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EDGARD — A St. John the Baptist Parish jury returned a unanimous 12-0 verdict of Not Guilty after hearing two days of testimony in the trial of Juan Carlos Ramos.

In 2018, Ramos was charged with attempted second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in a machete attack that nearly claimed the life of Bryan Guillot Jr. He proceeded to trial on September 28, 2019 and was found guilty of attempted manslaughter on a 11-1 non-unanimous jury. Ramos was sentenced to 20 years in jail, but he was later awarded a new trial under Ramos v. Louisiana (2020), a landmark case that declared non-unanimous convictions unconstitutional.

Attorney Randy J. Dukes was assigned to represent Ramos in his second trial. After a thorough review of the case and consultation with Ramos, Dukes changed the theory of Ramos’ defense by invoking the affirmative defense of “Self-Defense” on behalf of Ramos.

Ramos’ second trial began on October 18, 2022. Dukes called Ramos to the stand to testify in his matter. After two days of testimony, the case was submitted to the jury of 12 on October 20, 2022. After deliberating a little over one hour, the jury returned a unanimous 12-0 verdict of not guilty.