A jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict
Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of two New
Orleans men accused of killing a teen-ager in the St.
Thomas public housing development two years ago.
Leonard Williams, 23, and Marlon Jackson, 20, are
accused of killing Jerome Perry, 17, in July 1994.
After a jury was unable to reach a consensus in the
case, Judge Dennis Waldron declared a mistrial.
Both men had faced the death penalty.
Perry, known in his neighborhood as "J-Real, " was
found dead in a courtyard at St. Mary and Chippewa
streets.
He had been shot once in the back and once in the
chest. Before the shooting, he was robbed of more than
$100 - money his family said he had planned to use to
buy sneakers and clothing.
Prosecutors said they will seek a retrial for Williams
and Jackson.
"We intend to try the case again, " Assistant District
Attorney Mary Glass said. "There is no chance for a
lesser charge."
Glass and Assistant District Attorney Glen Alexander
had no physical evidence to link Williams and Jackson
to the slaying. The key element of their case was
testimony from Tramese Joseph, Perry's cousin.
Joseph said she was sitting outside that night and saw
her cousin talking to the defendants. She told jurors
that she saw Jackson rummage though Perry's pockets
and then watched Williams shoot Perry.
"I was shocked, " Joseph said. "I didn't know they
would do something like that."
Defense attorney Jeffrey Smith told jurors during
closing arguments that Joseph's credibility was
weakened because she waited a month to tell police
what she had witnessed. During that time, Joseph's
cousin Shawn Perry, Jerome Perry's brother, was
arrested for shooting Williams.
Smith asked Joseph if she was identifying Williams
because Shawn Perry had been arrested for the assault.
But Joseph denied that Perry's arrest had anything to
do with her coming forward. She said she waited
because she was afraid of retaliatory attacks.
Stephanie Dade, who lived in the St. Thomas
development, told jurors that she talked to Perry as
he lay dying on the basketball court. He was unable to
speak, but she asked him to blink once if Williams and
Jackson were responsible for the shooting.
Dade said Perry indicated that they had committed the
attack.
Jackson took the stand in his own defense and told
jurors he was not responsible for the attack. "No, I
didn't shoot Jerome, " he said. "He was my best
friend."
Jackson and his mother, Irma Dillon, both testified
that Jackson was with his girlfriend that evening and
was taking a bath during the time of the attack.
Friends of Williams' testified that he was in eastern
New Orleans and could not have committed the shooting.
The defense argued that Perry might been killed
because of a soured drug deal. Autopsy results
revealed that the teen had cocaine in his system.
Jurors began hearing testimony Tuesday at 9 a.m. and
listened to witnesses until 11 p.m. The jury
deliberated for three hours before telling Waldron
that its members were deadlocked. At 3 a.m., the judge
declared a mistrial.
