Found Deceased IN - Lawrence, Harrison State Park, WhtMale, homicide victim, Mar'22 - William Romero *Arrest*

[FrostedGlass]

I can't find any news about this trial. The only thing I found is an update on an article published in 2022:

Update (04/12/2024): Dawaun Lewis was found not guilty of murder on Friday. The verdict came three days after his jury trial started on Tuesday.

Man arrested in connection with body found in Lawrence woods

Lawrence police arrested a man in connection with the death of his roommate, whose body was found in a wooded area near Fort Harrison State Park.

fox59.com

Maybe they will publish an article in the following days..

That's pretty big news; I would have thought they'd be all over that after the trial.
I'm surprised at how news gets so many headlines in the beginning but trickles down to almost nothing in the end.
Thanks for watching the news.

 

[iulia]

That's pretty big news; I would have thought they'd be all over that after the trial.
I'm surprised at how news gets so many headlines in the beginning but trickles down to almost nothing in the end.
Thanks for watching the news.

That is big news, I did not expect to see that. Granted, I did not watch the trial, but I usually expect the prosecution to have enough and compelling evidence to prove their case.
I guess this goes to show how hard it is for a person that's been found Not Guilty to resume their life after their trial. There were numerous articles about his arrest, and it would be only fair that he gets the same amount about the verdict that a jury of his peers has reached. To many he will always be a murderer.

 

[FrostedGlass]

That is big news, I did not expect to see that. Granted, I did not watch the trial, but I usually expect the prosecution to have enough and compelling evidence to prove their case.
I guess this goes to show how hard it is for a person that's been found Not Guilty to resume their life after their trial. There were numerous articles about his arrest, and it would be only fair that he gets the same amount about the verdict that a jury of his peers has reached. To many he will always be a murderer.

Did you read the probable cause affidavit? I thought it sounded solid; now I'm going to take another look to see where I went wrong.

https://www.wishtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Dawaun-Lewis.pdf

 

[iulia]

Did you read the probable cause affidavit? I thought it sounded solid; now I'm going to take another look to see where I went wrong.

https://www.wishtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Dawaun-Lewis.pdf

Honestly, I don't remember.. I am pretty sure I did at the time, as I was also convinced the outcome of the trial would be different.
Perhaps the defense had some good experts and/or witnesses if they were able to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors. A three day trial is not that long, so whatever it was must have been pretty convincing, I think.
I really hope there will be some news coming up soon.. I looked on X to see if there were any journalists following and tweeting but couldn't find anything.

 

[gprost1026]

Honestly, I don't remember.. I am pretty sure I did at the time, as I was also convinced the outcome of the trial would be different.
Perhaps the defense had some good experts and/or witnesses if they were able to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors. A three day trial is not that long, so whatever it was must have been pretty convincing, I think.
I really hope there will be some news coming up soon.. I looked on X to see if there were any journalists following and tweeting but couldn't find anything.

I was an alternate juror in the case. I personally believe the jury got the verdict wrong. This was a circumstance based evidence trial and I believe the state presented a mountain of evidence that pointed to only one reasonable conclusion, being the defendant guilty of murder. It was gut-wrenching to sit through deliberation unable to comment and my fellow alternate felt similar. I think the jury did a poor job looking holistically at the case and instead went one by one at individual evidence pieces, feeling not 100% certain of each piece. The gun having the victim DNA on the muzzle and defendant DNA on the trigger / handle was not conclusive enough for them. The defendant’s phone being in the near vicinity of the body location near the time the victim was last reported alive was not conclusive enough for them. The behavior of the defendant to use the victim’s car and hide it both at the residence and work place was not conclusive enough for them. Overlayed the evidence provided a compelling case that pointed to one and only one suspect and the jury got too hung up on absolute certainty to issue a guilt verdict. I am incredibly disappointed and hope I am wrong but after sitting though the last week I cannot help but think a murderer was set free.

 

[iulia]

I was an alternate juror in the case. I personally believe the jury got the verdict wrong. This was a circumstance based evidence trial and I believe the state presented a mountain of evidence that pointed to only one reasonable conclusion, being the defendant guilty of murder. It was gut-wrenching to sit through deliberation unable to comment and my fellow alternate felt similar. I think the jury did a poor job looking holistically at the case and instead went one by one at individual evidence pieces, feeling not 100% certain of each piece. The gun having the victim DNA on the muzzle and defendant DNA on the trigger / handle was not conclusive enough for them. The defendant’s phone being in the near vicinity of the body location near the time the victim was last reported alive was not conclusive enough for them. The behavior of the defendant to use the victim’s car and hide it both at the residence and work place was not conclusive enough for them. Overlayed the evidence provided a compelling case that pointed to one and only one suspect and the jury got too hung up on absolute certainty to issue a guilt verdict. I am incredibly disappointed and hope I am wrong but after sitting though the last week I cannot help but think a murderer was set free.

Wow, thank you so much for sharing. That’s terrible and disproofs my idea that the defense had a good case. I guess the jurors had a very high standard for reasonable doubt. I know that happens to some jurors, but from a quick search I found that in Indiana the verdict must be unanimous so all of them where having doubts? How long has the jury been out for deliberation?

 

[FrostedGlass]

I was an alternate juror in the case. I personally believe the jury got the verdict wrong. This was a circumstance based evidence trial and I believe the state presented a mountain of evidence that pointed to only one reasonable conclusion, being the defendant guilty of murder. It was gut-wrenching to sit through deliberation unable to comment and my fellow alternate felt similar. I think the jury did a poor job looking holistically at the case and instead went one by one at individual evidence pieces, feeling not 100% certain of each piece. The gun having the victim DNA on the muzzle and defendant DNA on the trigger / handle was not conclusive enough for them. The defendant’s phone being in the near vicinity of the body location near the time the victim was last reported alive was not conclusive enough for them. The behavior of the defendant to use the victim’s car and hide it both at the residence and work place was not conclusive enough for them. Overlayed the evidence provided a compelling case that pointed to one and only one suspect and the jury got too hung up on absolute certainty to issue a guilt verdict. I am incredibly disappointed and hope I am wrong but after sitting though the last week I cannot help but think a murderer was set free.

Thanks for coming here and sharing.

I'm curious about what the defense presented to you all. Can you share some of that?
Also, did the jurors have an alternate theory for the things they weren't certain of?

IMO
It's a really heavy burden to send someone to prison for the better part of their life, especially on circumstantial evidence. It boils down to: Did I sentence the killer or did I sentence an innocent man AND let the real killer go free?

 

[FrostedGlass]

'The jury got it right': Roommate found not guilty of murder

A 34-year-old man accused in his roommate’s killing was found not guilty by a Marion County jury Friday.

www.indystar.com

"“Mr. Lewis' behavior was inconsistent with the motive the state provided, which was that Mr. Lewis killed his roommate to steal his car,” Fleming said.

Lewis continued to shop for his own vehicle even after Romero went missing, the man’s attorney said. The circumstances of how Romero’s body was found suggested he may have been killed by someone other than his roommate, Fleming said.

"That combined with some evidence that was not tested for DNA just left the jury unsure,” Fleming said."