BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A new jury heard an old story Wednesday in a murder trial that has a twist of deja vu.
The last time the case came up in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Rayshun Holt was convicted of shooting a friend to death in an East Walnut Hills street fight.
Mr. Holt, then 15, was tried as an adult and sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for killing 14-year-old Phillip "Sugarman" Haley Jr. of Evanston.
But the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, saying he wasn't properly read his Miranda rights. Police say he wasn't suspect at the time.
The new jury watched in Judge Patrick Dinkelacker's courtroom as police and others filed to the stand.
They heard from a friend who ran from the scene the night of May 6, 1995, after hearing the boys call each other names and then gunfire. They saw the blue and white FILA jacket Mr. Haley was wearing the day he died. It was the jacket his mother saw on television when she first realized her son was dead. A ballistics expert held it up Wednesday as he described the .22-caliber firearm bullet that pierced it.
They also heard from a prison inmate who said Mr. Holt bragged that he "blast on that buster" -- slang for "shot the punk."
Prosecutors are expected to wrap up testimony today. Mr. Holt's defense delayed its opening statement until after the prosecution rests.
