Defendant Douses His Attorney As Jury Is About to Exit for Deliberations in Murder One Case
Updated: As the jury was about to file out of an Iowa courtroom around lunchtime on Monday to begin deliberations in a first-degree murder case, the defendant gave them something new to think about.
Jerome Power, 50, grabbed a cup of water and poured it over the head of his defense attorney, Steve Addington, before anyone had a chance to react, the Gazette reported. Jurors looked surprised and those exiting the jury box stopped and stared.
“It should have been a mistrial. You sold me out!” Power told his lawyer after dousing him.
Power is accused of strangling a neighbor, Doris Bevins, 68, to death in September 2010, after allegedly entering her home to steal. Police found him behind a door there when they responded to a 911 from a friend who had been talking to her on the phone when she was attacked, the newspaper recounts.
However, the defense team pointed out that there was no DNA evidence linking Power to the crime and said it didn’t make sense that Power, who had just gotten a new job, would try to steal from a neighbor of four years who he knew had nothing of value in her home. Power reportedly had told police at the time that another man had been in the home but escaped.
The jury deliberated for the rest of the day on Monday and continued with its discussion of the Cedar Rapids case on Tuesday. In the afternoon, the jury sent a note to the trial judge saying it was deadlocked, but four hours later reached a guilty verdict, the Gazette reported.
A Huffington Post article includes a photo of the water-dousing incident.
Updated on Nov. 20 to include information from the Gazette and link to Huffington Post article.
