Simone Biles’ brother to receive new trial after mistrial declared in murder case

The 12-member Cleveland jury somehow reviewed copies of legal briefs from Tevin Biles-Thomas' lawyers and prosecutors.

The judge in the case against Tevin Biles-Thomas, the brother of gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, declared a mistrial Monday after jurors read legal paperwork included in evidence they were asked to review. 

The 12-member jury received copies of legal briefs from Biles-Thomas’ lawyers and Cleveland, Ohio prosecutors in which they argued over whether or not the U.S. Army soldier may have acted in self-defense on New Year’s Eve in 2018, the night that he allegedly shot three men. 

The Cleveland judge trying the case of Tevin Biles-Thomas (left), the brother of gymnastics superstar Simone Biles (right), declared a mistrial Monday after jurors read legal paperwork included in evidence they were asked to review. (Twitter)

It has not been disclosed how the paperwork ended up in the evidence. 

Biles-Thomas was arrested in Georgia at Fort Stewart eight months after a Dec. 31, 2018 shooting during a party at an Airbnb in Cleveland where Delvante Johnson, 19, Toshaun Banks, 21, and Devaughn Gibson, 23, were all fatally injured. 

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Biles-Thomas was charged with six counts of murder, three counts of voluntary manslaughter, five counts of felonious assault and one count of perjury, according to prosecutors. The jurors, on Monday, the day of their admission, were on their third day of deliberations.

In a previous report from theGrio, it is noted that Biles-Thomas, his famous sister and their two other siblings spent their early childhood between foster homes and the home of their mother, who struggled with drug addiction. When she was six, Simone Biles and her younger sister were adopted by their maternal grandfather, Ron, and his wife, Nellie. Biles-Thomas and their other sibling were adopted by Ron’s sister, according to a Texas Monthly profile on Biles.

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Biles released a statement in 2019 about the shooting, in which she wrote: “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families. There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. I ask everyone to please respect my family’s privacy as we deal with our pain.” 

Biles-Thomas will face a new jury in a new trial, the date of which has not yet been set.

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