condition to waive his rights before the interview. The interview occurred immediately after the shootout and Goter said Keller was under the influence of drugs and suffering the effects of tear gas.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)