Attorneys react to Yella Beezy guilty verdict

Well, we really can't express the disappointment at the verdict. We're going to keep fighting. We have excellent appellate points, and that will be the next step in the fight. Did you think that they did prove beyond a reasonable doubt? No, I don't. I don't think they had the evidence, and all that will be addressed in the appeals. That's all I've got to say. Mr. Shook, there appeared to be some kind of commotion when he went back in. I don't mean to go on one-by-one. We have a more immediate case to make behind the second field. That was the lead defense attorney, Toby Shook. Toby said, he said, I can't express my disappointment at the verdict. We're going to keep fighting. We have excellent appellate points, though he did not go into what those appellate points are right now. He was asked about whether he felt there was reasonable doubt, whether they got beyond reasonable doubt with the jurors. He said, no, I don't. I don't think that they had the evidence, and that's going to come out. on appeal. That's interesting to me. Again, he queried every juror. Let's listen in now to Thomas Adams' prosecution, see if he speaks. Could you step back in the brown shirt, please? Sir, could you please? Thank you. Are you ready? All right, I'll let y'all know when we're set, so no one... Be, be, be, be, be, be. Are we ready? All right. Go ahead. First question. Brown shirt. Yes, sir? Was there ever a turning point into this case in terms of just the deliberation? As far as deliberations, of course, we don't know what termed it for the jurors and what they were considering back there. Of course, we appreciate the verdict that they came back with, and we respect their decision, and I think that they got it right today. So we're happy about it, of course. Do you have anything to say regarding just you all and the case and the evidence they presented just allowing the jury to reach this verdict? Yeah, I can't thank all of the team that's here with me, from Marissa Hatches, Detective Barnes, of course, Rick Vela, Deanna Devon, Eliana Westbrook, Jay Williams, Sean Corey Patton. Crystal Biggins, Raul Obregon, Alex Lipsy, we've had an amazing team, but our partners with the FBI, ATF, they've all been huge, and our partners at the Northern District here at the U.S. Attorney's Office have been great in assisting us, so this was the ultimate team effort. It's been one of the most challenging cases over the last six years. I remember getting the call that day when Melvin was on the highway, and I can't thank everybody enough for the support, and I know the family is just forever grateful for everybody's hard work, You know, tireless effort to get a just verdict. Have you been able to speak to the jurors? No, ma'am. And I don't know if they've left or not. But we were spending some time having a private moment with the family. So that was the most important thing to us at that time. And what did the family have to say? I'm gonna keep that private between us if that's okay. Was this intentional for 11-11? You know, I do believe in a higher power, and I believe God has a plan, and Detective Barnes and I were talking about it. There were a lot of things that came together. 11-11, six years later, Barnes has testified three times on this whole thing. It was 3 o'clock when I was in there hugging Ms. Noble, so it was a lot of sleepless nights for everybody here that was involved. Thank you all. I believe that this happened for a reason this way. And Mr. Adams, there appeared to be some sort of commotion when Mr. Conway went back into the room back there once he was placed in custody. Can you share any detail about what that commotion was? I'll be honest with you. I didn't hear anything. I think my head was spinning at that moment, so I didn't hear anything. What did you make of the jury asking those questions early on for the records, the evidence? Did you feel like that was a step in the right direction of leading to this verdict? Look, I respect everybody that comes down here and has to serve on jury duty. I think they're asked with a very hard task to be away from their family and their friends and their jobs, and they're asked to come down here and look at thousands of pieces of evidence and spend two and a half weeks with a bunch of attorneys hearing very difficult evidence, and it's a lot to understand. And so I think they have a tough job, and they took it very seriously, and I'm thankful for that. And we're thankful any time people from our community come down here and take the time I'm out and put that much meaning and thought into. It's a tough decision like finding somebody guilty of capital murder and I think that's what it really came down to is they wanted to make sure that they felt confident in their decision. This was very much a circumstantial case. What do you think resonated with the jury that got them to that verdict? Because it's very circumstantial. Thank you. DNA is circumstantial, but I think we all agree that DNA is great evidence. iCloud messages, the mapping by Special Agent Page, and Detective Barnes' tireless effort in the pursuit of justice and the truth. And I think that's what got us to this result today, six years later, on the date. We can't be more thankful for everybody's effort in this and the jurors' time and thought. So thank you on behalf of the family. I'm speaking for them, and on behalf of our office, I want to thank the jurors and everybody's effort in this. So thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Good job, man. Appreciate it. Thank you.