Attorney urges judge to vacate sentence in former officer's murder trial

ATLANTA — A judge could give an ex-police officer a new trial after he was convicted of killing a man with a Taser.
Attorney John Martin told a judge in Fulton County court Friday that former East Point police Officer Marcus Eberhart didn't set out to kill anyone that day.

But prosecutors said what he did led to Gregory Towns' death and a jury voted to convict.

[READ: Attorney files lawsuit against city in Taser-related death]

The defense told a judge Friday that the jury got it wrong, and they're hoping a 13th juror -- the judge -- will correct it.

“The reason we have 13th juror is because jurors make mistakes,” Martin told the judge. “It's there for a purpose because juries sometimes make mistakes.”

Eberhart was convicted in 2016 and is serving a life sentence. Prosecutors said he and another officer used a stun gun on Towns more than a dozen times, leading to his death.

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Martin said his client didn't mean to kill Towns and he said he didn't shock him as many times as the state said he did.

Martin said Towns had medical issues that contributed to his death.

“This was completely unknown to the officers,” Martin told the court.

Prosecutors said the 13th juror isn't needed because the original 12 jurors did their jobs.

“The trial in this case was fair. The defendant had his day in court and your honor over saw a fair trial,” prosecutor Donald Wakeford said.

[READ: 2 former police officers on trial in Taser death]

Prosecutors said Eberhart was fired, a jury indicted him, and his conviction should stand.

Wakeford said this is about the excessive use of a Taser that killed a man and he quoted a medical examiner who testified at trial.

“If it hadn't been applied he wouldn't have died,” Wakefield said.

Towns' relatives told Jones they've never heard of the 13th Juror and they thought they had put this all behind them.

The judge said he will determine if he will vacate the verdict, order a new trial or do nothing. He didn't say when he would make a decision.

Cox Media Group