Not guilty of murder; jury out on manslaughter

After deliberating only two hours, this evening the twelve-member jury in the Brenton Lewis trial found Lewis not guilty of the murder of Marlon Budd in 2003. Supreme Court Justice Michelle Arana, however, instructed them to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter and they retired to deliberate again. At this hour they are still sequestered considering this alternative. The victim, Marlon Budd, was shot to death on November twenty-sixth, 2003. During the trial, which lasted a little over a week, the prosecution’s main witness was Marlon’s brother, Brenton Budd, who told the court he was at a shop on Curassow Street that night while Marlon was walking his dog on a leash some distance away. He testified he saw Brenton Lewis and Kelvin Young approach on bicycles and alleged that as Lewis got closer to Marlon he raised a gun and fired a single shot. Marlon fell to the ground and Lewis fired four more shots at him. He claims the light was good enough for him to recognize Lewis, who he had known for three years. Another witness, Corporal Perez of the Police Department said that while in custody Lewis admitted he had shot Budd because he liked to, “abstract me.” However, Brenton Lewis changed his story during his sworn testimony, telling the court, “I said so because I was scared.” Prosecutor in the case is Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt while Hubert Elrington is counsel for the defence.