A jury in state district court on Tuesday returned a guilty verdict but opted for a lesser charge against a man accused in a shooting in June 2012.

The jury voted 10-2 to convict Maurice Nelson, 36, of attempted manslaughter, choosing that over attempted second-degree murder. The trial lasted one day. The jury’s 3 1/2 hours of deliberation lasted longer than it took for the prosecution and the defense to put on evidence and testimony. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors said that was the first time they had seen that happen.

“I would like to think that as a defense, we presented enough information that they felt they had a lot to sort through,” lead defense attorney Joshua Monroe said. “That was part of their process, they had to sort through what amounted to a lot of information in a very brief time and then took my closing to heart and really sat down and considered it and really picked their way through every single piece of evidence they considered.”

The jury had to decide whether Nelson was guilty of the shooting and whether the crime met the standard of attempted second-degree murder — whether he pulled the trigger with the “specific intent” to kill the other man.

“I think there were a lot of issues they were back there wrestling with,” prosecutor Bobby Holmes said. “They had to work with the specific intent aspect of the cases and also the intoxication portion that came in through argument at the end and did that play some part in what happened that night?

“It’s the verdict they came back with. I’m sure they had their reasons for that. It is a just verdict in the system we work under.”

Nelson faces up to 20 years when Judge Sharon Wilson sentences him on Jan. 13. Holmes said he will ask for jail time, but will leave the sentencing to Wilson. Monroe said he will ask for the minimum.

 The shooting happened on June 27, 2012. Nelson shot the victim, who was his cousin’s husband, while the man was sitting in his car in the parking lot of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church on Enterprise Boulevard, according to testimony.

After a discussion about gas money, the victim got in the car and tried to start it, although the engine would not crank, Holmes said. “The next thing” the victim heard was the glass of the car door shattering, Holmes said. Nelson fired three shots into the car, Holmes said.

The man was shot in the left arm, the bullet grazing his chest and traveling into his right leg, Lake Charles police Capt. Arnold Bellow testified. Another bullet hit the man in the side, Bellow said.

The victim asked Nelson, “Why did you shoot me?” Holmes said. Nelson said he did so to prove his toughness, Holmes said.

In an effort to “put distance between” Nelson and himself, the shot man ran six blocks down Enterprise Boulevard, but Nelson followed him, Holmes said. Lake Charles police Officer Scott Dougherty saw Nelson chasing the wounded man, Holmes said.

“He was going to take him out,” Holmes said. “Had not police arrived when they did, this could be a different story.”

Monroe argued that his client was not guilty. The gun was not found in Nelson’s possession, nor were his fingerprints on the weapon. Only the victim said that Nelson shot him, Monroe said.

Even if Nelson did pull the trigger, it did not mean he intended to kill the man in the car, Monroe said.

Nelson was “somewhat intoxicated and belligerent” and “reeked of alcohol,” Bellow testified.

A semi-automatic 9 mm handgun was found in the grass, and three 9 mm shell casings were found near the car, as was a live 9 mm round, Jordan Ashworth, a police crime scene technician, testified. The driver’s side window of the vehicle was broken and there was blood on the driver’s seat, she said.

During Monroe’s cross-examination of Bellow, the police captain said he told the victim and his family that they should only speak to Lake Charles police and the District Attorney’s Office, not even to Nelson’s defense attorney. Bellow said he told the man’s family that because they had been threatened and harassed.

When Monroe asked Bellow if he had tried to hinder the defense’s investigation, Bellow said he was “offended” by the allegation and that he had only done so to protect his “client.”

After Bellow stepped down, Monroe said he took “offense” at Bellow’s instructions, because there were “no allegations that anyone from our office” was harassing the family. Monroe asked for a mistrial, but Wilson denied the request.(MGNonline)