People v. Wetzel

Throughout this first degree murder trial the prosecution contended Romelle Wetzel, the defendant, or Dorian Jefferson, the defendant’s companion, fired the fatal shot at Leonard Brown. The defendant claimed he was firing his .380 semi-automatic pistol at a wall, not at Brown or anyone else. Some members of the jury had yet another theory and, after deliberations began, three times asked the trial judge about it. After the third time, the judge answered the jury’s question with a single, underlined word. We conclude the jury was incorrectly reinstructed. We reverse the defendant’s first…