A Lexington man leaped a waist-high partition in court late Thursday after a jury declared him not guilty of the shooting death of an Orangeburg man.

"A burden has been lifted," said 34-year-old Jacob Bernard Jackson moments after he was found not guilty of killing 28-year-old Bryant Demore Brooks during a nightclub altercation in the early morning hours of Christmas day 2004. "If the Good Lord is for you, nobody can be against you."

A jury of seven men and five women deliberated its verdict for more than six hours.

Twice, at the two hour mark and again at four hours into deliberation, the jury panel sent notes out explaining to Circuit Court Judge G. Edward Welmaker they could come no closer to a unanimous decision than 11-1.

Welmaker instructed them to continue their debates until a decision was made.

At about 6 p.m., Welmaker charged the jury with an Allen Ruling, which, in short, encourages the panel to make a decision within a reasonable amount of time or a mistrial would be declared.

Finally, at 8 p.m., the judge sent a question to jurors asking if more time would help them to reach a decision.

"Will that have to be a unanimous decision?" defense attorney Byron Gipson joked.

The unanimous verdict came as a surprise after having been hung for so long. Jackson hugged family members while Brooks' grandmother and aunt left the courtroom quietly.

Gipson, who said his client's story remained consistent throughout his discussions of the case, said he was pleased with the verdict.

"They did what a jury's supposed to do and came up with a verdict," Gipson said. "I believe that justice was served."

Jackson had been accused of shooting Brooks at least four times with a .45 caliber handgun during an altercation at a Middleton Street nightclub.

Presented by First Circuit assistant solicitors Charlie Johnson Jr., and Kelly Burbage, the state's case was based primarily on the eyewitness testimony of two club-goers, David and Darius Wilson, who said they were within feet of Brooks when a gunman rounded a corner outside the facility and began struggling with the victim.

By all accounts, several shots were fired. Both Wilsons te.jpgied they saw Jackson standing over Brooks shooting at him as he rolled on the ground to avoid being hit.

A forensic pathologist te.jpgied the Kearse Street man bled to death in the parking lot of the club after being struck four times.

The defense relied on its own eyewitnesses, who te.jpgied that Jackson was across town at a St. Matthews Road nightclub during the early hours of Christmas 2004 - the approximate time of Brooks' murder.

When those defense witnesses' accounts of Jackson's presence appeared to move into the realm of being unbelievable, Jackson himself took the stand.

"This has been floating around this court for the past two days," Gipson said. "Did you shoot Bernard Brooks?"

"No, I didn't," Jackson said.

"Did you threaten Mr. Wilson?"

"No, I did not."

"Did you intimidate anyone?"

No, I did not."

"Did you go to the Blue Club that night?"

"No, I did not."

Jackson te.jpgied that after a trip from his home in Lexington that evening, he was at the Rack 'Em Up club on St. Matthews Road - not at Ken's, or the Blue Club, on Middleton.

View a video of Jackson's testimony here

At the Rack 'Em Up, he shot pool, drank a few beers and went to a relative's home around closing time at 3 a.m., he said.

Under cross-examination, Johnson referred to an altercation in October 2004 at a U.S. 301 nightclub in which Brooks was pointed out as having robbed Jackson of his 2000 Chevrolet.

"You're going to tell me Bryant Brooks put a gun in your face, punked you out, and you're saying you weren't mad?" Johnson asked.

"Sir, I'm telling you, I gave that information to the police," Jackson said.

On Wednesday, defense witnesses were adamant about his presence with them. One woman te.jpgied she never took her eyes off Jackson for four hours, not even to look at friends with whom she was speaking.

Jackson himself appeared to doubt her testimony.

"If she was watching me down, she was real good," he said.

"Yes, she was," Johnson returned.

Gipson said during his closing he wasn't convinced of the state's case against his client.

"I'm here to tell you, after hearing all these things, my mind hasn't changed," he said.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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