Murder suspect convicted of voluntary manslaughter

On Thursday, a Dyer County Circuit Court jury found Leslie "Free" Sherman, 31,(above) guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2004 shooting of Angelo Hernandez. A previous jury heard the case in April, but could not reach a unanimous decision, thus it was ruled a mistrial. Sherman's sentencing will take place Oct. 13, where he could face a 3-6 year prison sentence. [Click to enlarge]

Leslie "Free" Sherman, 31, allegedly shot 19-year-old Angelo Hernandez in the back of the head on May 4, 2004.

Sherman had been charged with first-degree premeditated murder. An eight-man, four-woman jury declared him guilty of the lesser charge after listening to a day and a half of testimony and attorney arguments in Dyer County Circuit Court.

In order to convict Sherman of first-degree murder, the jury had to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Sherman had intentionally and premeditatedly killed Hernandez. For voluntary manslaughter, the jury had to believe Sherman had knowingly and intentionally killed Hernandez, but that he was driven by a passion sufficient to cause a reasonable person to act in an irrational manner.

For a while, it appeared the jury might not be able to decide whether Sherman was guilty. About two hours and 15 minutes into their deliberations, jurors submitted a question to the judge. They wanted to know what would happen to Sherman if they couldn't make a unanimous decision. Judge Lee Moore said he was not allowed to answer the question. He said the jury didn't need to be concerned about that. The jury's job is to determine guilt or innocence.

After the jury retired to private deliberations again, people began murmuring. A sense of deja vu filled the courtroom.

A jury had heard this case in April and failed to reach a unanimous decision after nearly five hours of discussion. A mistrial was declared.

The trial was repeated this week with a few changes. Sherman actually testified this time, but two of the state's subpoenaed witnesses failed to appear.

Sherman described Angelo Hernandez as his best friend. They'd moved from New Orleans to Dyersburg in 2002 and shared a house with their girlfriends at one time. But, in the months preceding Hernandez's death, the men had a disagreement. Sherman said Hernandez told his girlfriend that another woman had purchased an expensive Detroit jersey for his birthday in November 2003. Sherman's girlfriend wasn't happy.

Several people knew the men had been at odds, but most didn't know the source of the disagreement.

Alfredo Hernandez, Angelo's brother, said Sherman confirmed the men had argued. He said Sherman said he was "going to leave it alone. ... Free (Sherman) just said Angelo had 'violated him.'"

Angelo's girlfriend, Dana Caldwell, described Sherman as a jealous man who at one time forced his girlfriend, Diaquita Crumble (who is also known as Diaquita Smith), to remain in their bedroom when other men were visiting their home.

Antonio Hernandez, another of Angelo's brothers, said he traveled from New Orleans to Dyersburg, arriving on Christmas morning 2003. He said Sherman picked him up from the bus station and told him that he and Angelo had been "beefing." Sherman allegedly told Antonio Hernandez there are three things you don't mess with: a man's family, his money and his women. Sherman allegedly told Antonio Hernandez that he planned to kill Angelo Hernandez. Antonio Hernandez told his brother, who brushed off the threat.

Sherman denied telling Antonio Hernandez that he planned to kill Angelo Hernandez. He said he didn't even speak to Antonio Hernandez that day; was in New Orleans for Christmas.

Antonio Hernandez, who was 17 at the time, said he told a sister about the statement. He said he also told Dyersburg Police Investigator Jim Joyner about it in 2007, but Joyner said he didn't remember hearing it. Antonio Hernandez said he didn't pursue the matter after his brother was killed.

"Leslie was in custody and I thought everything was OK," Antonio Hernandez testified.

Michael Lynn Parker, who testified in the first trial, failed to appear Wednesday, despite the fact that he'd been subpoenaed. In his absence, Webb read a portion of Parker's previous testimony in which he claimed to have talked to Sherman about the rift months before the shooting. Sherman allegedly told Parker that Angelo Hernandez "knows the way we do it in New Orleans." Parker said he didn't know what that meant.

Assistant District Attorney Lance Webb said every bit of information police officers gathered pointed to Sherman -- and a complicated plan to establish an alibi made him look even more suspicious.

During the trial, a number of individuals testified about seeing Sherman and Hernandez on May 4, 2004. Both men worked as drug dealers. They were trying to arrange a re-supply trip to Memphis. First, though, they had to get Hernandez's car repaired. They waited all morning at the mechanic's house and caught a ride back to Hernandez's home, 713 River St., at lunchtime. They arrived at the same time as Dana Caldwell, Hernandez's live-in girlfriend. She was home for only a few minutes and then returned to work, leaving Hernandez and Sherman alone.

When Caldwell returned from work about 6:30 that night, she found Hernandez slumped over the stereo.

Sherman testified he got tired of waiting for Hernandez's car to be repaired and decided to find another way to obtain a supply of drugs. The Memphis supplier was no longer a possibility -- that was Hernandez's connection. Sherman needed to return to New Orleans, where he knew he could get supplies.

Sherman said he hired a cab to drive him to Memphis, where he caught a bus to New Orleans. In New Orleans, a woman rented a car on his behalf and he said he headed to Houston, Texas, to see a woman he'd met on the Internet. She'd reportedly told him that her cousin had a good supply of marijuana.

