Posted on 06/29/2010 1:34:32 PM PDT by freespirited
All three defendants in the Robert Wone conspiracy trial were found not guilty by a DC Superior Court judge on Tuesday.
Judge Lynn Leibovitz acquitted the three housemates from the bench after explaining her verdict for about an hour. Leibovitz said she believed that the three defendants know who killed Wone, but that the prosecution failed to prove that they did. It came down to the reasonable doubt standard, she said.
Joseph Price, 39, Victor Zaborsky, 44, and Dylan Ward, 39, each had been charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. More than halfway through the 4.5 week trial, Leibovitz ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove Zaborsky and Ward tampered with evidence and acquitted the two men on that lesser charge.
Zaborsky cried after the judge delivered the verdict, but there was no visible reaction from Ward or Price.
Wone's widow also cried and was escorted quickly from the courtroom.
Leibovitz, a former prosecutor in the US attorney’s office for the District, was the sole arbiter because the defense requested that the judge, and not a jury, hear the trial. Prosecutors did not object to the defense’s request.
Wone, 32, was stabbed three times in the chest on the evening of Aug. 2, 2006, after he asked to stay at Price’s lavish town home at 1509 Swann St. NW near Dupont Circle. No one has ever been arrested in his slaying.
Price, Ward and Zaborsky, who were arrested in 2008 and later released on their own recognizance, say they are in a committed romantic relationship. Prosecutors say the men refer to themselves as a “family” and based on that relationship, were willing to cover for each other or the actual killer. Attorneys for the men say their clients were unfairly targeted because they are gay.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
They were AT LEAST guilty of obstruction ...
Sheesh !!!
What’s unbelievable? The police and prosecutor have to provide proof of guilt.
If you were innocent of a crime and charged with homocide, you would be damned grateful for that fact.
As of 2009, the Innocence Project, has exonerated 234 convicted individuals in the U.S. through DNA evidence.
Note: Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife Lacey Peterson, was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife with ZERO physical evidence!
How many innocent U.S. citizens have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit?
I believe it is necessary to have no doubt of guilt before convicting someone of a capitol crime, and the evidence must be unquestionable before executing someone.
I DO support the death penalty.
As I understand it,they were not charged with murder, but with obstruction and conspiracy to obstruct. One was probably guilty but the others all were let off because they pleaded a committed relationship.
This liberal PC judge gave them special homo privileges--forget the victim, as these are "victims" of society by reason of the way they commit sex. I constantly feel like I just fell down Alice's hole.
vaudine
THeir orientation aside
The victim was stabbed 3 times.
In my (liited) experiance -when the ER got a call that the incoming pt had been stabed 40, 50, 60 times, first thought it was a rage killing, usually gay.
Wasn’t at the trial, so cannot commit further.
vaudine
They werent charged with homicide, they were charged with conspiring to protect the perp. The police believe they know who killed Wone and covered it up. So do I.
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