Three were acquitted on all charges.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_16228026
Three acquitted in videotaped 2009 beating of Jesse Bethel High student
Juror says prosecution case hurt by gang, torture allegations
By Tony Burchyns/Times-Herald staff writer
Published By Times Herald
Posted: 10/01/2010 12:49:22 PM PDT
FAIRFIELD - Three defendants were acquitted of felony charges Friday morning stemming from a 2009 campus brawl that left a 17-year-old Jesse Bethel High School basketball player seriously injured.
Following nearly two hours of deliberation Thursday and Friday, a Solano County Superior Court jury found Ray Tili, Ron Tili and Kevin Young not guilty of assaulting and torturing Bryant Lee.
The defendants also faced gang charges.
The Jan. 15, 2009 after-school fight gained widespread media attention because it was captured by Bethel security cameras.
However, video released to the media only showed part of the fight.
During closing arguments Thursday, Solano County Deputy District Attorney Bryan Kim told jurors the crime was deliberate. Kim said the suspects repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped on Lee even after he was subdued and locked in a choke hold.
Defense attorneys, however, argued that it was Lee's teammates and others who started the fight.
Lee suffered serious injuries and was briefly in a coma. He was hospitalized for several days and at one point placed on a ventilator.
Eight people were indicted in the attack. Five other suspects face the same charges, but no trial date has been set.
The defendants, all 20, have spent nearly one year and nine months in jail before their release Friday.
After the verdict was read, one juror said the prosecution's case was foiled by the video.
"I think we were pretty close to a verdict by the time we got (into the jury room)," said the juror, who asked to remain anonymous. "The video really helped."
The jury also found that the brawl, which lasted just a few minutes, did not constitute "torture" even though one participant was badly hurt.
"It was a fight," the juror said. "How can you say that's torture?"
Defense attorney Tom Gill said afterward, "They (the defendants) didn't start this fight, but they did finish it."
Defense attorneys told jurors in closing arguments Thursday that the fight was "personal" between two groups of friends, not gangs.
Kim, the deputy district attorney, was unavailable for comment after the verdict