Mistrial declared in brothers’ murder trial after lawyer falls asleep in court
A Detroit mother was devastated to hear that she has to go through the court process all over again in the case of her sons’ murders when a judge declared a mistrial.
The reason for the mistrial? A defense lawyer who fell asleep during the trial.
“When an attorney falls asleep during court proceedings, it doesn’t look good and they could have very well missed something important,” Leda Watts told WXYZ.
The new pre-trial is scheduled for November 28, and while Watts admitted that she was disappointed in the delay at getting justice for her sons, she had faith in the judge to do the right thing.
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“It’s just like living everything all over again, going through the process,” Watts said. “I want to be able to have some type of closure to move forward and just love on my grandchildren that I have left from them.”
In April, Watts’ sons, Louis Phillips, 28, and Alex Stewart, 24, were shot in front of a home and killed. Family members claimed that they had gotten into an argument with a neighbor when someone came out of a nearby home and shot them.
Phillips was pronounced dead at the scene, but Stewart died at the hospital. Just days after the double murder, police arrested the suspect, a 42-year-old man.
