Still no verdict in Capers double murder trial

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

The jury deliberating the double murder case against Michael Capers completed its second full day of deliberations Thursday without reaching a verdict.

The jury deliberated about seven hours each Wednesday and Thursday. That was after about two hours of deliberations Tuesday afternoon and getting the case for an hour Monday.

Thursday afternoon, the jury asked for two videos to be replayed, the charge of second-degree murder read back and for the definition of “reasonable doubt” to be read.

A day earlier, the jury asked for readbacks concerning the locations of the people involved just prior to the March 26, 2010, shooting, and definitions of accomplice liability.

Capers, 18, is standing trial in the killings of 17-year-old Alphonzo Pittman and 21-year-old Virgil Terry.

The two were killed on Hulett Street. Prosecutors say Pittman was the target, while Terry, part of Capers’ group, was a victim of friendly fire.

Two others were charged in the shooting. One pleaded guilty to a weapons charge. The other was acquitted in the killings but convicted of a weapons count.

Capers turned down a plea deal that would have gotten him 10 years in prison. If he is convicted in the killings, he faces up to 50 years to life.

The case is being tried in Schenectady County Court.