NEW ORLEANS – The latest developments in the trial of the only suspect arrested after a 2014 gunfight on New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street that left a bystander fatally injured and nine others wounded. All times are local:
10:30 p.m.
A jury in New Orleans has found 22-yeare-old Trung Le guilty of manslaughter for his role in a 2014 gunfight on Bourbon Street that left a bystander dead and nine people hurt.
Le also was found guilty of attempted manslaughter for firing at another, unidentified gunman who remains at large. He faces up to 40 years in prison.
Friday night's verdict came after three days of often emotional testimony from the family of the dead woman, 21-year-old Brittany Thomas, and from victims who survived the shooting with serious injuries. There also were aguments among prosecution and defense lawyers over surveillance videos that captured the shooting — and whether those voters supported the defense's contention that Le shot in self-defense.
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7 p.m.
The attorney for the only person arrested in a deadly 2014 gunfight on New Orleans' Bourbon Street presented a closing argument that lasted more than two and a half hours as he tried to convince a jury that his client was guilty of nothing more than self-defense.
Jurors were expected to begin deliberating the charges against 22-year-old Trung Le late Friday. He was charged with manslaughter and attempted second-degree murder.
Attorney Martin Regan acknowledges Le fired first in the June 2014 melee. But he said Le fired four shots in self-defense against a still-unknown second gunman who fired many more times — shots believed to have fatally wounded 21-year-old Brittany Thomas. Nine others were injured in the exchange — some severely.
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3:30 p.m.
The lawyer for the only person arrested in a deadly 2014 gunfight on New Orleans' Bourbon Street told jurors not to base their verdict on emotion.
Martin Regan was making his closing argument Friday in the trial of 22-year-old Trung Le, charged with manslaughter and attempted second-degree murder.
Regan acknowledges Le fired first in the June 2014 melee. But he said Le fired four shots in self-defense against a still-unknown second gunman who fired many more times — shots believed to have fatally wounded 21-year-old Brittany Thomas. Nine others were injured in the exchange — some severely.
Prosecutors say Le was the aggressor and his firing sparked the violence that caused Thomas's death.
It appeared likely that jurors would be able to begin deliberations Friday evening.
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2:30 p.m.
Attorneys in New Orleans have begun final arguments in the jury that will decide the fate of 22-year-old Trung Le, the only person charged in a 2014 gunfight that killed an innocent bystander on Bourbon Street.
Jurors have heard three full days of testimony and seen surveillance video showing the gunfire from a variety of angles. Prosecutors portray Le as the aggressor. Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Tucker told jurors Friday that Le has yet to accept responsibility for the gunfire.
The defense insists Le fired in self-defense to save himself and others from another shooter who has yet to be identified.
Le is charged with manslaughter and attempted second-degree murder.
Victims of the shooting and family members of the woman killed — 21-year-old Brittany Thomas — were in the courtroom.
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12:15 p.m.
Jurors could soon begin deliberations in the case of Trung Le, the only suspect arrested after a 2014 gunfight left a bystander dead and nine people wounded on Bourbon Street.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case Friday morning and the defense rested its case without calling a witness.
That clears the way for closing statements to jurors.
The 22-year-old Le is charged with manslaughter in the death of Brittany Thomas. He's charged with attempted second-degree murder of the second, unknown shooter.
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