Greg Burroughs was acquitted of manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend, Katherine Sinclair. WDAM reports:
A Franklin County jury found Greg Burroughs not guilty of manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Katherine Sinclair. Closing arguments were made and the jury deliberated for about two hours Tuesday before arriving at the verdict.
Burroughs, of Laurel, was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his then-girlfriend Sinclair. Burroughs claims Sinclair shot herself. Sinclair was found shot in the head inside her car at Burroughs’ home in Laurel on June 1, 2017, after Burroughs called the police. Sinclair died the next day.
In closing arguments, Jones County District Attorney Anthony Buckley argued that Burroughs shot Sinclair. He said the angle of the wound is not consistent with suicide due to the awkward angle. He also pointed out that the medical examiner testified the wound was a distance wound, not a contact wound.
Defense attorney Tracy Klein said the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Burroughs shot Sinclair. Klein said the investigation was not thorough and investigators failed to test evidence and lost evidence.
Klein said officers didn't test Katherine’s right hand where the gun was found for blowback blood splatter on the gun. Klein said processing of this evidence would have proven suicide and exonerated Burroughs. He also noted that one particle of gunshot residue was found on Burroughs’ hand, but multiple particles were found on Sinclair’s hands.
The state and defense moved to rest on Monday. Buckley said Burroughs is not credible and has changed his stories since the night of the shooting back in June 2017. Sgt. Michael Reeves, lead investigator with the Laurel Police Department, concluded his testimony before the state rested Monday.
On Friday, Reeves testified that Sinclair had five glasses of wine at a dinner prior to the shooting and Burroughs had five beers. Jurors also learned about argumentative texts between the two in which both Sinclair and Burroughs threatened each other.
After the state rested, Defense Attorney Tracy Klein motioned for the judge to issue a direct verdict of not guilty because the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a homicide or manslaughter.
The motion was denied.
For more background on the trial, check out our coverage from each day:
Day 1: Opening arguments made in Greg Burroughs manslaughter trial
Day 2: Greg Burroughs manslaughter trial
Day 3: Greg Burroughs manslaughter trial
Day 5: Lead investigator testifies in Burroughs manslaughter trial
Day 6: State, defense rest in Burroughs manslaughter trial
23 comments:
Wait. What was she doing out of the kitchen?
Correct result based on the facts. Weak case. Plenty of reasonable doubt. Dude's a piece of $h!+, but even pieces of $h!+ are entitled to the protections of due process.
No you shouldn't say based on "facts" 10:06am you should say based on information allowed to be included in the case. This is absolutely pathetic on the part of those that are sworn to "serve and protect"
Dixie mafia is still very much alive and well in Jones County. Everyone involved with power is corrupt.
Another good example of prosecution and law enforcement failing to elevate their game to the level of the defense. The sloppy presentation of evidence would have worked and convicted a lot of indigent defendants who could not afford a reasonable defense, but not someone who could. Obviously this reveals the standard in that community. Jail the po' folks.
Sounds about white.
Man, y'all are pretty hard on the PD. Indigent offenders get great representation. But there is a difference between actual innocence and the State's inability to prove its case. Sounds like the PD screwed this up. Happens in Jackson all the time.
Oh this breaks my heart for her family and his daughter. Could you imagine him being your FATHER!?
Do you even know who the Dixie Mafia is? It's not a bunch good ol' boys from the South; it's an actual criminal gang. That said, it appears from what I have read that the prosecution's case was weak. Maybe that was because political pressure pushed those in charge of investigating it to spike the ball, maybe not. Keep in mind, he was found "not guilty" and not "innocent." Oh, and this doesn't stop a civil suit from going forward a la OJ. Maybe competent lawyers in the civil case can uncover something that would the ruling junta of Jones County out of business.
Burroughs is a very good friend of felon wife beater Brian Clark. IN fact his family owns an island where they go hunt and fish. In fact when the POS killed her, our Governor Phil was on the island with his family!
Surely the Sinclair family will file a civil suit against Burroughs.
@ 1:58, do tell. What island camp are they members of?
We have two (2) types of Justice in our country. One for the rich and powerful (INNOCENT) and one for the hard working middle class and poor folks (GUILTY). There is nothing new under the sun.
11:12 AM Dixie Mafia runs nearly every county in this state.
1;00 "Indigent offenders get great representation." Is there any dope left? Please don't smoke it all. Leave a little for the rest of us!
Typical Jones County law enforcement. While I fully support LEO's, the incompetence in some organizations is ridiculous. Between the completely botched investigation (whether intentional or incompetence) and the complete incompetence of the D.A. (not the first time he blew his wad), no doubt this guy goes free.....this time. Unfortunately, these type of scum bags usually end up getting caught in a subsequent event. Hopefully no one gets hurt the next time.
Let's face facts. Burroughs is a redneck rich piece of shit (and whatever money and influence he may have is not that which he personally earned) and Sinclair was going for what she saw as a sugar daddy. They had a typically volatile relationship and it ended badly. Did she deserve to die, assuming he did kill her? Of course not. On the other hand, if some hysterical bimbo killed herself over this dude, she had issues, but that doesn't make him guilty of anything other than what he was guilty of prior to her death: being a white trash redneck with family who happened to hit a small lick. Put bluntly, trailer park drama in a gated community.
Look no further than the Clark and Alston situations for other examples of similar. And for those that are impressed by chicken truckers, gas jockeys or lawyers who happened to make a nickel, you might wish to reconsider your frame of reference. These families are one step removed from dirt poor rednecks, the differential being having a member make some relatively minor monetary score. They are "big fish" only in a fish tank and in their own minds, not even a small pond. The fact that average Mississippians think of them as anything more is part and parcel of the problem.
Karma can be a real big ball-buster, and I suspect this turd will screw up yet again and discover just how big sooner rather than later. On that note, I'll take age 51 in the "dead or in prison" pool.
there may be some hooligans running around calling themselves Dixie Mafia, but in reality the real organization died on the vine starting in the 90's. they were never about anything but stealing. and I mean stealing big time. as younger men started dealing drugs and other crimes, it lost "members".
There was a pretty nice beer joint just across the Tombigbee River in Columbus that was a gathering spot for those guys up until the late 90's.
Ha, 1:48. Private island my ass. It’s called Ono Island, (basically orange beach) and there are probably a couple thousand other homeowners on the same island. It’s definitely not used for hunting either. It’s also not his or his parents. Don’t try to make it more “Dateline/20/20” than it already is.
The name of the island is ONO Island.
What difference does all this parenthetical bullshit about him being a turd have to do with anything? If the evidence presented at trial did not warrant a conviction, then he didn't deserve to be found guilty. I doubt the prosecution was allowed to say, "But, your honor, this guy is a turd!"
I'm also pretty sure lots of fine people live in mobile homes.
this guy gets indicted by the government and apparently everyone automatically thinks he is guilty. somebody please explain to me how it is that the people around here in J J land, all think the government is constantly wrong about everything except when the government indicts someone.
Those staunch "innocent until proven guilty" supporters might want to check out the Laurel Leader-Call website about Mr. Burroughs. He may be "not guilty," but apparently, "innocent" is gonna be a tough sell to a civil jury. I have no idea how much in assets he personally has, but I'd offer that the Sinclair family is well past half way to finding out how much of whatever it is will become theirs, even if they don't realize it yet.
And if no one has taken them yet, can I go ahead and get every age from however old this turd is now to 51 in the "dead or in prison" pot? If I had to make a prediction, I'd predict that within 5 years, his ready access to spending money thins out, which freaks his sorry ass out and Karma catches up.
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