Jury convicts Clinton man of second-degree murder
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CLINTON — An East Feliciana Parish jury on Friday found a Clinton man guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a neighbor nearly two years ago.
The jury of five men and seven women announced the unanimous verdict against Courtney Davis, 23, about 30 minutes after beginning deliberations.
Davis, formerly of 10826 Bayou St., was accused of shooting Bayou Street neighbor Johnny Sanders, 44, on Sept. 8, 2007, in the backyard of a house on nearby Johnson Street. Sanders was shot once in the chest and once behind his left ear with a .22-caliber firearm.
Davis and Johnson had clashed earlier in the day, then-Police Chief Al Burns said at the time.
Twentieth Judicial District Judge William G. Carmichael set sentencing for Aug. 11. A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence.
Although police were unable to recover the murder weapon, and no one who saw the shooting came forward as a witness, District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla said in closing arguments that five witnesses testified they saw Davis with a gun either immediately before or immediately after they heard gunshots.
The district attorney said witnesses found Davis in the backyard where Sanders had fallen and one witness testified Davis said, “He deserved it.”
Jurors also heard a taped statement in which Davis admitted shooting Sanders, but defense attorney Richard Howell argued that a confession is not enough to convict a person unless the state presents corroborating evidence, which he said prosecutors did not do.
Howell also attacked inconsistencies between testimony witnesses gave Thursday and written statements they made for police after the shooting.
Howell asked the jurors to consider what motives the witnesses might have to change their testimony.
D’Aquilla told jurors the witnesses may have omitted details in their first statements because they were upset about the shooting, but he said no evidence was produced to show they had motives to embellish their accounts.
Howell also argued unsuccessfully that Sanders was armed with a knife and that Davis acted in self-defense.
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