They have already found him not guilty of murder and at as we go to air tonight a jury is deliberating the fate of Brenton Lewis Smith on the lesser charge of manslaughter. The 21 year old is accused of the November 26th 2003 murder of Marlon Budd.
The jury of 8 men and 4 women deliberated for just over an hour this afternoon and came back with the not-guilty verdict on murder. They however made no determination on manslaughter and so presiding Judge Michelle Arana sent them back to deliberate further.
Budd, who was 25 years old at the time, was riding on his bike with his two dogs near his home at the corner of Antelope and Curassow Streets. Budd had stopped to fix his bike chain when two men on bicycles rode up to him and shot him three times, once to the head and twice to his body. His family claimed that he was killed as retribution for testifying against an accused killer in a Supreme Court trial.
The case was prosecuted by Crown Counsel Cheryl Lynn Branker-Taitt. Her star witness was Marlon's younger brother Brenton Budd. Brenton Budd testified that he saw Brenton Lewis Smith shoot his brother. Brenton Budd wept outside the courtroom after the jury returned the not guilty verdict.
Lewis-Smith took the stand in his own defense and claimed he was at home at the time of the shooting. Defense Attorney Hubert Elrington called a string of other alibi witnesses who all said Lewis Smith was at home when Budd was murdered. Elrington also called a eyewitness who claimed he saw the shooter and it wasn't Brenton Lewis Smith.
We'll have the result of the deliberation on the manslaughter charge in tomorrow's newscast.
