Gwinnett County man found "not guilty" in dog park murder case
A man charged with murder in Gwinnett County Georgia was acquitted late last week. Charles Martin Coats was found "not guilty" of murder in the stabbing death of William Scott Carr that occurred on January 3, 2007.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Coats admitted that he stabbed the man, but his lawyer argued that it was in self-defense. According to the attorney, Coats and Carr got into an argument over Carr's dogs at Yellow River Park in Gwinnett County. The dogs were bothering Coats, so he tried to get them out of the way. Carr became angry, and the men started arguing and threatening each other. According to Coats' lawyer, Carr said he'd kill Coats. The two started fighting and Coats stabbed him with a knife he had on him at the time. He stabbed him once in the throat with a four inch blade.
The prosecutors charged Coats with murder based on their theory that Coats killed Carr because of "anti-gay sentiments," and an ongoing disagreement over the dogs. The jury didn't buy it.
Congratulations to Brain Steel, Coats' Atlanta criminal defense lawyer, for an excellent job. I understand he spent many months preparing for this trial. The hard work obviously paid off.
