By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

LATHRUP VILLAGE — Attorneys sparred over the facts on Nov. 23 as a jury heard closing arguments in the second trial of Jerome Hamilton, 16, accused of the shooting death of Catherine Solinski Blain on Oct. 15, 2008, in the parking lot of the Rib Rack restaurant in Lathrup Village.

“The facts are clear,” said Oakland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Robert Novy. “All the evidence indicates that Jerome Hamilton is the shooter.”

Investigators say that on the night of the murder, Hamilton, a Southfield resident, was with Deandre Sturges, 20, of Beverly Hills, and Brandon Davis, 21, of Southfield. The trio embarked on an attempted crime spree that night, failing to rob several people, including the night manager of the Rib Rack restaurant. Their last stop proved to be fatal. Solinski Blain died of a single gunshot wound to the head, delivered from someone standing outside her car as she attempted to leave the parking lot.

“Jerome Hamilton wasn’t there — Jerome Hamilton didn’t commit any of those crimes,” defense attorney Steven Fishman said during his closing. Fishman is serving as co-counsel in the second trial with Mitchell Ribitwer.

“We’ve got no weapon, no fingerprints, no DNA — no evidence at all that ties Jerome Hamilton to the crime scene,” Fishman said. “We’ve got a lot of information … but none of it points to Jerome Hamilton.”

Fishman called into question the evidence presented by the prosecution, stating that none of it supported the prosecution’s case, but instead supported the defense’s case by not proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Hamilton was present at the murder:  witnesses who couldn’t positively identify Hamilton as one of the three boys who tried to rob them earlier that night; cell phone records that linked the three suspects together and suggest that they were together on the evening in question; a surveillance video that shows Solinski Blain’s last moments, but that does not identify any killer or killers; and the statements of Davis himself, who escaped a murder rap by agreeing to a plea deal in exchange for testimony against his former cohorts.

Fishman suggested that Davis and Sturges are trying to take Hamilton down with them. He pointed to another young man who he thinks was actually the third person out on the crime spree that night, not Hamilton.

“The fact of the matter in this case is that Brandon Davis and Deandre Sturges planned to rob the Rib Rack,” Fishman said. “They thought they were going to get a big score. And they took their good buddy …  with them.”

But the prosecution denied any part the fourth person played the night of Solinski Blain’s murder, adding that investigators did their job in identifying the true culprits.

“There was never one scintilla of evidence that (he) was involved in this case,” Novy said. “These are experienced officers. There was nothing ever linking (him) to this case.”

Even still, Fishman said, whoever else the guilt lies on doesn’t matter in this case.

“You don’t have to believe (the fourth friend)  did it,” Fishman said. “You don’t even have to believe Deandre Sturges and Brandon Davis did it — but they did. All you have to believe is a reasonable doubt that Jerome Hamilton did it.

“Ask yourselves, did the prosecution carry his burden of proof? Did he prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt? There is no way you can say that. … At the end of the day, I think you have a reasonable doubt.”

Hamilton’s first trial ended in August with a hung jury, with judge Leo Bowman declaring a mistrial. Prosecutors immediately sought to retry the case, and began selecting a new batch of jurors Nov. 9.

The fate of Hamilton’s co-defendants, Sturges and Davis, hangs in the balance as the jury now deliberates this case. Sturges’ trial ended in September with Bowman opting to seal the verdict so as not to taint the jury pool. Davis’ sentencing, for lesser crimes, in accordance with his plea deal, will take place following the conclusion of both trials. He is expected to be sentenced to 11-18 years in prison.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Hamilton and Sturges will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.