PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - A Virginia jury has acquitted a man who has been jailed for four years awaiting trial on charges including murder.
The Virginian-Pilot reports Lamar Ealey was acquitted in the 2013 case Wednesday. He remains jailed while awaiting trial over a 2009 shooting and a weapons charge. Ealey’s attorney in those cases, Andrew Sacks, says Ealey deserves bond.
Arrested in 2015, Ealey was accused of killing 38-year-old James Hill in revenge for a friend’s death. The prosecution’s case rested on the word of a single man who the defense says testified hoping to get a lesser sentence in an unrelated case. The trial was delayed as a parade of defense attorneys were removed over conflicts of interest.
Prosecutor Phillip Figura’s office declined to comment. It has handled the case since 2016.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com
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