CNN
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Darrell Brooks was found guilty of six counts of first-degree intentional homicide on Wednesday for driving his SUV into a crowd of Christmas parade attendees in Waukesha, Wisconsin, final November, killing six individuals and wounding dozens extra.
He faces a compulsory sentence of life in jail for the convictions.
Brooks, 40, additionally was convicted of 61 counts of recklessly endangering security with the use of a harmful weapon, six counts of deadly hit and run, two counts of felony bail leaping and one rely of misdemeanor home battery – a clear sweep for the prosecution.
Brooks represented himself in court docket and has been combative all through the trial, repeatedly talking over the choose to make inane and outlandish arguments. Yet because the stream of guilty verdicts had been learn Wednesday, he appeared down, put his head on his fingers and sat silently.
The trial comes lower than a 12 months after he drove a purple SUV via the group in Waukesha’s Christmas parade on November 21, killing an 8-year-old boy and several members of the “Dancing Grannies” group.
‘It was zooming’: Man marching in parade describes SUV plowing via crowd
Brooks had been launched from jail lower than two weeks prior in a home abuse case, on a $1,000 bail that prosecutors later acknowledged was “inappropriately low.” In that case, he allegedly ran over a lady who mentioned she’s the mom of his baby, in response to court docket paperwork.
Prosecutors mentioned in closing arguments Tuesday he deliberately drove via the group at vital speeds and hit 68 particular person parade-goers, turning a joyous afternoon into a horrific one.
“He reached speeds of approximately 30 mph. That’s intentional. He plowed through 68 different people. 68. How can you hit one and keep going? How can you hit two and keep going?” Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper mentioned.
“His intent I do have to prove, and I submit without any doubt there’s overwhelming evidence that this was an intentional act by Darrell Brooks and an act of utter disregard for human life.”
In his personal closing arguments, Brooks tried to lift questions in regards to the car and about his intent. He repeatedly mentioned there had been “misconceptions” and “lies” advised about him through the trial.
“I’ve never heard of someone trying to intentionally hurt someone while attempting to blow their horn while attempting to alert people of their presence,” Brooks mentioned.
Jurors deliberated on Tuesday evening for just below two hours after which resumed once more on Wednesday morning earlier than shortly reaching its verdicts.
The household of Virginia Sorenson, the 79-year-old killed within the assault, thanked the jury for the verdicts.
“We have been praying for this day for a long time,” her son Marshall Sorenson mentioned.
“This morning my five-year-old daughter came up to me and handed me this necklace with my mom’s ashes in it and she told me to take my mom with us for the sentencing so she was with us today,” he continued. “My mom always used to tell us when we were kids and our family, she always said, ‘Angels watch over you guys,’ so I just want to say, ‘Angels watch over you guys,’ and turn on those blue lights tonight.”
In court docket, a collection of movies and witnesses detailed the disturbing sights of the SUV ramming via the parade route.
“The band had just passed us, a red SUV … going maybe 30, 40 miles per hour, just went straight over the Waukesha South (high school) band,” mentioned Kyle Jewell, a spectator who tried unsuccessfully to catch as much as the SUV to cease it. “And it’s not like it stopped, it went over … it looked like it went in the air, like over a pretty big object, and it was just like a big old speed bump and kept going.”
Nicole White, who prosecutors mentioned was the primary individual struck by Brooks’ car, testified she sustained accidents to her backbone and tailbone and suffered ligament harm to her proper knee.
“I just remember being struck by the vehicle from behind on my back and then I fell to my knees and kind of rolled under the vehicle,” White mentioned.
Brooks’ trial has been marked by his unusual decision to represent himself in court docket and his persistent disruptions. Throughout the trial, he has spoken over prosecutors and the choose, requested obscure questions, challenged the court docket’s jurisdiction and declared “Darrell Brooks” isn’t his identify.
Judge Jennifer Dorow has repeatedly eliminated Brooks from the court docket for his outbursts and positioned him in a close-by courtroom, the place he can talk through a monitor and microphone which is most frequently muted.
On Tuesday, after eradicating him for the prosecution’s closing arguments as a consequence of interruptions, she known as him “stubbornly defiant.”
“He continues to not respect the fact that a ruling has been made, and he wants to argue and reargue and reargue points that this court has already gone over,” she mentioned.
Brooks beforehand pleaded not guilty by madness, however his public defenders withdrew the insanity plea in September. The attorneys later filed a movement to withdraw from the case, and the choose dominated to permit Brooks to characterize himself at trial.
Opper, the prosecuting lawyer, advised jurors in her closing arguments to not be distracted of their deliberations by Brooks’ conduct through the trial.
“You must not, not, not consider anything about Darrell Brooks other than his conduct in downtown Waukesha on the evening of November 21, 2021,” Opper advised the jury. “Nothing he’s done before that, nothing he’s done since that. When you go back to that deliberation room, please obey Judge Dorow. Confine your comments to his conduct on November 21.”
Outside court docket on Wednesday, Opper mentioned Brooks’ habits was “taxing.”
“We felt very, very offended by his behavior, his disrespect of the court, the decorum, the families, in insulting the judge, in challenging the judge,” she mentioned. “That’s not the way our system is designed. That was intentional on his part, we truly believe that, he did everything he can except claim that the dog ate his homework.”