Darshae Dews actually scored a partial victory in the verdict Wednesday. The jury found him guilty of second degree murder instead of first degree for killing a Central Fresno man in his Tower District home.
The 19-year-old may have looked completely calm as the clerk read a guilty verdict against him on a count of second degree murder. But moments after the jury left the courtroom, Dews started cursing the decision.
"They charged me for first degree murder," he bellowed. "How the **** they find me guilty of second degree murder?"
Sheriff's deputies stepped in to take Dews back to jail, but then he issued a threat to our Action News camera.
"You're free to leave Mr. Dews," said Judge Hillary Chittick. "You're free to leave."
"***** that," Dews interrupted. "You better put that **** on the news or I'm going to smoke your ***** ***."
The angry outburst followed a partial victory for Dews and his defense attorney.
Detectives found his fingerprints on the murder weapon and surveillance video showed him walking away with a bag of items he stole after killing Arthur Lopez last summer.
But public defender Jim Lambe argued there wasn't enough evidence the theft met the definitions of robbery or burglary, which would have led to a first degree murder conviction.
The jury agreed.
"They thought he went in to commit the theft, but they weren't sure beyond a reasonable doubt and that's what the law is," said prosecutor Steve Wright.
Lopez's family members left the courtroom in tears, but Wright says having closure gave them some peace of mind despite the lesser conviction.
As for Dews' mind, not even his attorney knows what's inside. The teenager refused to claim insanity and chose to wear a jail uniform and handcuffs instead of street clothes during the trial.
He snapped at one of his defense attorneys during a hearing in September.
"Watch out lady," he said to public defender Deborah Girard. "What are you doing?"
And he never said much about the case to the lawyer who got him a lesser conviction.
"He says he doesn't remember," said Lambe. "There's no way of knowing if that's true or not. We do know he has a very serious mental disturbance."
Dews will be sentenced to life in prison, serving at least 16 years before he's eligible for parole.
With a first degree murder conviction, he never would have been up for parole.
