Jury acquits four in murder of Southern Tier dirt track driver
By Phil Fairbanks, The Buffalo News, N.Y. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He also was a suspect in a high-profile drug case and, by some accounts, a government informant secretly cooperating with federal agents.
Prosecutors say it's the latter that got the race car driver killed, but a federal court jury found otherwise Friday.
Six years after Turner was gunned down outside his
"I wasn't shocked at all," said defense lawyer
LoTempio, who represented co-defendant
He said the prosecution fell short in making the case that Turner was murdered because he was an informant. For that reason, he thinks the government was wrong to try the case in federal court instead of state court.
"We presented the best case possible," said Assistant U.S. Attorney
Defense lawyers think the jury also had trouble finding evidence linking Martinez to the other defendants involved in the alleged conspiracy, including
"My argument to the jury was, 'If you can find that evidence, convict him,' " said
The jury verdict follows an eight-week trial that shed new light on what happened that day in late May of 2008.
Prosecutors say Turner, a well-known figure around the
During the trial, Duszkiewicz argued that Canales and
He told the jury the four men were there to carry out Martinez's contract, a
"He pays people to do his dirty work," Duszkiewicz said of Martinez during his summation. "Unfortunately, his dirty work included the murder of
To prove his point, he called
The defense countered by suggesting their clients never went to
They pointed to the men's visit to a convenience store, where they were recorded talking loudly and yelling each other's names, and their run-in with a deer on their way back to
"That is not the conduct of people looking to kill someone," said defense lawyer
The acquittals follow a four-year prosecution that started as a death penalty case, in large part because of Turner's role as a confidential informant. Prosecutors say he was prepared to give up Martinez as the primary source of cocaine Turner sold in and around
The government eventually dropped its pursuit of the death penalty but, for Musitano, the prospect was frightening given that each defendant was eventually acquitted.
"That is the danger of the death penalty," he said. "It just goes to show, you never know. Which is why we should end the death penalty."
Martinez will be sentenced on the drug charge at a later date.
email: [email protected]
___
(c)2014 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 701 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News