This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.A man convicted of murder nine years ago is asking the Supreme Court to hear his appeal, arguing that a juror brought information from outside the courtroom into deliberations, and that the judge overseeing the trial failed to understand the dangers of the internet age.
In 2011, a jury convicted Mr. Lewis of second-degree murder in the 2005 death of 24-year-old Kerlon Charles. Mr. Lewis was 20 when the killing happened, and 28 when convicted. He received the mandatory sentence of life in prison. Eventually, Mr. Lewis’s lawyers asked Justice McCombs to conduct an “inquiry” into the juror’s allegations, which were contained in an affidavit given to the court, and are now sealed.
The only eyewitness to give evidence in the trial was considered a disreputable character based on his own extensive involvement in crime, Justice McCombs wrote in his sentencing decision. The judge cautioned jurors on the dangers of relying on the eyewitness’s evidence, unless other evidence confirmed it. The eyewitness testified that Mr. Lewis was the one who shot Mr. Charles to death, out of revenge because Mr. Charles had previously robbed Mr. Lewis of guns and drugs.