Witness testimony continues in second Jerel Stanfield murder trial

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Testimony continued on Friday in the second murder trial of Jerel Stanfield, who is accused of killing a rival gang member before being shot by Fresno police.

The focus was on the gun allegedly used in shooting death of 23-year-old William Simpson in 2013.

Jurors listened to ballistics experts from the prosecution's witness list.

The judge only allowed Action News cameras to capture audio of testimony describing the weapon investigators say was found on Jerel Stanfield when he was arrested in connection with the shooting death of 23-year-old William Simpson in 2013.

"They were all fired from that particular firearm. and this is your experience of comparing how many shell casings in your career? Thousands."

A forensics expert said no fingerprints were on the gun.

"So, this gun was clean? As if it had been wiped?" asked Kevin Little, Stanfield's defense attorney.

"The question is who shot the gun? What should be done and I would assume it's been done is to see if there was any residue on his hand," said Tony Capozzi, a legal analyst.

Stanfield's last trial for the deadly shooting ended with a hung jury in 2017.

Capozzi says because of the high profile nature and this being a murder trial, there's no question about having a retrial for the case.

Because of the length of time since the homicide, he says the jury can go either way.

"Memories begin to fade this would tend to favor the defense, but again you have transcripts for what was said in the first trial,"Capozzi said.

"The fact that it's been so long and if this persons been out of trouble for so long those are factors that a jury may consider or the defense may bring up in showing this is not the kinda guy that would do that."

The trial continues Monday and is expected to go into the first week of February before jury deliberations.