After more than five hours of deliberation, at 9:20 p.m. last night a jury found former University student Andrew Alston guilty of voluntary manslaughter, punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison.
The courtroom remained silent after the verdict as the individual jurors voiced confirmation of their consent to the decision. After the prosecution's side of the room departed, several of Alston's family members broke down in tears.
Earlier, Charlottesville Circuit Judge Edward L. Hogshire requested that the public refrain from any outbursts while the verdict was read.
Alston had been accused of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Charlottesville resident Walker Sisk on Nov. 8, 2003.
In the last day of testimony, the defense called its remaining witnesses -- including an unexpected testimony from Alston.
After testimony from defense witnesses concluded, Hogshire read to jurors a set of instructions specifically defining the potential verdicts: guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter or not guilty.
A conviction of second-degree murder would have required that the prosecution prove that Alston killed Sisk with malicious intent.
Alston testified that he brandished a knife in the incident, but that he intended to use it only as a deterrent to ward off Sisk.
Alston said while he hesitated, Sisk grabbed the knife out of his hand. Alston tried to grab it back and held onto Sisk's hand as hard as he could.
Alston said he felt pain in his hand after he "pushed the knife away."
"I knew if I let go he was going to kill me," Alston said. "He kept trying to bring [the knife] up and get it towards me and I just kept pushing it away. Eventually he hit the ground and I backed away -- I didn't know how badly he was hurt."
Alston said he was not aware of anything other than trying to keep the knife away from himself.
In his testimony, Alston painted a picture of friends out for an innocent night on the town.
Jurors appeared sympathetic to his testimony and some even smiled as Alston recounted his friends "giving each other tips on what to wear" before the evening began. The testimony did not significantly differ from other accounts of the evening of bar-hopping by previous witnesses.
However, Alston did testify that acquaintance Bill Fegley had a "bad attitude" that night and was "just out of line" with certain comments and actions.
According to Alston, Sisk and his friend James Schwab were the ones who started the exchange that led to Sisk's death. Alston said he recalled hearing someone from the other side of the street shout "F*** you faggots!" as he walked to his friend's apartment on 14th Street.
Alston said the provocation incensed Fegley, who proceeded to yell back at the pair. Finally Sisk yelled, "I'm going to kick your ass!" at Alston's group, to which Fegley replied, "Go ahead!"
At this point in the testimony, the defense produced a picture of Sisk in uniform, smiling benignly at the camera.
"Is this who you saw?" defense attorney John Zwerling asked.
"No," Alston replied. "I saw a furious, crazy man."
Alston testified that Sisk crossed the road and was met by Alston's older brother Kenneth Alston. Andrew Alston said his brother had always been smaller and the start of a fight between Kenneth Alston and Sisk "scared" Andrew Alston. During this part of the testimony, Andrew Alston became emotional.
"I just wanted him off of my brother," Andrew Alston said as he broke down in sobs.
Andrew Alston said during this time he did not take part in any verbal exchange and was just trying to calm everyone down, ending up in front of Sisk as Ken Alston and Sisk broke up. Andrew Alston said he told Sisk he didn't want any problems and then acted in a way he would forever regret.
"This is something I'm real ashamed of right here," Andrew Alston said, breaking down in sobs for the second time in his testimony. "I pulled out a knife and held it out and just told him to stay back."
According to Andrew Alston, Sisk said in response, "I'm going to f*** you up p***y. I'm going to kick your ass."
After the struggle with Sisk, Andrew Alston said he heard companion Jeffery Cabrera yelling at, but that he didn't listen to his friend and began to run.
"I just took off," Andrew Alston said. "I just wanted to get away from the guys. I wasn't sure if he was going to come back at me or not."
Andrew Alston said he found his way to the friend's apartment to which he and his friends were initially headed. He said he went into the apartment, closed and locked the door, and was then so exhausted that he went to a bed to lie down and eventually "passed out." The next thing he knew, police officers were pulling him out of the bed.
During the cross-examination, Asst. Commonwealth Attorney Jon Zug established that Andrew Alston had consumed eight or nine drinks for the evening.
Zug's main point during the cross-examination was that Andrew Alston never told anyone that he had been attacked. Zug reminded Andrew Alston that he had not used a blue emergency phone, called 911 or told anyone that he had been attacked. Andrew Alston's defense was that he had been "washed out" and went to bed. Zug also asked if Andrew Alston had tried to hide his injured hand from the police under covers and a pillow when they arrived. Andrew Alston said he had not.
During parts of Andrew Alston's testimony, the prosecution's side of the room appeared highly skeptical, chuckling or simply shaking their heads.
To refute Andrew Alston's testimony, the prosecution recalled former witnesses Cabrera and Schwab to the stand, both of whom said they did not remember seeing any "grappling with the hands" for the knife between Sisk and Andrew Alston. Schwab said the struggle for the knife did not occur.
Zwerling began yesterday's presentation by calling forensic pathology expert Jack Daniel to the stand. Daniel had previously contributed to the case by helping to create the long-sleeved shirt which simulated the location of stab wounds on Sisk.
According to Daniel, the stab wound sustained by Andrew Alston on his hand could have been either defensive or offensive and "no features on the cut alone" could clearly ascertain which type of wound it was. However, he also testified that he believed the wound was defensive, taking into account the martial arts training Andrew Alston had received under Lt. Naval Officer John Correa as well as the primarily superficial nature of Sisk's wounds.
Daniel also said the superficial wounds sustained by Sisk were consistent with a back-and-forth altercation between Sisk and Andrew Alston.
"It's questionable as to whether anyone had complete control of that knife," Daniel said.
Zug quickly seized upon these statements, leading Daniel to admit that Sisk's superficial "trailing" wounds on his back could also be made by someone stabbing from the back, consistent with previous testimony that Sisk had fallen over on the retaining wall while Andrew Alston continued his blows.
The defense later called expert Roger DePue, who invoked the "General Adaptation Syndrome" to explain Andrew Alston's actions immediately after the incident. The General Adaptation Syndrome describes the body's long and short term reactions to stress. The three phases of the syndrome -- alarm, resistance and exhaustion -- explain Andrew Alston's actions during the course of the clash, according to DePue. He said the syndrome could also cause Andrew Alston's loss of memory of parts of the incident.
During cross-examination, Zug revealed that DePue's testimony was costing the defense $300 per hour. However, DePue said he had only billed three or four hours and that he would receive no personal gain from his testimony as his company was collecting the compensation.
Zug delivered the prosecution's closing statement first, focusing on the eyewitness testimonies from Cabrera and Schwab.
"They were the two people who were at the scene and understood what the dispute was about and stayed with the group the entire time," Zug told the jury.
Cabrera and Schwab gave consistent accounts of the evening, although they were not affiliated with the same groups, Zug said.
During the defense's closing arguments, Zwerling noted the tragic nature of the trial, but encouraged jurors not to rule on the basis of sympathy.
"You cannot base your decision on sympathy," he said. "Your verdict cannot bring him back."
Zwerling cited Andrew Alston's candidness as proof of his testimony's credibility. If Andrew Alston were to lie in his testimony, he would not have admitted to pulling the knife, Zwerling said.
"He's the only one who ever put a knife in his hand that night," he said.
In addition, the eyewitness accounts which the prosecution emphasized were inconsistent and clouded by the influence of alcohol and the passage of time since the incident, he added.
Zwerling also highlighted forensics and Andrew Alston's experience with martial arts as evidence that he was acting in self-defense in his struggle with Sisk.
The sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled to begin today at 9:30 a.m.
--Senior Writer Jason Amirhadji contributed to this report.
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