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Anticipation grows ahead of verdict in Jason Stockley murder trial; lawyers highlight evidence
City workers erect barricades around the Civil Courts and Carnahan courthouses on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in advance of the verdict in the Jason Stockley case. Stockley, a former St. Louis police officer, is accused of murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith after a police chase in 2011. Photo by Robert Cohen,
rcohen@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS • Preparations for potential protests when the verdict is announced in the murder trial of a former police officer have escalated this week.
Barricades have gone up around the two downtown courthouses and city police headquarters ahead of St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson's decision in the first-degree murder trial of Jason Stockley, accused of killing Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, after a chase in 2011.
Officials say they don't know when Wilson will rule on the case but are taking precautions in case protests erupt. St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts said he and some of his staff have had meetings with interim Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole, Wilson and other judges to discuss security after the verdict is announced. He said he doesn't know when the verdict will come and that Wilson did not talk about the timing.
Barricades surround two courthouses in downtown
#STL in advance of
#JasonStockley verdict. Source does not expect decision today.
pic.twitter.com/kOA0G9vN3x
— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen)
August 29, 2017
Wilson could set a hearing to announce his verdict or just issue it. The decision is his alone because Stockley waived his right to have a jury hear his case. The trial began Aug. 1 to a
packed courtroom and ended with closing arguments Aug. 9.
The judge gave prosecutors and defense attorneys until Aug. 18 to file post-trial briefs summarizing their arguments.
Prosecutors said Stockley carried out the premeditated murder of Smith by shooting him five times at close range and then planting a revolver in Smith's Buick after police pulled Smith's body from the car.
The defense said Stockley acted "reasonably" in self-defense in killing a drug suspect he believed was reaching for a hidden handgun.
Stockley, 36, now of Houston, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action last year, about four years after state and federal prosecutors reviewed the case and declined to charge Stockley.
Then-Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce charged Stockley citing new, unspecified evidence. The state did not say in trial what the new evidence was, and the defense claimed in closing arguments Aug. 9 that
there's been no new evidence in the case since 2012.
Anticipation grows ahead of verdict in Jason Stockley murder trial; lawyers highlight evidence
If they are setting up barricades and the case has been rested since
Aug 9, (sound like a familiar day?? It's the day Mike Brown was killed..smh) trust and believe brehs, its about to be another not guilty and this time, its directly from the judge, not a jury.
The judge: