Byrd Guilt on Voluntary Manslaughter Charges

     Surveillance video shows the murder.
     Testimony led to the conviction.
    
"We the jury find the defendant, Jamaal Byrd guilty of voluntary manslaughter."

     32 year old Jamaal Byrd is now convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
     Byrd shot 27 year old Terrence Etchison at Kanku's convenience store in February of 2010.

"My sister lost a son, I lost a nephew and ultimately the Byrd family possibly losing their son as well," explains the victim's uncle, Johnathon Etchison.
    
     Byrd's attorneys say the verdict could have been worse.

" I have mixed emotions about the verdict. I mean the jury spoke and deliberated, thankfully it wasn't first degree or second degree murder," says Defense Attorney Fred Hanzelik.

     But, the victim's uncle Johnathon Etchison says the result is just a motive for troubled kids.

Ethcison explains, "Only thing that jury did today was give all the young people that's out there in the streets, causing havoc and shooting, killing, and robbing. It gave them permission to continue to do that, with this slap on the wrist."

     The defense attorneys stand by their client's innocence-- that he acted in self defense.

"I think he's relieved from the stand point it wasn't a harsher verdict but not relieved from the stand point he was convicted of anything," says Hanzelik.

      As for the prosecution...

"There's a lot of disappointment. That's probably the most pressing feeling we have right now," says Matthew Rogers, Prosecution.

     Byrd will be sentenced in September.   
     In Chattanooga, Jillian Pavlica, WDEF News 12.

Read More @ Source

Costa Concordia ship captain transcript released- ignores orders!

A dramatic recording has been released apparently revealing how the captain of a capsized cruise liner ignored orders to go back to the ship he had abandoned.Francesco Schettino told port authorities everything was fine shortly before the vessel sank, it has emerged. He claimed there was only a "small technical failure" - but in fact the Costa Concordia had already run aground, according to the timings of the radio conversation obtained by Italian media. Schettino is appearing in court charged with manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck - all of which he denies. The liner crashed into rocks off the Tuscan coast near the island of Giglio on Friday night. Officials said last night a total of 29 people remained missing, while six have been confirmed dead. Rescuers searching for survivors have been using explosives to blast holes into the vessel. Two controlled explosions were carried out early this morning to allow firefighters and scuba divers to enter parts of the ship that they had not yet been able to search. Transcripts of taped telephone conversations released by authorities suggested Schettino was evasive when ordered by a port official to supervise the rescue. Prosecutors suspect Schettino and his first officer left the ship as much as up to three hours before all the passengers and crew were taken off. What are you doing? Are you abandoning the rescue? Captain, this is an order, I am the one in charge now. You have declared abandoning ship. There are ...

Video Rating: 4 / 5



Criminal Stories Here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Charges dismissed in grisly Ypsilanti Township triple homicide

Flint's battlefield: A three-year murder map

Manslaughter charges dropped against Keys man accused of letting girl drive drunk before she crashed and died