Trial Resumes Monday For Man Accused Of Killing Officer Over Parking Spot
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—A young man is accused of murdering a Baltimore police officer during a parking dispute. Now the case is in the hands of the jury.
Alex DeMetrick has more.
The judge released the jury for the weekend after about an hour's worth of deliberations in the murder trial of Sian James, who is charged with the murder of police detective Brian Stevenson.
The slaying happened last October over what the prosecution says was an argument over a parking spot. In its close, prosecution says Detective Stevenson was smashed in the head with a piece of concrete in a senseless act of murder by James.
But through James' testimony on the witness stand on Friday, the defense argued Stevenson was the aggressor, threatening to shoot a friend of James, who then threw the concrete at Stevenson's head to save his friend's life.
This leaves the jury inside Circuit Court with two very different versions and possible verdicts: find Officer Stevenson's death a case of murder or find James not guilty for reasons of self-defense.
The two versions of this case only took two days of testimony to hear. It's anybody's guess how long it would take the jury to decide which version is right. They will get back to it first thing Monday.
WJZ will update you on the verdict as soon as one is reached.
