Opinion ID: 2304700
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts of Crime

Text: On August 19, 1994, Chance attended a party hosted by his friend, Paul Lunsford (Lunsford). Prior to arriving at the party, Chance had spent the day drinking heavily. He described himself as crazy. Keesser came to the party with a group of friends. Keesser remained with them, rather than mixing with the other guests. This apparently angered Chance, who told several people that there would be a fight with the Keesser group. Chance began to provoke fights with other guests at the party. Chance eventually accosted one of Keesser's friends at the party. When a general fight ensued inside of Lunsford's house, Keesser decided to leave the party. Keesser left the backyard and walked toward his car with his keys in hand. Keesser was accosted before he reached his vehicle. Keesser was then beaten by James Mayhall (Mayhall), Joshua Holder (Holder), James Bonds (Bonds), and Chance. Lunsford and other party guests witnessed Chance repeatedly kicking Keesser in the head. Keesser was left motionless in the street. Attempts to resuscitate Keesser failed. He died a short time later. Chance and the other assailants were each charged separately with Murder in the Second Degree. [2] In November, 1995, Bonds entered a guilty plea to Manslaughter. In March, 1996, Holder was convicted of Manslaughter. Although the charges against Mayhall were pending at the time of Chance's trial, Chance was tried alone.