The jury deliberated for nearly three hours before announcing it had reached a verdict in the case shortly before 5 this evening.
“Nobody ever put a gun in his hand,” the jury’s foreman said afterward.
Referring to Montrell Alston, who is also charged in the case, the foreman said, “He was not a reliable witness. He had too much to gain.”
The foreman said the jury believed phone records in the days after the murders were not investigated properly. Referring to the girlfriend of Hines, who had also been romantically involved with Harrison, the foreman said, “She was just too unreliable. The state didn’t have credible witnesses.”
As the verdict was read, several family members of Hines began quietly sobbing. One family member took Judge Alma Hinton’s warning to leave if either side couldn’t keep their emotions in check, or face contempt charges, to heart and left.
Horton’s mother, Cynthia, said she was relieved this part was over. Her son still faces bribery charges linked to his first murder trial in the case, which ended in a mistrial last year. “I just hope he be (found) innocent of those charges.”
Because his client still has the bribery counts upcoming this month, Horton’s attorney, Mitchell Steyers, declined immediate comment.
When attempting to get comments from the Hines family, one woman hurled expletives at rrspin and said if the news website didn’t have solutions on how to get Horton back into court on the murder charges to “get the (expletive deleted)” out of her face.
Horton was found not guilty on charges of first-degree burglary; attempted robbery with a firearm; felony conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two counts of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony.
“The jury has spoken,” Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp, whose detectives investigated the case, said this evening. “This is how the judicial system works. I stand with my detectives in the case they worked.”
The sheriff said not only was probable cause found in the case, “The Grand Jury indictment was returned. The first case ended in a mistrial. As a result, some were arrested for jury tampering.”
Tripp said he was appreciative of the work the office of District Attorney Valerie Asbell put in the case “to bring justice. My prayers are for the families of the victims.”