Posted on 11/23/2021 8:25:38 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
Devon Dontray Dunham has been found not guilty of murder in the shooting death of unarmed former volunteer fire chief Ernest Martin Stevens, 77, despite his confession and 19 witnesses taking the stand against him.
The shooting took place near Stevens’ home in Hardeeville, South Carolina on Aug 10, 2017.
According to Dunham’s lawyer, an armed Dunham “wanted a ride” from Stevens and approached him while he was sitting in his Ford F-150 in a parking lot “but felt threatened” by him and saw him “reach for something” so he decided to unload all 8 rounds of his 9 mm handgun into Stevens’ truck before running away.
Dunham struck Stevens with four bullets that hit his jaw, left arm, back and chest and fatally injured his heart and lung.
Stevens was unarmed.
Dunham initially lied to police and “denied knowing anything about the shooting” and “said he wasn’t in the city at the time” before confessing and claiming he “wasn’t trying to hurt him” when he unloaded into his car.
Dunham appears to have been acquitted because his lawyer made vague insinuations that racism may have been at play. Even though said insinuations were swiftly shut down by the judge, at least one member of the jury appears to have decided that was all they needed to hear and found him not guilty after less than 2 hours of deliberations.
“In South Carolina law, murder is ‘the killing of any person with malice aforethought, either express or implied,'” The Island Packet reported. “The prosecutors have to prove the charge ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ and all 12 jurors must agree on whether the verdict is guilty or not guilty.”
More interesting info from: https://www.blufftontoday.com/story/news/2021/06/04/man-found-not-guilty-former-hardeeville-fire-chiefs-murder/7510076002/
“The first responders arrived on scene fast and found Stevens breathing but unresponsive,” Kidd said. “He was taken by ambulance to Coastal Carolina Hospital, where he passed away.”
Kidd said the jury deliberated for an hour and 45 minutes and there had been 21 witnesses, with the defense not calling any witnesses to the stand.
“We challenged the voluntariness (of Dunham admitting he had shot Stevens) based on the fact that the defendant had been basically handcuffed to a wall for six hours, sleep deprived and tired when the interview happened,” Dunham’s attorney Jeffrey Stephens said. “The interview happened around 4 to 5:30 in the morning.”
Stephens said the judge found Dunham’s confession was knowingly and voluntarily made.
And they reached it in a matter of two hours I believe. The Defense must really have done a good job or else the prosecution screwed their case up beyond all belief.
It’s time
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