Victim's Blinks Led to Killer's Conviction

Maryland man was paralyzed by shooting
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 9, 2016 12:35 AM CDT
Victim's Blinks Led to Killer's Conviction
This photo provided by the Office of the State’s Attorney in Prince George’s County, Md., shows Jermaine Hailes.   (Office of the State’s Attorney, Prince George’s County, Md., via AP)

A Maryland jury has found a man guilty of murder after the paralyzed victim, who later died, identified the person who shot him by blinking. A Prince George's County jury found 25-year-old Jermaine Hailes guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 2010 shooting of 29-year-old Melvin Pate, the AP reports. Pate was paralyzed and unable to speak because of injuries from the shooting.

A video recorded by police shows him identifying Hailes as the shooter by blinking at a photo in a lineup. Pate died before Hailes went to trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that Pate's blink was a dying declaration and allowed prosecutors to show the video during the trial. Hailes faces life in prison at a sentencing hearing set for Aug. 25. (More Maryland stories.)

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