Man acquitted in shooting death when witness recants

A Petersburg jury acquitted a man of murder after the prosecution's key witness stunned the court by recanting earlier testimony that the defendant pulled the trigger.

Defense attorney Neil Stout described the turnabout as a "Perry Mason" moment, referring to the fictional television defense lawyer in the 1960s who had a knack for dramatically establishing his client's innocence by demonstrating the guilt of another.

"She flipped on the witness stand and said, 'No, I'm lying. I can't send this man to jail," Stout said.

The jury deliberated about 90 minutes before acquitting DeAndrew Lamont Carter, 27, of all charges, including second-degree murder, maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

"The case was kind of a stretch anyway," Stout said. Prosecutors "were going under a funny felony murder theory . . . and the jury just didn't buy it."

It was the second recent jury acquittal of a Petersburg homicide defendant. In early June, a Petersburg jury acquitted an admitted crack cocaine dealer of murder, robbery and other charges in the Nov. 8, 2006, holdup and slaying of well-known Petersburg businessman Robert L. Braswell Jr. The acquittal stunned the victim's family and led a special prosecutor to withdraw similar charges against two co-defendants.

"My disappointment is for the victims' families," Petersburg Commonwealth's Attorney Cassandra Stroud-Burns said. "And I guess I'm disappointed in people, because what we're seeing are problems with witnesses. We are at a loss when our witnesses decide that they want to do their own thing."

In Tuesday's case, Carter was accused of murder in the Aug. 2 death of Michael Crocker Jr., 24, of Dinwiddie County, who was fatally shot outside Tony's Disco at 101 Halifax St. in Petersburg.

Stout said evidence showed that the shooting occurred a few minutes after gunshots rang out in the club's parking lot and his client was attacked by four men who jumped him inside the club.

When Carter, his girlfriend and another friend got into their car to drive home, the friend -- known only as "L" -- spotted Carter's assailants in a sport utility vehicle outside the club. The friend then instructed Carter's girlfriend, who was driving, to pull up beside the vehicle so they could get the license plate number, Stout said.

When they did, someone in the other car -- which included Crocker -- opened fire, Stout said. Carter's friend then returned fire and Crocker was struck and killed, Stout said evidence showed.

Carter's girlfriend, Margo Gregory, gave police conflicting statements about who fired the shots. At trial, she initially said Carter pulled the trigger but recanted her testimony under cross examination.

Stroud-Burns said Gregory wrote a letter to Carter in May that said she would testify that "he didn't do it."

"Then she admitted to lying on the stand," Stroud-Burns said. "I tried hard but it became a credibility issue."

Stout said the prosecution was working under a theory that because Carter fired first, or was a principal in the second degree to the real shooter, that the acts of firing out of their car and into another car were both felonies, "so therefore it's felony murder. The jury wasn't buying."

Stout said his client is still being held on an accompanying charge of possession of a firearm by a felon -- which has to be tried separately -- but he now expects the charge will be dropped.

Stroud-Burns said she plans to prosecute Carter on the gun charge, but she's weighing whether to pursue Carter's friend in Crocker's death.

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .