Murder trial in jury deliberations, Baltimore residence is key

A murder trial is underway in which a jury will decide the fate of a 36-year-old man. The trial is in Sullivan County in Tennessee. The double murder took place in Kingsport. The accused man claims he was in Baltimore at the time of the murders. The man’s fate is currently in the jury’s hands.

The most serious of the charges against the 36-year old are premeditated and felony first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. He is also on trial for possession of more than 26 grams of cocaine for resale among other charges.

The double murder took place in a candle shop in 2005. Two men, alleged drug connections of the accused, were each shot in the back of the head and died of their wounds. The 37-year-old is accused of stealing drugs and a gun from the dead men. There were seven other people involved in the shooting, five of whom turned state’s witness and implicated the 36-year-old in the double murder.

At about that same time the 36-year-old moved to Baltimore, which is where the police arrested him in 2009. The defense claims that the 36-year-old was already in Baltimore at the time of the murders. The defense further claims that the five state witnesses concocted the story implicating the 36-year-old, simply to lessen their own charges. The sixth person involved is the brother of the accused 36-year-old.

The jury’s decision may come down to who they believe among people that may, as a group, have believability issues. Was the man living in Baltimore? If so, he is innocent. Was he not living in Baltimore? He could still be innocent. The jury will decide.

Source: timesnews.net, “Update: Jury to resume deliberations Friday in Kingsport double murder case,” Kacie Dingus Breeding, Aug. 23, 2012

At our Baltimore criminal defense law office we represent individuals charged with felonies and misdemeanors including crimes of violence such as murder, or drug crimes such as those described in this post.