ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / September 13, 1999

EDGARD – A jury of 10 women and 2 men took less than an hour Thursday to reach a verdict of not guilty in the second-degree murder trial of Juan Alexander. A cry of relief from friends and family ran through thecourtroom as Alexander walked over to his mother and hugged her.

A 22-year old former Grambling State University student and athlete, Alexander was accused of second-degree murder in the death of 18-year- old Severin Gaspard. The Gaspard family was not present in the courtroomwhen the verdict was read to Judge Madeline Jasmine, though they had been in the court during most of the two-day trial.

On Aug. 1, 1998, Gaspard drove into a housing project on 13th Street inReserve. St. John Parish Assistant District Attorney Barry Landry saidGaspard went into the projects to buy drugs, but Alexander’s defense team said Gaspard was going in to commit robbery.

According to witnesses, Gaspard and Alexander got into an argument.

Gaspard then took off in his truck and Alexander shot at the truck 11 times with a 9mm handgun. One of the bullets struck Gaspard in the backof the head, killing him and causing his truck to crash into two cars and the corner of a house.

Alexander testified that he shot in self-defense because Gaspard had pulled a gun on him. However, no gun was ever found on Gaspard’s body orin his truck.

“There was no reason for Mr. Alexander to unload that gun the way he didon Aug. 1, 1998,” Landry told the jury in his closing arguments. “There wasno reason to shoot 11 bullets into that truck.”Landry said a murder had occurred that night, and Alexander was the murderer.

“He fired so many shots, how could he not intend to do bodily harm?” Landry asked the jury.

In the defense’s closing arguments, attorney Robert Glass said Alexander was a victim of an armed robbery, and that “in the rush of adrenaline and fear, Alexander chose to shoot and defend himself.”Glass asked the jury if they remembered testimony from the police that said that the shot that killed Gaspard was a ricochet off the tail light of the truck.

“This was an accident,” insisted Glass. “Mr. Alexander had the gun pointeddown, and the bullet hit metal and went up. He did not intend to hurt, hedid not intend to kill.”Glass said Alexander was a young man on an “upward path” who was doing good things in college, and unfortunately, he crossed paths with Gaspard who was on a “downward path,” addicted to crack cocaine and who intended to rob Alexander.

Glass said that just because a gun wasn’t found on Gaspard, it didn’t mean he didn’t have one.

“Why would he go into a Reserve housing project without any money?” Glass asked the jury. “To steal and rob, and for that, he needed a gun.”In his summation, Glass repeated that Gaspard’s death was an accident and that Alexander did not intend for it to happen.

“He is responsible for Gaspard’s death in the mechanical sense, but not in the moral sense,” said Glass.

In his rebuttal, Landry said experts testified that the bullet that killed Gaspard “may have reflected off the tail light, but the experts cannot say for sure.”He asked the jury to remember the facts that Alexander testified that he shot 11 times into the truck and intended to hit the truck, plus that no gun was ever found on Gaspard.

“I’m sorry he did it, ” Landry told the jury, “and I’m sure he is sorry, too, but he unloaded that gun to do great bodily harm. Intent is a fact that canbe inferred from the circumstances, and he is guilty of second-degree murder.”The jury disagreed, and Alexander, who was facing a life sentence with no chance at parole, walked out of the courtroom a free man.

When asked what his plans are for the future, Alexander said in a low soft voice, “Go back to school.”Landry’s reaction to the verdict was low-key. “We presented all theevidence, but the jury saw it differently,” he said.

When asked what may have swayed the jury, Landry said, “When the defense used Gaspard’s past, that played a part in the verdict. But I believein the jury system, and I hope Mr. Alexander has learned something andgoes on to be a productive member of society.”

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