Victory for Walter Stone in 9 Year Murder Case

Walter Stone claimed victory for his client (the defendant) in a case that started in 2000. The case was first declared a mistrial back in 2002 and the defendant unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court in an attempt to have the charges thrown out on the basis of double jeopardy. On December 17, 2009 a Superior Court jury ruled our client not guilty of the murder charge. Walter Stone, lead defense council, proved that his client was elsewhere at the time of the shooting by using a three-prong approach in defense of his client’s alibi, lack of credibility of the state’s primary witness and sloppy investigation on the part of the police.  In attempting to undermine the credibility of the investigation, Mr. Stone elicited testimony that certain individuals were not interviewed or that notes were not taken; that the original lead investigator did not consult with the crime scene analyst and that some police reports submitted as evidence were done weeks or even years after the crime.  Mr. Stone’s position had been consistent from the time of the bail hearing in October 2000.  On the other hand he was able to show that the state’s primary witness’ story never made any sense and that the version he told three times in the year 2000, once in 2001 at the grand jury, once in 2002, at the first trial, which was declared a mistrial because of the state’s witness’ inappropriate comments, were totally different from his 2009 version of events.  Mr. Stone, shareholder at AP&S, is a former prosecutor and public defender who has worked on over 50 homicide cases both locally and nationally throughout his career.