Man acquitted on murder charge<br/> Mistrial declared on other counts

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - A MySpace page set up for Aaron "Lil A" Wright reads, "I'll b out soon man."

Whether that's true remains to be seen, but a Gwinnett County jury did acquit the 24-year-old of malice murder in the Sept. 3, 2005, shooting death of Jose Anibal Nunez-Maldonado at a Tucker apartment complex.

The state's case hinged on the testimony of Wright's three co-defendants, who have each pleaded guilty to various charges and are serving prison sentences of more than 15 years.

Mario Price and Leon Crosdale said it was Wright who shot and killed Nunez-Maldonado during a robbery of the Hispanic man. Crosdale's brother, Dwight, admitted to driving the three men to the Westwood Apartments, but denied any knowledge of the robbery or shooting.

Wright's defense attorney Thomas Clegg labeled the men as the "Three Stooges" and said they were pointing the finger at Wright to receive lighter sentences for themselves.

While the jury said Wright is not guilty of murder, it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on charges of armed robbery and weapons possession.

Supervisory Assistant District Attorney Jimmie Baggett said a mistrial was declared on those counts. It is unclear whether the state plans to retry Wright.

"With other trials starting while the jury on the Wright case was deliberating, no discussion yet about how to proceed," Baggett said in an e-mail. "Probably not any opportunity to talk about that issue this week."

For now, Wright remains at the Gwinnett County Jail without bond.

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