Man acquitted of murder in killing at Caribbean festival
A Dorchester man was acquitted yesterday of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man during Boston's annual Caribbean Festival in 2001.
Darryl Green, 31, was found not guilty of murder, according to a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. Green was, however, found guilty of unlawful possession of a handgun.
Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat sentenced Green to three years at MCI-Cedar Junction on the gun charge.
The jury acquitted Green after a day-and-a-half of deliberation. If convicted, he would have faced a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Green was originally indicted on racketeering charges in federal court in connection with the Aug. 25, 2001, shooting of 23-year-old Terrell Gethers during the Caribbean Festival. Both men are from Dorchester.
Federal prosecutors later dropped the death penalty case against Green, sending it to Conley's office.
During the 12-day trial, prosecutors alleged that Green and 25-year-old Brendan Morris shot Gethers to death because they believed he was associated with a rival gang. Morris pleaded guilty to participating in the homicide and is serving a 17-year state prison sentence.
"The trial prosecutor did an outstanding job in confronting all the difficulties that come with a seven-year-old gang-related murder case," said Jake Wark, district attorney spokesman. "We are disappointed with today's outcome and heartbroken for the victim's family, but we respect the jury's verdict."
Prosecutors alleged that Green, along with others associated with the Esmond Street neighborhood in Dorchester, attacked Gethers on American Legion Highway because they thought he was connected to the Franklin Hill housing development.
Gethers was wearing a blue Buffalo Bills jersey, not the blue New York Giants jersey that is associated with some residents of the Franklin Hill development, prosecutors said in court.
Jurors watched a secretly videotaped conversation Green had with an informant two days after the death.
Defense attorney Randy Gioia of Boston sought to discredit the videotape in his opening statement, saying it showed that Green talked about the killing, but it never incriminated him.
"We are overwhelmed with relief," Gioia said yesterday. 