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Flip-flop Prosecution tries to salvage case against Lewis
Posted: Tuesday May 30, 2000 01:39 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Fulton County prosecutors will try to salvage their murder case against football star Ray Lewis this week after four days of testimony in which almost nothing went right for the state. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard had promised the jury that a limousine driver and a friend of the victims would testify that Lewis punched someone. That testimony never happened. Instead, witnesses flip-flopped, changing the stories they had given investigators. After four days of testimony, the prosecution did not produce a single witness who saw the Baltimore Ravens linebacker hit, kick or stab anyone. "It went as well as any criminal trial I've ever been involved in in 20 years," said Don Samuel, one of Lewis' lawyers. "Witness after witness after witness you would think were defense witnesses, and they were actually called by the state." Lewis, the NFL's leading tackler last season, is charged with murder along with friends Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting in the deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Baker and Lollar were stabbed Jan. 31 in a brawl after a post-Super Bowl party outside an Atlanta nightclub. Lewis, 25, was in town to take part in Super Bowl activities. The first major setback for the prosecution was the testimony of Jeff Gwen, a rapper from Akron, Ohio, who performs under the name "Chino Nino." Gwen initially told an assistant district attorney that Lewis struck one of the victims. But on the stand, he told the jury Lewis only "tussled" with one of the victims and did not hit anyone. Up next was Duane Fassett, the driver of Lewis' rented stretch limousine and the prosecution's star witness. He was expected to testify that he saw all three defendants fighting and that Oakley and Sweeting admitted stabbing the men. Once again, that didn't happen. In his testimony, Fassett said he saw Lewis raise his hand during the brawl, but never saw him strike anyone. "I didn't see him throw a punch," Fassett told the jury. Without the testimony of Gwen and Fassett, the prosecution had to pin its case on Chester Anderson, the only witness so far who said Lewis actively participated in the fight. Anderson testified Friday that he saw Lewis kicking a small man during a street brawl. But the jury may not find Anderson credible since he is an admitted liar and a con-artist who is in jail on identification fraud charges. Under cross examination, Anderson confessed to using 30 different names and stealing identification from about seven people. On the night of the incident, he was using former player Bam Morris' NFL identification to get into parties for free. Prosecutors have been able to introduce some evidence that Oakley and Sweeting attacked the victims, but the case against Lewis has been slim, according to legal experts. "There's been four days of testimony, and [Howard] has not planted guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Sunday's editions. It could have been easier for the state if Howard had charged Lewis with lesser crimes, such as making false statements to the police or obstruction of justice. But he is charged only with murder, felony murder and aggravated assault. Howard said he will call another witness Tuesday to corroborate Anderson's statement. After that, he will likely summon forensic experts to tell jurors about the "blood trail" Howard says links Lewis to the crime. He said he expects to finish presenting his case by the end of the week.
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