Man found guilty after victim blinks to identify shooter
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) -- A Prince George's County jury has found a man guilty of murder after the paralyzed victim identified his shooter by blinking.
Multiple news outlets report that the jury found 25-year-old Jermaine Hailes guilty of first-degree murder on Tuesday in the 2010 shooting of 29-year-old Melvin Pate.
Pate was left paralyzed from the chest down after the shooting. A video showed him identifying Hailes from a lineup by blinking at a photo of the shooter.
Pate died before Hailes went to trial, but police had recorded the photo lineup.
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that Pate's blink was a dying declaration and allowed prosecutors to show the video during the trial.
Hailes faces life in prison at a sentencing hearing set for Aug. 25.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.