Travis Midgyett’s eyes, a central theme in the Carlos Kelly murder case, were fixed on the prosecuting attorney as he listened to him explain why those eyes would prove him guilty.
Midgyett, 27, along with his friend Rodney Cunningham, were charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree murder in connection with the March 29 killing of Carlos Kelly.
Although the special defense attorney called the majority of the witnesses, both the defense and prosecuting attorney made their cases on Thursday using the same evidence in different ways.
Special defense attorney Chris Slusher called in Sprint engineer Russ Chrisman to testify that the phone records from the night Kelly was murdered show that Midgyett’s cell phone made and received calls in an area of town far from where the incident occurred. The evidence Russman provided showed that calls occurred between 3 and 4:15 a.m., during the same time period that police think Kelly was murdered.
The prosecution argued that nothing from Chrisman’s testimony could prove that Midgyett was in possession of his phone the night the murder occurred. Prosecuting attorney Nicole Gorovsky explained that the same records showed that calls were made and received from Midgyett’s phone while he was being held in connection with Kelly’s death.
Both parties made their closing arguments, and the jury adjourned to begin deliberation. At 10:24 p.m. the jury retired for the evening. It will reconvene for further deliberation today.