ATTORNEYS PRESENT FINAL ARGUMENTS IN KILLING OF NEIGHBOR : SUSPECT CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE IN SHOOTING SPURRED BY LIGHT BULB MISSING FROM GARAGE.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

Attorneys delivered closing arguments Tuesday in the case of a 27-year-old man accused of killing his Simi Valley neighbor after an argument over a missing light bulb.

Christopher Harbridge, a sometime musician who lived with three roommates in the 4100 block of Helene Street, admits to killing neighbor Ron Rowe during an early morning argument in November. But taking the stand on his own behalf last week, Harbridge said he shot in self-defense after Rowe attempted to gouge him with a canister of pepper spray fitted with a one-inch hacksaw blade.

``There was bad blood between the two,'' said defense attorney Michael Goldstein. ``Harbridge fired a warning shot into the air and at that moment Ron Rowe lunged toward him with the pepper spray. That's when he raised his arm and shot.''

But prosecutors called his version ``poppycock,'' arguing that testimony from witnesses and physical evidence shows that Harbridge fired after standing outside his house with the gun hidden behind his back.

``He drew him out of the house and he killed him,'' said Deputy District Attorney James Ellison. ``Now he wants to play on your sympathy and say he's the victim in this. He is not.''

The two men had a longstanding feud that was well known to police and neighbors. Police were called four times last year because of arguments between the two men. In one instance, the men bickered over an old steering wheel, throwing it on each other's porch over the course of a few days. Harbridge later filed a police report alleging that his neighbor had broken the window of his parked camper.

Prosecutors say the feud escalated on the morning of Nov. 28, 1996. An argument over a missing light bulb over the garage led to a scuffle in which prosecutors say Rowe kicked Harbridge in the groin. Harbridge then sprayed Rowe in the head with pepper spray, prosecutors said.

After the fight, prosecutors said Harbridge returned to his house and fetched a .357-caliber Magnum, then stood outside the front window of Rowe's house and stared inside. When Rowe stormed out of the house, Harbridge lifted his gun and shot him, Ellison said.

But defense attorneys deny that Harbridge ever stood on the front lawn taunting him. Harbridge had the gun tucked in his jeans during the scuffle and only pulled it out when Rowe thrusted the blade toward him, Goldstein said.