Last week I was 2nd chair for my first murder trial. We went up against the state attorney general office. The jury came back with a guilty verdict and my client will surely appeal.
This is a case where the only incriminating evidence came from one person, a co-defendant, who was offered a plea deal dismissing the murder charge in exchange for testimony at trial. A lying criminal was the best the state had. And the jury, after almost 3 hours of deliberation, decided to believe the liar.
I do not do appeals. I accept the jury verdict and move on to the next case.
I always have clients that swear the law requires more than “just testimony” to convict someone of a crime. There is no requirement that the state have any physical evidence in order to charge and convict. In fact, lots of cases do not have any physical evidence and the state completely relies on “just testimony”. If the jury believes the state witness story beyond a reasonable doubt the law will require them to convict. Case closed. I move on to the next one.