Roderick Washington trial updates (day 3)

8:00 -- writer's note: The jury has disbanded for the day and will return tomorrow at 9 a.m. to continue deliberations. This blog will not continue updating tomorrow during the trial because I will be absent for personal reasons. However, any update stories from colleagues will be linked from here as well as a print edition story in tomorrow's editions of the Cape Coral Daily Breeze and the Naples Daily News. I would like to recognize both news entities for posting many of my updates on the trial on their websites. This will be my final update.

5:54 -- writer's note: Roderick Washington has been brought back into the courtroom and spectators are returning to the courtroom. The judge will likely ask the jury if they want to keep deliberating tonight.

5:40 -- writer's note: It's rumored the jury will be asked at 6 p.m. if they want to break for the day. Bailiffs said they were unsure when Reese would ask what the jury wanted to do, though word among the reporters indicates it may be 6. They continue to deliberate.

5:00 -- writer's note: The jury remains in deliberations. It is unclear if and how long before judge Reese asks the jurors if they would rather disperse for the evening or continue into a later hour. Sheriff's officials commented on the earlier altercation, saying it was a small dispute that was "over in seconds." No one was arrested and no one pressed charges.

3:53 -- writer's note: The jury is still deliberating. Lawyers and deputies spoke privately with judge Reese in a sidebar-type format. Media are nearby in the courtroom gallery but out of earshot. It is unclear whether the nature of the conversation has to do with the earlier dispute outside the courtroom.

3:32 -- Altercation reported at justice center as jury deliberates

With the jury deliberating in the double murder trial of Roderick Washington, it appears a fight broke out in a hallway of the Lee County Justice Center between a family member and someone who was not family of either the victims or the defendant, according to a witness. The witness said those involved in the fight were younger individuals.

One of the alternate jurors who remained to watch the trial's conclusion said she was knocked over by a male running down the hallway, who apparently was involved in the dispute.

Bailiffs and deputies flanked the fighters and the situation has been resolved. The hallway has been cleared.

The jury remains in deliberations regarding the fate of Washington, accused in the 2006 double-murder of Alexis and Jeffrey Sosa.

Washington is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnaping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He faces life in prison if convicted in the 2006 slayings.

3:20 -- writer's note: The jury is on a smoke break. Judge Reese told them not to separate or discuss the case outside the jury room. Earlier, a dispute between a family member of the victim and a non-family member occurred in the hallway outside the courtroom. The dispute was quickly extinguished by Sheriff's deputies.

2:00 -- writer's note: Hour three of deliberations has begun. The jury must decide if Washington is guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The courtroom, Courtroom G, is locked and spectators and reporters are sitting in the hallways talking and waiting.

1:00 -- writer's note: We are entering into hour two of deliberations in the Roderick Washington Trial. Twelve jurors have already received their lunch and will decide his fate.

12:00 -- writer's note: Twelve jurors have begun their deliberations in the Roderick Washington trial.

11:15 -- Jury soon to begin deliberations in Washington Cash Feenz trial

Both sides in the Roderick Washington trial have finished their closing arguments.

Judge Reese is now instructing the jury on the law, after which two alternate jurors will be excused and the 12-person jury will begin deliberations.

Assistant State Attorney Bob Lee talked about group mentality and Washington's part in the Cash Feenz, a rap group and alleged gang involved in the beating,

torture and killing of Jeffery and Alexis Sosa in 2006.

"They were all guilty, whether they all pulled the trigger or not," Lee told the jury. "There was no question it was premeditation and it's the same as if (Washington) held the gun. That rap group, that started out as a group, became a gang that night in the worst possible way. He knew they were going to be killed. He knew. Ladies and Gentlemen, how could he not."

Paul Sullivan, Roderick Washington's defense lawyer, focused his arguments on what he said is the state's lack of evidence presented at trial, and the poor caliber of witness reliability.

Eye witnesses were primarily co-defendants avoiding the death penalty through plea deals, drug users and police witnesses who were unable to present evidence to convict Washington, Sullivan argued.

"I'm not saying the police didn't do their jobs, I'm saying a lack of evidence can cause reasonable doubt," Sullivan said. "This is a courtroom. That young man (pointing to Washington) is charged with murder. Is that the best they can give us? Why do we have to rely on those kinds of witnesses? If there's scientific evidence that would back up those losers, please, bring it on."

Most family members and friends of the Sosas and Washington have left the courtroom for the time being, though several have decided to listen to Reese's instructions. Washington, who charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnaping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He faces life in prison if convicted in the 2006 slayings.

9:30 -- Defendant in Cash Feenz case will not testify

Cash Feenz defendant Roderick Washington will not testify on his own behalf.

His trial resumed this morning at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom G of the Lee County

Justice Center, the courtroom of Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese.

Washington is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnaping and aggravated battery

with a deadly weapon. He faces life in prison if convicted in the 2006 slayings.

Both sides have now rested.

Assistant State Attorney Bobbie Lee has begun closing statements, and is discussing the laws regarding felony murder and shared criminal responsibility.

The 12-person jury will likely begin deliberations by midday, after two alternates are dismissed.