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No guilty verdicts in second Vaughn prison trial

James Morrison
/
Delaware Public Media

A verdict in the second trial of inmates allegedly involved in the Vaughn prison riot is in.

 

A jury made up of 11 women and one man did not deliver a single guilty verdict Monday.

They fully aquitted two defendants, but did not reach a decision on several charges against two others.

 

The four inmates on trial were charged with the murder of correctional officer Lt. Steven Floyd during the 2017 standoff at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna, as well as assault, kidnapping, riot and conspiracy.

 

Abednego Baynes and Kevin Berry were found not guilty on all charges.

 

"I think the jury took a ... considerable amount of time to review the evidence. I think they came to the right conclusion," said Andy Witherell, defense attorney for Berry.

John Bramble was found not guilty of two counts of murder, one count of assault, four counts of kidnapping and one count of riot. The jury remained hung on the charges against Bramble of riot and assault of correctional officer Winslow Smith. 

Jurors also could not reach a unanimous decision on the charges against Obadiah Miller of riot, murder of a correctional officer in performance of his duties and reckless murder during the commission of a felony. Miller was found not guilty of two counts of assault, four counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy.

Tony Figliola, Miller's attorney, says the state will determine what happens next regarding hung charges against his client. “We’ll see what happens. We don’t know what the actual jury vote is. Maybe somehow they can find out, and if it was overwhelming for not guilty, they may decide it’s not worth trying again," said Figliola.

The state's prosecution team declined to comment.

"We are disappointed by the news today, but we respect the decisions made by the men and women of the jury," said Department of Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps in a statement. "Regardless of the outcome, the DOC will remain: One Family, One Team." 

The jury began deliberations Tuesday after a four-week trial. Deliberations lasted nearly five days.

Only one of the three defendants in the first trial last fall was convicted of murder. Another was acquitted on all charges.

Nine other inmates will be tried in two additional trials, which are expected to stretch through May.

 

This story has been updated.

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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