1st Degree Murder, Jury Trial – NOT GUILTY

RR was charged with 1st degree murder. The deceased and a friend of RR’s were having an argument. According to two eyewitnesses RR came from behind a parked car and shot the deceased. In addition to the eyewitnesses to the shooting, RR’s friend and several neighbors gave statement putting him at or near the scene of the homicide. Things were stacked up against RR and did not look good so we began an intensive investigation. We took statements from all the witnesses pointing out the inconsistencies and omissions in their stories. We were able to take statements from family and friends putting RR at a family party about a block away. And the weapon was never recovered so there was no hard evidence linking RR to the crime. The case would now rest on the eyewitness testimony. At trial we were able to demolish the eyewitnesses’ story through intense cross examination and show they were in a gang that had it out for RR. After three days of deliberations the jury came back with a verdict of Not Guilty.