An Orleans Parish jury Wednesday night (April 17) acquitted 28-year-old Lorenzo Conner of second-degree murder in a 2011 Central City homicide.
Conner was charged in the Oct. 27, 2011, shooting near Magnolia and Philip streets that killed 25-year-old Nelson Smith. Police spotted him running near the scene and took him down in the middle of the block after a brief foot chase.
Conner’s defense attorneys, Danny Engelberg and Mariah Holder of the Orleans Public Defenders, said Conner was running from the sound of gunfire, which he heard while he was walking to his house on Josephine Street about three blocks from the homicide.
New Orleans police officers said they recovered the gun in the 2600 block of First Street where they arrested Conner. They said they saw Conner throw the gun while he was running. Engelberg said Conner did not have a gun.
He said at the start of Conner’s trial this week DNA would prove his client’s innocence.
In 2011 Central City homicide, defendant’s DNA wasn’t on weapon or at scene: attorney
Erica Sparacino, the DNA manager at the Louisiana State Police crime lab, testified Wednesday that her office tested a black T-shirt, a pair of navy pants, a gun, and the handlebars, brake levers and seat of a bicycle connected to the case.
There was not enough DNA present on the gun to get a profile, she said, and both Smith and Conner were excluded as matches to the DNA profiles present on the other items.
Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Sarah Dawkins, Sparacino said it’s possible for someone to touch something and not leave DNA.
Police reports filed in connection with the case show a gunshot residue test performed on Conner shortly after his arrest came back negative.
From the witness stand Tuesday, NOPD Detective Timothy Bender, the lead investigator on the case, said the officer who performed the gunshot residue test on Conner at NOPD headquarters shook her head “no” after she did the test, indicating the results were negative.
Bender said when he looked at the test results about 10 minutes later, he noticed blue particles which indicate gunshot residue was present. Bender said he didn’t document that in his report, and he wasn’t able to secure funding to perform additional gunshot residue tests.
Conner also was charged with obstruction of justice and with being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with Smith’s slaying. Jurors acquitted him of those charges, also.
Criminal District Judge Daryl Derbigny presided over the trial. Assistant District Attorney Jay Meyers prosecuted the case with Dawkins.
Conner’s acquittal is not the end of his legal troubles. He still faces charges connected to his alleged escape while in custody of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in 2015. Authorities said Conner escaped from a transport van taking him to court for a hearing. He was arrested in Marrero three days later.
Conner also has picked up several jail charges.
via nola.comhttps://www.nola.com
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