Randall Harris Jr.
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) – A Wood County jury has found Randall Harris Jr not guilty of homicide and recklessly endangering safety for an incident last Halloween that ended with the death of his father, Randall Harris Sr.
Court records show the defense rested its case Tuesday morning. Closing arguments wrapped up at about 3 PM, and the jury deliberated for about four hours before returning the verdict.
The prosecution had rested its case last Thursday.
Harris Jr was then released from the terms of his bond, and an acquittal was officially entered into the record. The 34-year-old had been accused of shooting and stabbing his father in the basement of a Wisconsin Rapids home.
The younger Harris was immediately named as a suspect and arrested shortly after the incident.
The trial originally started on Monday, February 2nd, and came to a halt two days later when a judge declared a mistrial due to a Brady violation, meaning the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense. The issue was corrected, and the trial was restarted one week later with a new jury.
Court records show the jury was called back into the courtroom at 6 PM Tuesday and given the option to call it a night and come back Wednesday morning. Instead, they chose to continue their work and announced a decision about 55 minutes later.
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