A year after Oakland man’s murder conviction was reversed over prosecutor’s improper statement, a second jury acquits him
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/28/a-year-after-oakland-mans-murder-conviction-was-reversed-over-prosecutors-improper-statement-a-second-jury-acquits-him/
OAKLAND — A year after an appeals court overturned his murder conviction — citing a misstatement of law by a prosecutor who was replaced for the second trial — an Oakland man was acquitted in the 2014 shooting death of a woman here.
Shawn Martin, 45, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter in the April 23, 2014 killing of his 21-year-old neighbor, Melissa Martinez. During trial, Martin’s attorney argued Martin fatally shot Martinez in self-defense because she appeared to be digging in her pockets for a handgun as the two argued. Martin was in the middle of a dispute with Martinez’s mother at the time.