| | Associated Press
ATLANTA -- Defense lawyers rested their case on Thursday after
calling one witness in the trial of two men charged with murder in
the post-Super Bowl slayings of two Atlanta-area men.
Bruce Harvey, the attorney for defendant Reginald Oakley, also
asked Superior Court Judge Alice Bonner to instruct jurors to
consider an involuntary manslaughter charge for his client in
addition to the murder charges.
Bonner denied the request, saying no charge less than murder
would be considered. She sent jurors home early Thursday and told
them closing arguments would be on Friday.
The only defense witness was a security guard, Keven Brown, who
jumped into the brawl to try to end it. Brown's testimony was
followed by a short examination of a rebuttal witness called by
District Attorney Paul Howard.
Earlier Thursday, Bonner agreed with defense attorneys that
prosecutors had failed to present evidence showing that Oakley and
co-defendant Joseph Sweeting were involved in both slayings. The
ruling means each defendant still faces one murder count.
"There is not evidence from which a rational jury could
conclude that each of these defendants participated in the crimes
for which I've granted the motions," Bonner said.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was originally charged
along with Sweeting and Oakley in the slayings of Jacinth Baker and
Richard Lollar, who were stabbed to death during a street brawl
after a post-Super Bowl party Jan. 31. But Lewis pleaded guilty
Monday to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and testified Tuesday
against his two former co-defendants.
Sweeting, of Miami, still faces a murder charge in the death of
Lollar. Oakley, of Baltimore, still faces murder charges in the
death of Baker.
Lewis testified Tuesday that he saw Sweeting and Oakley, friends
who were partying with him that night, fight with a group of men
that included Baker and Lollar. But he said the brawl was over so
quickly he couldn't tell if Sweeting or Oakley stabbed the victims. | |
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