Hall County jury found two men not guilty of fighting during a quick battle between rival gangs

Hall County jury found two men not guilty of fighting during a quick battle between rival gangs last June that left several men injured and one man dead.

Fernando Acosta bowed his head slightly Friday as a clerk read the verdict in Superior Court Judge Jason J. Deal's Hall County courtroom. He remained for the reading of the jury's second decision, which came a short time later at 6 p.m.

The panel, which deliberated for nearly five hours, had expressed division about Acosta's co-defendant and friend, Juan Pablo Hurtado. But in the end, a not guilty judgment on the charge of affray, or fighting, nullified the gang participation charge that split them.

Acosta was found not guilty of both charges outright.

After the trial, defense lawyers Arturo Corso and Jerry C. Carter Jr. said the case turned on one prosecution witness, Wilson Almendares.

Carter billed Almendares, an admitted La Onda gang member, as a "general" who mustered his BOE 23 allies for a well-planned assault of their SUR 13 foes.

The groups met at 5 a.m. June 13 near the mailboxes at Lenox Park Apartment complexes, where Hurtado lives and was being driven home, Carter argued.

While SUR 13 members may have aggravated the situation, Hurtado and Acosta acted in defense of their friend, Daniel Adame, who was struck hard at the beginning of the physical struggle that lasted about five minutes, the lawyers said. He later died.

"The jury understood our argument of self defense and defense of others," Carter said.

You Might Also Like :