Update (June 16, 2021): Tevin Biles-Thomas, the brother of Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, has been acquitted of the murder charges he faced. Ohio judge Joan Synenberg made the ruling in a retrial on Tuesday, granting a motion for judgment of acquittal by the defense for lack of evidence, CNN reported.

With emotions running high during the ruling, a family member in the court charged towards the defendant after he was acquitted on all charges, including multiple counts of murder, felonious assault and voluntary manslaughter.

“He killed my baby. You know he killed my baby,” a woman yelled according to News 5 Cleveland.

Deputies, however, intervened to stop the family member.

my brother tevin | everyone says we look like twins but we don't see it pic.twitter.com/WnljD48rMQ

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 11, 2017

"This was a horrible tragedy, three families lost three family members and you know, absolutely horrific. So, we understand emotions were running high," Biles-Thomas’ attorney, Joe Patituce, said."But today, Tevin Biles was vindicated, what he's waited to get for the last two and half years."

Synenburg, who re-read the witness testimony before ruling on the acquittal, noted inaccuracies in the details of the 2018 New Year’s Eve shooting that left three people dead at an Airbnb in Cleveland. One woman, who was among the 18 witnesses called in the case, was the only person who gave a description of the suspect. The witness said her recollection of the shooter's clothing was 75% accurate.

“Her best recollection of the shooter's clothing is 75% accurate, a far cry from the compelling, persuasive evidence one would expect in a matter so tragic and serious," Synenberg said.

Michael Benza, a senior instructor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said Biles-Thomas is now free and cannot be tried for those crimes again.

"The Fifth Amendment double jeopardy clause would prevent any new trial," Benza told News 5 Cleveland.

Original (May 26, 2021): A judge in Ohio declared a mistrial in the murder case against Tevin Biles-Thomas, the brother of Olympic prodigy, Simone Biles, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Army soldier is on trial for murder after being accused of fatally shooting three people during an altercation in 2018 at a New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland, USA Today reported. The victims include 19-year-old DelVaunte Johnson, 21 year-old Toshaun Banks and Biles-Thomas’ cousin, 23-year-old DeVaughn Gibson.

“My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” Simone Biles said after her brother’s arrest in 2019, MSN reported. “There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.”

The 26-year-old pleaded not guilty and is charged with multiple counts of murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault and one count of perjury.

On Monday, during the third day of deliberations, all 12 jurors informed Judge Joan Synenberg of Cuyahoga County that they had inadvertently seen copies of legal briefs. The paperwork contained records of a debate between the defense and prosecuting lawyers on whether Biles-Thomas acted in self-defense.

The legal findings also included a motion from Biles-Thomas’s attorney, Joe Patituce, for Synenberg to instruct the jury on how to determine if Biles-Thomas acted in self-defense during the altercation. Synenberg denied the motion, and Patituce told jurors during closing arguments last week that Biles-Thomas did not possess a gun at the party.

“The evidence in this matter tends to support that if a trier of fact believes that Tevin Biles-Thomas fired any weapon that it was in defense of DeVaughn Gibson,” the motion read, according to The New York times.

Synenberg then asked the jurors if their findings had influenced their decision in any capacity, and they unanimously agreed that it did, leading her to declare a mistrial.

At the moment, it is unclear how the legal paperwork became enmeshed with the evidence since Patituce told assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutors that he and fellow defense attorney Catherine Meehan did not print any paperwork during the trial and used only electronic documents.

According to MSN, no physical evidence can implicate Biles-Thomas as the suspect in the shooting. Two witness testimonies aided the prosecution's case, despite both witnesses admitting that they did not see Biles-Thomas shoot and could not identify him.

After being indicted in 2019 following an investigation by the Cleveland Division of Police and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, the 26-year-old spent three months in jail on a $1 million bond before Synenberg reduced his bail by 10 percent, down to $100,000.

A new trial for the case is slated for Wednesday, beginning with jury selection.

Tevin-Biles-Thomas

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