By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
BIRMINGHAM — Two jurors in the reckless manslaughter trial of a man who eventually pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter in the death of a Trussville boy have revealed that the inclusion of a lesser charge during sentencing instructions led to a hung jury.
The jurors in the trial of Joshua Stewart Burks communicated with Circuit Judge Clyde Jones on Friday afternoon, April 22, that they were hung at 11-1, though their written communication didn’t reveal which way the jury votes were leaning. The judge then issued a “dynamite charge” — instructions to the jury that he expected them to continue to deliberate and come to a verdict.
But the jury wasn’t hung on whether or not Burks was guilty or innocent. That part was settled quickly, during opening deliberations. Instead, the 11-1 deadlock was over which charge to convict. Two jurors confirmed that the vote was 11 to convict for reckless manslaughter and one to convict for the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
“If it had only been the reckless manslaughter charge, we would have convicted him within the first five minutes,” juror Denise Tonnemacher said.
Instead, the jury wrestled with whether to convict Burks of the original charge — reckless manslaughter — or criminally negligent homicide, a lesser charge that the judge added to his instructions to the jury after the prosecution and defense acquiesced to its inclusion.
Both jurors said that they found the prosecution’s witnesses and physical evidence more credible than the defense, which saw the defendant take the stand to testify.
“None of us thought he was not guilty,” a second juror who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. “That was never in the equation. We got to the point where we were just going around and around and I don’t think anyone’s mind was going to be changed.”
Burks shot and killed 11-year-old Troy Ellis on a hunting trip organized for disabled veterans on May 1, 2020. The boy’s father, Obed, was also wounded in the shooting.
Tonnemacher said that the jurors did not find Burks’ testimony about a lack of safety briefing prior to the shooting credible, and questioned his protestations about gun safety training. Burks, a former infantry Marine, should have been familiar with firearm safety, she said.
“That definitely came up in our deliberations,” Tonnemacher said. “We did not find his (Burks’) testimony credible at all.”
The jury deliberated for more than seven hours over the course of Thursday afternoon and Friday. After lunch on Friday, the jury was still deadlocked 11-1. That’s when the jury informed Jones that they were hung. The plea deal came within 20 minutes of Jones’ admonition to the jury to continue deliberations.
“I am really upset that the jury’s voice wasn’t heard,” Tonnemacher said.
The second juror echoed her sentiment.
“There aren’t any winners in this case, but I worry that we didn’t finish our job,” he said.
The breakdown, Tonnemacher said, came down to how one juror parsed the word “reckless.”
The so-called dynamite charge led to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office to proffer a plea deal to Burks, which the defendant accepted. Burks was sentenced to a 15-year split sentence. He will spend six months in the Jefferson County Jail and then serve three years probation. If he completes probation, the rest of his sentence will be commuted. If he violates probation, the remaining 14-and-a-half years of his sentence would need to be completed.