Sherman said he did not know Hernandez had been shot until he called Michael Lynn Parker in Dyersburg. Sherman intended to tell Parker that he was getting a supply of marijuana. He said he was surprised to learn that Hernandez was dead and that he was the prime suspect.

On his way back to New Orleans, police officers stopped Sherman and found the marijuana. Sherman was arrested.

Nine days after Hernandez died, Dyersburg Police Sgt. Jim Joyner and Lt. Billy Williams interviewed Sherman in a Louisiana jail. The officers secretly taped the conversation. Joyner said Sherman provided a confused account of his movements the day he left Dyersburg.

According to Joyner, Sherman said he left Hernandez's home, changed clothes at the home of a girlfriend, visited another woman in McIver's Apartments and took her son to a local store. He asked a Dyersburg man to go to New Orleans with him to get the drugs and offered to pay for the man's ticket. The man declined.

Witnesses confirmed much of Sherman's story to that point.

But then Sherman told police that he caught a ride to Lake County, spent the night in Ridgely, returned to Dyersburg the next day and then headed to Memphis and New Orleans.

Other witness testimony set up a timeline of events that contradicted Sherman's statement. The timeline indicated that, on the day of the shooting, Sherman called for a taxi from McIver's Apartments at 1:25 p.m. and asked that he be taken to the bus station, which was then located on North St. John Avenue. He allegedly purchased a bus ticket to Wisconsin at 2:35 p.m. and told the cab driver that he didn't want to wait for the bus to Memphis. He asked the cab driver to take him to the bus station in Memphis. He paid $110 in advance. The driver stopped at the cab station to get a gas card and purchased gasoline in Millington at 3:14 p.m. Between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., he allegedly called Alfredo Hernandez from Lake County and asked for a ride. Angelo Hernandez's body was found about 6:45 p.m.

When police asked Sherman to explain the contradictions between his accounting and the timeline provided by witnesses, Sherman said he was confused. He thought police were asking him about a Tuesday but they were really asking him about a Wednesday.

"I had my days mixed up. That's all," Sherman said.

When asked why he went to New Orleans, Sherman told police that he planned to get some friends to help him kill the people who had killed Hernandez. During the trial Wednesday, Sherman said he didn't mean it. "I was angry," he said.

Although witnesses testified that Sherman was known to carry a Taurus 9 mm handgun, he testified that he hadn't had a gun for a while before he was arrested.

Steve Scott, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent who specializes in firearms identification, said he could determine what kind of gun had been used to kill Hernandez. However, a spent cartridge case found near Hernandez's body bore markings that it was fired by a Taurus, Beretta, Tariq, High Point or several other brands of guns.

A box of mixed 9mm cartridges was found in an apartment occupied by one of Sherman's girlfriends. She said it was his.

Dr. Bruce Levy, chief medical examiner for Tennessee, conducted an autopsy on Angelo Hernandez. He concluded that Hernandez died at least four to six hours before his body was discovered -- or between 12:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

Tim Boxx, of the public defender's office, told jurors the case against Sherman was strictly circumstantial. The murder weapon was never found. Police collected no DNA. No eyewitnesses came forward.

But, he said, police officers immediately centered their investigation on Sherman, ignoring other possibilities, such as Hernandez's gang affiliations and his illegal drug business.

"Both are risky ventures that could have led to murder," said Boxx.

He recalled testimony from Cecilia Campbell, a girlfriend of Hernandez, who said he'd stayed at her house the night before he died. She said he was upset and said: "They think I'm scared." She said she didn't ask him about the statement. Boxx suggested that "they" (whoever they are) could have killed Hernandez. Police never pursued that possibility, he said.

Boxx told jurors the law requires the state to prove that no other reasonable theory exists to explain Hernandez's death. The police department's refusal to consider other possibilities, Boxx argued, is enough to acquit Sherman.

Furthermore, Boxx argued, anyone could have killed Hernandez in a two to two-and-a-half hour window while Hernandez was alone.

"That's the opportunity that's going to be important in this case." Boxx said during his opening statement.

Sherman is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. Oct. 13. His sentence for voluntary manslaughter may be three to six years in prison.

Sherman isn't expected to be in jail much longer -- even if he receives the maximum sentence, Boxx said. Sherman has been incarcerated for more than five years -- and most of that time will be applied to the manslaughter sentence.

Boxx explained Sherman was arrested on marijuana charges in Louisiana a few days after the murder. Sherman agreed to be extradited to Tennessee to face the murder charge, but Tennessee didn't attempt to extradite him immediately. Instead, Sherman began serving a multi-year sentence for possessing marijuana with intent to sell.

Since he'd been indicted for first-degree murder in Tennessee, Sherman was moved to solitary confinement in a maximum-security penitentiary in Angola, La., Boxx said. And, because he was wanted for murder, Sherman had to serve the entire sentence in Louisiana; parole wasn't considered.

Sherman was returned to Dyersburg on Nov. 7, 2007, to face the murder charge here. Since then, he has been incarcerated in the Dyer County jail.