Marquis Charleston, charged with two counts of armed robbery, was found not guilty by a Hinds County Circuit Court jury this evening around 5:45 pm. He could have been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences if found guilty. He was represented by Alison Kelly and Frank McWilliams of the Hinds County Public Defender's Office. The State was represented by Shaun Yurtkuran and Armstrong Walters. Judge Swan Yerger presided over the case. The two victims had picked Mr. Charleston out of a line-up that defense counsel argued was suggestive. There was no physical evidence.
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Crumbling Away
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Congrats to those great defenders!!
Did he do it? Does it matter?
If they can't prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, then NO, it does not matter whether he did it or not. That's the only protection we have against arbitrary police power.
What about the kidnapping, rape, and home invasion charges? Were those dropped or are those the subject of another trial?
Almost forgot about the other three armed robbery charges, the three for house burglary, the two for auto theft, and that one for felon in possession, in addition to rape and kidnapping. Are we anticipating a trial on those?
Christopher,
If you'll read your blue screen correctly, you'll see that he had two armed robberies, a house burglary, two auto thefts, a kidnapping, a firearms charge, and a forcible rape.
The two armed robberies and the house burglary were disposed of with yesterday's not guilty verdicts. (The house burglary merged with the armed robberies by law, so that count was dismissed by the State with prejudice.)
The rape and the RSG have been indicted, in Cause Numbers 09-0-025 and 09-0-052, respectively.
The other matters have not been indicted by the grand jury, meaning they either weren't good cases, or JPD didn't feel like pursuing them. Considering JPD's attitude towards Mr. Charleston, I tend to believe they weren't good cases.
Blue screen?
Okay, thanks for the info. I would hope everyone would agree that putting thugs back on the street is a bad thing and that ultimately, it does matter whether or not he did it. If he *did* do it and is acquitted, I would hope we could all lament the inability of the State to put on a compelling case.
Of course, my intention is not to antagonize the professor, particularly before grades are posted. :)
Not to worry, Christopher. If this professor only befriended those who agreed with him, he'd have damn few friends at all. Fire away!
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