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James Alex Fields Jr., the white nationalist accused of deliberately leaving his car in a crowd of counter-protesters at the Charlottesville White Nationalists' rally in 2017, was convicted of murdering him. one of these opponents. [19659002] 21-year-old Fields, originally from Ohio, was charged with first-degree murder last year as a result of the attack that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens anti-racist protesters who opposed "Unite the Right."
Fields was also convicted of five counts of Serious and Serious Injury, three counts of Injury charges serious and a leader of non-compliance with a judgment involving a death.
This adds to the indictment for hate crime based on 30 counts
The result comes after a much-awaited two-week trial in Charlottesville, Virginia, focused on Field's intention to assist. and inflict violence at the gathering of white supremacy, where hundreds of right, na White militants and neo-Nazis, militants carrying tiki torches gathered to protect a statue of Confederate General Robert. E. Lee.
After three days of jury selection, Judge Richard E. Moore, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge, and a 12-person jury, consisting of nine women and seven men (including one person of color) , have been heard by the prosecution and more than a dozen. witnesses proving Field's intention to cause harm during rally
Commonwealth attorney Joseph Platania and Commonwealth Assistant Attorney Nina-Alice Antony both claimed that Fields , who had brought a homemade shield, was "manhandled" by the counter-protesters during the rally, prompting him to plow his gray character. The Dodge Challenger crosses the crowd on the afternoon of August 12, 2017.
A medical examiner states that Heyer was fatally injured by blunt trauma caused by the impact of the car.
"What did he have in mind when he crashed into the crowd?", Revealed Antony to the jury in his closing plea on Thursday, evoking the video showing Field idling an intersection before moving back "slowly" and sinking into the crowd. "His intention was not to kill Heyer specifically, but to kill any member of the group."
"He's heading to that group and he's going for them. What intention could he have of other than to hurt or kill? "
The prosecution focused on a horrific and detailed testimony of Field's victims, who were talking about their permanent injuries and describing the moment the car hit the crowd.
"I heard screams, very loud blows, and bodies in the air.I was confident that this would be my last second, and I was pretty frustrated to see how was my last second, "said Thomas Baker, who captured the bodies of air victims in his Pulitzer Prize winning photo. Baker tore several ligaments and broke his hip in several places after the attack.
Field defense lawyers John Hill and Denise Lunsford, and the former Commonwealth attorney for Albemarle County, spoke of a mere defense, the 21-year-old defender. was acting out of self-defense.
"You are here to decide why this event took place," Hill told the jury in his opening statement. "Mr. Was Fields Afraid of Serious Bodily Injury or Death? "
This lawyer argues that Fields – who has been diagnosed with treatment for ADHD, anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder – feared for his life after witnessing earlier violence between white nationalists and counter-demonstrators. He reacted, according to his lawyers, without thinking about the consequences.
Fields did not testify on his own behalf but was present every day of the trial. He often seemed impassive, according to the journalists.
Deputy sheriff Paul Critzer, of Charlottesville, told the jurors that after pursuing and apprehending Fields in his car immediately after the incident, the white nationalist had apologized for the attack and stated that he thought he was being targeted.
"I'm sorry for … I do not know, I did not want to hurt people, but I thought that they were attacking me." "They were always people," Fields said after the police, Fields was sobbing and hyperventilating during an interrogation when he learned that he had killed someone and injured many others.
"Are they okay? In the video being read, Fields looked at the defense table and stabbed him with a pencil
Despite his remorse, the jurors learned on Tuesday that Fields sent his mother a photo of her father. Adolf Hitler and a threatening SMS while he was traveling to Maumee, Ohio, to get to the rally. The Fields had already been associated with white supremacy, while former comrades revealed his affinity for the Nazi leader.
"It is not we [sic] who must be careful ul, he wrote, which, according to the prosecutors, showed his intention to engage in violence even before his arrival.
Text messages were revealed despite multiple attempts by the defense to block them. The messages, they argued, would present Fields in an unfair light as they do not show his intent at the exact moment of the attack. Moore J., however, decided that the messages would help the jury understand what motivated Field throughout the day.
"In this case, the probative value outweighs any detrimental effect," Moore said.
President Donald Trump, particularly silent in the aftermath of the protest, finally blamed the violence on protesters at the Charlottesville rally, including Deadly Field Attack.
"I think there is a blame on both sides," said Sadly's infamous Trump Tower during a fierce exchange with reporters at Manhattan's Trump Tower last August. "You had a group on one side that was bad. On the other hand, you had a very violent group. Nobody wants to say that. I will say it right away. "
He continued," I condemned the neo-Nazis. I have sentenced many different groups. Believe me, all these people were not Nazis. These people are not all white supremacists.
Sentencing will begin Monday morning, the judge said in court, and could include witnesses until Tuesday. If the maximum sentence was withheld for each charge, Fields could be sentenced to six life sentences and 70 years of additional jail time.
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