NEWARK, N.J., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man accused of burning five boys alive in 1978 has decided against testifying at his murder trial.
Lee Anthony Evans, who is defending himself with the aid of a legal adviser, had called just one character witness to the stand, and summations are scheduled for Friday morning in Superior Court in Newark, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported.
At Evans' trial Thursday, Judge Patricia Costello denied a defense motion for a mistrial but rebuked Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Guarino for asking while cross-examining a defense witness if the witness knew Evans' brother "was convicted of murder."
Guarino, who apologized for the question, said it was in response to a statement from witness Luther Allen Jr., a longtime friend of Evans, who had mentioned the defendant's older brother, Lavert Evans. The Star-Ledger said a check of a state court database turned up no record of a murder conviction of Lavert Evans.
Costello said she found it "astonishing, astonishing to me that a prosecutor had asked this question" and told jurors to disregard it but denied legal adviser Olubukola Adetula's motion for a mistrial.
Lee Evans and his cousin Philander Hampton were each charged with five counts of murder in March 2010.
Hampton confessed in 2008, called Evans the mastermind and said the killing were in retaliation for the boys' stealing a pound of marijuana from Evans.
Hampton has pleaded guilty to felony murder and received a reduced sentence for testifying against Evans.
Hampton testified this week he helped Evans lure the boys into a vacant house in Newark, lock them in a closet and burn them alive.
