Opinion ID: 2639482
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: motions for new trial and to modify the verdict

Text: When the jury returned its verdict of death, defendant said to the judge: Your Honor, I didn't kill him. I did not kill him. I didn't kill him. Andre killed him. I didn't even kill him. In its motion for a new trial, the defense argued that Andre Davis, Najee Muslim's cousin, more closely resembled the composite sketch of the second robber than did Eric Bailey and that consequently the prosecution dismissed the charges against Bailey. Defendant asserted that Bailey's counsel had located Davis, who was confined in the Sierra Conservation Center at Jamestown, and had arranged for Davis to be present if Bailey went to trial, but that defendant's own counsel failed to use the same information and did not know where Davis was. The court ruled that defendant's counsel had failed to use due diligence to locate Davis, but denied the motion for a new trial on the ground that the question whether Bailey or Davis was the second robber did not affect defendant's guilt. The trial court also denied the defense request for modification of the verdict.