After approximately 2 hours of deliberation, a jury Wednesday found John Henry Spooner, 76, guilty of the May 31, 2012 first-degree intentional homicide of 13-year-old Darius Simmons. The jury began hearing testimony Tuesday morning, was handed the case around 11:20 a.m. Wednesday and returned a verdict around 1:10 p.m. As previously reported by NewsOne, Spooner suspected 13-year-old Simmons of stealing three shotguns from his home. Spooner confronted the child as he was taking out the trash. Simmons mother, Patricia Larry, who yelled for Spooner to go away, said that her son’s murderer told the frightened boy to raise his hands and, when he complied, he shot him. “He told Darius that he’s going to teach him not to steal,” she said during her testimony. “And he shot him.” “I ran off the porch to my son,” she said. “I checked for a pulse. I checked both of his wrists. He didn’t have a pul ...
Defendant Tyree Lincoln Smith, right, makes eye contact with his attorney, public defender Joseph Bruckmann, after a three-judge panel found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of a homeless man he admitted to killing and partially eating, Tuesday, July 9, 2013 in state Superior Court in Bridgeport, Conn. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Brian A. Pounds, Pool) BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A three-judge panel has found a man not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of a homeless man he admitted to killing and partially eating. The Connecticut Post reports (https://bit.ly/10LsBdE[2]) the judges deliberated about an hour Tuesday before finding that prosecutors had proven 35-year-old Tyree Lincoln Smith of Lynn Haven, Fla., killed and cannibalized Angel Gonzalez in December 2011, but that Smith was legally insane at the time. The judges will determine on Sept. 9 whether Smith should be committed to a mental hospital. ...
The six jurors deciding the fate of George Zimmerman (pictured) will have several choices while deliberating whether he is guilty of second-degree murder in teen Trayvon Martin’s untimely death. The jury could decide that Zimmerman is: RELATED: Zimmerman Jury To Ponder Conflicting Testimony [VIDEO][1] Guilty of Murder in the Second Degree OR Guilty of Manslaughter OR Not Guilty of Everything There is another possible outcome. The burden of proof lies on the State to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. The verdict of the jurors must be unanimous, meaning all six must agree on the same verdict. If they cannot all agree, then that results in a hung jury. In order to prove Murder in the Second Degree, the Prosecution (State) must prove: 1) Trayvon Martin is dead. AND 2) The death was caused by a criminal act of George Zimmerman. AND 3) There was an unlawful killing of Trayvon Martin by an act imminently dangerous and demonstrating a depraved mind without regard to hu ...
The recent bloody headlines out of Chicago relayed the sad tale of the city's deadly weekend, where seven people were killed in shootings and more than 50 were victims of gunfire. Thanks in part to news coverage, America's third largest city has become synonymous with runaway gun violence, and especially deadly weekend shootouts. Sadly, that type ...
