A last-minute courtroom emergency sent all of Leslie Sharp”s defenders and prosecutors back to the drawing board Saturday.
Jurors had been in heated deliberations for almost three hours Saturday when Oktibbeha County Circuit Court Judge Lee Howard called the jury out around 3 p.m. to offer an additional instruction urging them to come to a consensus. Moments after returning to the jury room, court bailiffs informed Howard one of the jurors had begun hyperventilating. Two jurors, who are nurses, concurred an ambulance was needed to take the woman to the hospital.
Because the final alternate juror had been dismissed, Howard had no choice but to declare a mistrial. He said the trial would be rescheduled for a future date.
“We”ll start all over again,” said Howard.
Assistant District Attorney Rhonda Hayes-Ellis and defense attorney Jack Brown both declined comment, as did members of Sharp”s family. Members of Christopher Cole”s family left the courtroom before a comment could be sought.
Sharp is accused of murdering Cole on Nov. 10, 2008, when she and three women confronted him on Kelly Road in Oktibbeha County. Cole was dating one of the three women and attempting to date another, prompting the confrontation. Sharp, who was along for the ride, claims she shot and killed Cole in self-defense when he became enraged at the women. She said he pulled a gun and shot once in the air. When Sharp drew her weapon, she claims Cole pointed his gun at her and began pulling the trigger. After Cole”s weapon misfired, Sharp claims she opened fire, mortally wounding Cole.
The jury patiently endured four days of sometimes emotional testimony from all of the eyewitnesses to the shooting, multiple law enforcement officers who worked the case and several forensic experts.
Although yelling could be heard coming from the jury”s deliberation, all jurors appeared composed when Howard called them back to the courtroom for additional instruction.
The court will now have to seat a new jury and completely retry the case.
Earlier in the day, during closing arguments, Hayes-Ellis said Sharp retrieved her gun from her truck on the day she and her friends drove out to Kelly Road with the intention of killing Cole.
“She didn”t just happen to have a gun. She goes to her truck and gets her gun. Why does she do that? She arms herself. The other girls are just having fun,” said Hayes-Ellis.
She and Brown both claimed three gunshot wounds to Cole”s back proved their respective cases. Hayes-Ellis claimed the shots to the back prove Cole was walking away with his back to Sharp when Sharp fired.
Brown claimed the trajectory of the internal wounds in Cole”s body suggest the gunshots to Cole”s back occurred when Sharp continued to fire as he fell forward on his face. Furthermore, he stated the fact that Cole fell next to the car the women were in after being shot suggested he was advancing toward Sharp, not returning to his vehicle.
Hayes-Ellis concluded her remarks stating that, if Sharp had acted in self defense and the defense of her friends, her friends would support her in court.
Defense attorney Mark Williamson claimed each of the three eye witnesses had reason to change their stories, with two receiving threats from Cole”s family prior to the trial and a third afraid she would be charged as an accessory to a crime.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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