From http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/124...?showAll=y&c=y
Ex-guard guilty in killing
Man shot parking car at SU game
By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Dec 14, 2007 - Page: 1B
Jurors set aside a former security guard’s claim of self-defense and convicted him Thursday in the shooting death of a Southern University tailgater before the university’s first game of the 2006 season.
Curtis Lilly, 42, was convicted on a count of second-degree murder in the Sept. 9, 2006, shooting death of 59-year-old Freddie Jackson. Jackson was trying to help his girlfriend park her car along Harding Boulevard before a Southern football game when the two men argued and Lilly fired the fatal shot.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
“This is a guy who knew the difference between right and wrong,” prosecutor Aaron Brooks said after court. “We got a reliable result.”
Defense attorney John Russell said little after court — only that he was “surprised and obviously disappointed.”
The argument that resulted in the shooting was over whether Jackson’s girlfriend’s car was going to block the entrance to the parking lot that Lilly had been hired to guard.
Brooks told jurors in his closing argument that this was a case about a security guard with a gun who was intent on showing he was in charge.
The best evidence of that were Lilly’s own words, Brooks said, when he told police, “Freddie Jackson just defied me.”
“When someone defied him, instead of taking the least restrictive action, he maxed it out,” Brooks said.
Brooks noted that Jackson was not armed, and Lilly had a can of Mace he could have used to stop Jackson if he felt threatened.
Instead, Brooks said, the trajectory of the bullet indicates Jackson was turning away from Lilly when he was shot and not lunging forward as suggested by Lilly’s attorney, John Russell.
Russell told jurors not to be swayed by Brooks’ use of emotion as a trial tactic.
“This case has always been about emotion for the prosecution because emotion wins cases,” Russell told jurors in his closing argument.
Instead, Russell said, his client was acting in self-defense when Jackson lunged at him during the argument. Lilly was working a security detail for the first time during a Southern football game and the chaotic ordeal with Jackson took only a matter of seconds, Russell said.
The defense attorney also said there was nothing unusual about the way Lilly acted after the shooting, even though some witnesses said Lilly waved his gun in the air after shooting Jackson and shouted, “Does anyone else want some of this.”
“He acted like a regular man with a crowd coming around him,” Russell said. “Curtis Lilly is not guilty because he was acting in self-defense.”
Most of the trial on Thursday was held without Lilly in the courtroom. About noon, Russell told state District Judge Todd Hernandez that Lilly no longer wanted to be in the courtroom.
During the trial, there was testimony that Lilly suffers from schizophrenia and is medicated to control psychotic tendencies.
Lilly had raised an insanity defense. But Russell told jurors during his closing argument not to worry about Lilly knowing the difference between right and wrong when he pulled the trigger.
Russell maintained that Lilly’s actions were the same as any man under the circumstances.
Hernandez scheduled sentencing for Jan. 11.
Man shot parking car at SU game
By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Dec 14, 2007 - Page: 1B
Jurors set aside a former security guard’s claim of self-defense and convicted him Thursday in the shooting death of a Southern University tailgater before the university’s first game of the 2006 season.
Curtis Lilly, 42, was convicted on a count of second-degree murder in the Sept. 9, 2006, shooting death of 59-year-old Freddie Jackson. Jackson was trying to help his girlfriend park her car along Harding Boulevard before a Southern football game when the two men argued and Lilly fired the fatal shot.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
“This is a guy who knew the difference between right and wrong,” prosecutor Aaron Brooks said after court. “We got a reliable result.”
Defense attorney John Russell said little after court — only that he was “surprised and obviously disappointed.”
The argument that resulted in the shooting was over whether Jackson’s girlfriend’s car was going to block the entrance to the parking lot that Lilly had been hired to guard.
Brooks told jurors in his closing argument that this was a case about a security guard with a gun who was intent on showing he was in charge.
The best evidence of that were Lilly’s own words, Brooks said, when he told police, “Freddie Jackson just defied me.”
“When someone defied him, instead of taking the least restrictive action, he maxed it out,” Brooks said.
Brooks noted that Jackson was not armed, and Lilly had a can of Mace he could have used to stop Jackson if he felt threatened.
Instead, Brooks said, the trajectory of the bullet indicates Jackson was turning away from Lilly when he was shot and not lunging forward as suggested by Lilly’s attorney, John Russell.
Russell told jurors not to be swayed by Brooks’ use of emotion as a trial tactic.
“This case has always been about emotion for the prosecution because emotion wins cases,” Russell told jurors in his closing argument.
Instead, Russell said, his client was acting in self-defense when Jackson lunged at him during the argument. Lilly was working a security detail for the first time during a Southern football game and the chaotic ordeal with Jackson took only a matter of seconds, Russell said.
The defense attorney also said there was nothing unusual about the way Lilly acted after the shooting, even though some witnesses said Lilly waved his gun in the air after shooting Jackson and shouted, “Does anyone else want some of this.”
“He acted like a regular man with a crowd coming around him,” Russell said. “Curtis Lilly is not guilty because he was acting in self-defense.”
Most of the trial on Thursday was held without Lilly in the courtroom. About noon, Russell told state District Judge Todd Hernandez that Lilly no longer wanted to be in the courtroom.
During the trial, there was testimony that Lilly suffers from schizophrenia and is medicated to control psychotic tendencies.
Lilly had raised an insanity defense. But Russell told jurors during his closing argument not to worry about Lilly knowing the difference between right and wrong when he pulled the trigger.
Russell maintained that Lilly’s actions were the same as any man under the circumstances.
Hernandez scheduled sentencing for Jan. 11.
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