A Lucas County Common Pleas Court judge has given himself until Monday afternoon to reach a verdict in the murder case against a man accused of helping another man target a woman he wanted to kill.
Judge Dean Mandros heard closing arguments Wednesday afternoon in the trial of Andre Jackson, 32, which he is hearing from the bench, after denying a defense motion for judicial acquittal.
In an argument he would similarly reprise in his summation, defense lawyer Kurt Bruderly had argued that prosecutors’ case against Mr. Jackson was so dependent on “stacked inferences” and assumptions that no reasonable jury could convict his client.
But Judge Mandros ruled that an interpretation of the evidence most favorable to the prosecution — the standard required for a judicial acquittal — supported continuing with any witnesses the defense might offer before giving the case to the trier of fact to determine if guilt beyond a reasonable doubt had been proven. In this case, the trier of fact is the judge himself.