Jury in Jordan Brown's civil trial rules in favor of former troopers who charged 11-year-old with murder
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The jury in Jordan Brown's civil trial ruled in favor of the four former state troopers he sued after he was charged with murder when he was 11 and later exonerated.
Brown filed a lawsuit against the troopers, claiming sloppy and biased police work resulted in a murder conviction against him after he was charged when he was only 11 years old — a decision overturned in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The civil trial began on Dec. 4, and the jury heard closing arguments on Wednesday before reaching their decision Thursday afternoon.
Brown sought monetary compensation and an opportunity to clear his name, saying the investigation stole seven years of his childhood.
Jury hears closing arguments
During closing arguments, Alex Wright, Brown's attorney, told the panel that based on the evidence presented, investigators rushed to judgment in arresting Brown for killing Kenzie Houk, his father's pregnant fiancée, in February of 2009 in a home in Lawrence County.
Wright questioned the reliability of testimony from Brown's soon-to-be stepsister, who said she was only 7 years old at the time and had been awake for 17 straight hours.
Nicole Boland, the attorney for retired Troopers Janice Wilson, Jeffrey Martin, Troy Steinheiser and the estate of Robert McGraw, who has since died, told the jury they didn't want to arrest Brown, but the evidence led only to him.
Boland tore into Brown's team's contention that the investigators had no probable cause and fabricated evidence.
Who is Jordan Brown?
Jordan Brown was 11 years old when he was charged with shooting and killing his father's fiancée, Kenzie Houk, with a shotgun inside a home just outside New Castle.
Brown was tried as a juvenile and found delinquent, spending more than seven years behind bars.
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously overturned Brown's conviction, saying there was not enough evidence to prove that the shotgun was the murder weapon.
