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Courtroom outburst causes mistrial in 2015 murder case

Posted at 12:55 PM, Aug 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-25 12:55:57-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- A courtroom outburst caused a mistrial Monday in the murder case against a man accused in a 2015 homicide.

A jury had already been empaneled and Marion County prosecutors were already presenting evidence in their case against Robert Lasley, 30, when a disturbance halted and ultimately doomed the trial.

Lasley was arrested in February 2016 in Newport, Kentucky, in connection with the December 2015 shooting of 30-year-old Michael Killebrew on the 1000 block of West 29th Street.

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Lasley was originally charged with attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, but the charges were upped to murder after Killebrew succumbed to his injuries in January 2016.

An oral motion for mistrial was made by Lasley’s attorney, Deana Louise Martin, following the outburst. The state did not object, and the motion was granted.

Court staff were not able to describe the nature of the outburst.

A new trial in the case was tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. 

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