CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Former NFL player Rae Carruth was
acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted of conspiracy and
two other charges Friday in the fatal shooting of his pregnant
girlfriend.
Carruth was spared the death penalty but could get as much as 20
years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder.
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A COMPROMISE VERDICT
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The following text comes from June Grasso, former New York attorney and
CourtTV anchor, on SportsCenter:
If the prosecutors prove the underlying felony and that the murder was the
cause of the underlying felony, then you should have a first-degree murder
charge. In this case the jury found Rae Carruth guilty of the three
underlying felonies -- for example, discharging a firearm into unoccupied
property -- but they didn't find him guilty of first-degree murder.
That doesn't make sense because of the felony murder statute. In other
words, he's guilty of those lower counts, meaning he took part in the crime
with these people. Then he should be guilty of felony murder. That's why
Carruth's attorney, David Rudolf, has been saying this looks like a
compromise verdict. And that's not what we want to see in our justice
system.
We're not supposed to see a compromise verdict. The last thing the
prosecution wants to hear from jurors is that they couldn't make up their
minds and just came to this conclusion. That's not what you want in the law.
And that verdict is appealable.
On Thursday, the jury came back and said it was deadlocked on all of the
issues. The judge gave them what is called a dynamite charge -- trying to
light a fire under them, so to speak. That means the jurors must go back and
try to come back with a verdict. Then we have the notorious Friday afternoon
verdict, when the jury comes back with an inconsistent verdict like this
one. You can bet that Rudolf has his investigators out trying to talk to the
jurors about what led them down this path.
When that verdict was read, and the first three charges came back guilty,
all the CourtTV attorneys watching the case assumed felony murder, first
degree, penalty phase. This is a complete shock.
Without getting too technical, there's an aiding and abetting part to the
case. If Carruth was guilty of conspiracy and discharging a firearm, they
would fall under an aiding and abetting theory. If he's guilty of those
charges, he should also be guilty of the felony murder that is connected.
That's why Rudolf tired so hard to keep the felony murder out of contention.
He knew if the jurors found Carruth guilty of the underlying charges, even
if they didn't find intent to murder, they could still find him guillty of
felony murder.
The felony murder statutes are waived for the prosecution to get a
first-degree murder conviction without proving intent; that's why they are
very dangerous for the defense. In this case, that's why everyone is saying
the verdict doesn't make sense logically.
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Cherica Adams, 24, was ambushed and shot four times in her car
on a Charlotte street in November 1999 in an attack prosecutors
said Carruth arranged to avoid paying child support. She died a
month later.
The 26-year-old former Carolina Panthers receiver was grim-faced
as the jury's decision, reached after about 20 hours of
deliberation, was announced. A day earlier, the jurors had said
they were deadlocked.
He also was found guilty of shooting into occupied property
and using an instrument -- a gun -- with intent to kill an unborn
child.
Juror Edward Karst said he was satisfied with what he called a
"compromise verdict."
"We couldn't get agreement for the first-degree," Karst said
in a brief telephone interview Friday night. "We didn't spend 4 1/2
days in there for nothing. We didn't want it to be a waste of
everybody's time. I think we made the right decision."
A sentencing hearing was set for Monday. Defense lawyer David
Rudolf said he will ask Judge Charles Lamm to vacate the conspiracy
conviction because it is inconsistent with the murder acquittal.
"My first reaction is deep disappointment. I'm grateful they
found him not guilty of first-degree murder," Rudolf said. "It's
hard for me to feel like it's a victory. ... I believe in my
client's innocence, and I don't feel he is guilty of any of the
charges in the first place."
As the verdict was announced, Adams' mother, Saundra Adams,
tearfully embraced relatives in the courtroom. She also hugged
prosecutors Gentry Caudill and David Graham after the jury left.
Caudill refused to comment on the verdict.
"Justice has spoken," said Frank Porter, lawyer for Adams'
father, Jeff Moonie. "It has given them closure."
Carruth's mother, Theodry, stared quietly at her son until he
and the jury left, then huddled with supporters and prayed.
The Panthers issued a statement after the verdict: "This has been a most difficult ordeal for everyone involved. We respect the legal process that has run its course."
Confessed gunman Van Brett Watkins and Michael Kennedy, who
drove the car that carried Watkins, testified that Carruth arranged
the shooting.
Perhaps the most damning testimony came from Adams herself, as
prosecutors played a recording of her call to a 911 operator
moments after she was shot.
Moaning in pain, Adams said Carruth had stopped his Ford
Expedition in front of her car when "somebody pulled up beside me
and did this. ... I think he did it. I don't know what to think."
Her son, Chancellor, was delivered by emergency Caesarean
section and is now in the custody of Saundra Adams.
Carruth's defense insisted Watkins shot Adams on his own because
he was angry that Carruth had backed out of a drug deal and because
Adams made an obscene gesture at him from her car.
The defense also challenged the idea that Carruth, who has an
older son, was afraid to pay child support. Lawyers called team
officials to testify that he was making more than $650,000.
Carruth maintained his innocence, claiming he was miles away
from the shooting and had nothing to do with its planning.
After his release on $3 million bond in late 1999, Carruth was
expected to turn himself in to police if Adams died. But when she
did die, he fled. FBI agents found him the next day hiding in the
trunk of a car outside a motel in Tennessee.
|  | | Defense attorney David Rudolf answers reporters' questions outside the Mecklenburg County courthouse Friday. |
At the time of the shooting, Carruth was a member of the
Panthers, which drafted him 27th overall in 1997 after a standout
career at Colorado.
He started 14 games as a rookie and led all first-year NFL
players with 44 receptions for 545 yards. But his second and third
seasons were hampered by injuries and he played in only a handful
of games. The team dropped him when he fled to Tennessee.
Watkins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is awaiting
sentencing. Trial for Kennedy, charged with first-degree murder,
has not been scheduled.
The trial began during a year of high-profile crimes involving
athletes.
Another former Panther, Fred Lane, was shot to death in July in
what prosecutors said was a domestic dispute with his wife.
Ray Lewis, an All-Pro linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens, was
accused of murder in the stabbing deaths of two men following a
Super Bowl party last January. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor,
and his co-defendants were later acquitted.
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ALSO SEE
Carruth sentenced to nearly 19 years
Foreman praises Carruth jury for making 'right decision'
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ESPN's Lisa Salters talks with defense lawyer David Rudolf about his client being acquitted of first-degree murder.
ESPN's Trey Wingo reports on the latest news on the guilty verdict in the Rae Carruth murder trial.