CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After being told by Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit to continue deliberating, a jury acquitted a man of murder and kidnapping charges Monday.
Miguel Quinones had faced life in prison on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges in connection to the 2013 death of Kareem Hunter at a Marmet apartment.
“This trial was hard. It was a full week and a day. There were so many witnesses, so many people that were involved; law enforcement and eyewitnesses. There was never a certainty,” said Quinones’ attorney Rob Dunlap.”
Two other people, Deveron Patterson and Kelsey Legg, had pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to testify against Quinones. Hunter’s body was found in a shallow grave in Raleigh County.
Dunlap said that evidence tracing Quinones’ cell phone to the scene was inconclusive.
“Eyewitnesses there that night who saw the other person that was with Deveron Patterson didn’t identify Miguel Quinones,” he said. “The fact that the cell phone records reflected that the cellphone may have been in the vicinity, may have been in the car, but there was no way to put that cell phone in (his) hand.”
Dunlap credited the jury for their attentiveness and attention to detail, and said he was glad the recent mass murder at an Orlando nightclub didn’t sway their decision.
“So many times, when you have these types of cases, you’re afraid that justice isn’t going to be done and a jury is just going to want to punish,” he said. “Especially in the wake of a mass killing where another person took 50 lives.”
Around noon on Monday, the jury informed Judge Joanna Tabit they couldn’t come to a verdict, before she issued an Allen charge, which encourages jurors to listen to each other and come to a consensus if possible.
‘Without any evidence to put him at the scene, I think the jury was rightfully so apprehensive about taking a man’s liberties for the remainder of his life under those conditions,” Dunlap said.
Quinones’ trial began last Monday in Charleston, and jury deliberations began at the end of the week.