(We will head right to the courtroom if we get word there is a verdict in the Steven Jones Case on the LawNewz Network streaming above. If you’d prefer a raw feed of the trial, scroll to the bottom of the article.)
After a judge denied a motion for a mistrial, jury deliberations have resumed in the murder case of Steven Jones, a then-freshman at Northern Arizona University who shot four other students after an off-campus party on October 9, 2015, killing one of them. Jones claims that he acted in self-defense after being chased during a brawl, but during closing arguments, prosecutor Ammon Barker indicated that Jones didn’t raise the self-defense issue until an investigation was underway. Jones’ legal team took issue with this and moved for a mistrial, and Judge Dan Slayton put jury deliberations on hold.
Ironically, evidence of Jones’ earlier claims of self-defense had been barred from trial because Judge Slayton ruled they were self-serving, and were therefore inadmissible under hearsay rules. However, since the prosecution opened the door by giving the jury the impression that the such statements never existed, Judge Slayton allowed jurors to learn that Jones had claimed self-defense earlier than they had been led to believe.
Stay with LawNewz.com and the LawNewz Network for updates, and live coverage of the verdict when it’s announced.
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