Court Will Hear Appeal In Case of School Drive-By Shooting
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to consider reinstating the murder conviction of the driver in a gang-related drive-by shooting that horrified Seattle in 1994.
The court will hear arguments in the fall in the case of Cesar Sarausad II. He was convicted for his role as the driver in the shooting in which Melissa Fernandes, 16, was killed and Brent Mason, 17, was wounded outside a Seattle high school on March 23, 1994.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned the conviction because of faulty jury instructions.
In his instructions to the jury, Judge Larry Jordan said Mr. Sarausad could be convicted of murder regardless of whether he knew of any plan for a killing. The appeals panel ruled that the jury should have been told Mr. Sarausad could be convicted of murder only if he knew what was being planned.
The state of Washington asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction, which had been upheld by state appeals courts.
The case is Waddington v. Sarausad.
