PITTSBURGH — After nine hours of deliberations over two days, jurors said troopers did not violate Jordan Brown’s constitutional rights and did have probable cause to charge the 11-year-old with murder.
“Fighting for civil rights is not for the faint of heart. You are up against authorities,” said Brown’s lawyer, Alec Wright. It’s devastating. It’s always been the tragedy of the Jordan Brown case was that even after this, it’s been a relentless pursuit for a decade.”
“It’s a very tragic case, but we are happy the troopers were vindicated because there was probable cause,” said Nicole Boland, the attorney for the state troopers.
Brown was arrested in 2009, less than 24 hours after his father’s fiancé, Kenzie Houk, was shot and killed in their Lawrence County home. His lawyers argued the only evidence against him had been fabricated, that troopers rushed the investigation and didn’t properly investigate Kenzie’s ex-boyfriend, whom she had a PFA against and who had recently threatened her life and had been angry over a paternity test.
Brown spent seven years in juvenile detention before he was released just before his 19th birthday. The PA Supreme Court overturned his conviction due to insufficient evidence.
During the two-week civil trial, jurors listened to hours of testimony revolving around the interviews of Jordan’s soon-to-be stepsister, who was 7 years old at the time of her mother’s murder.
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The two children were interviewed by troopers a total of 7 times in 12 hours after the murder. The 7-year-old’s statements initially maintained it was a normal morning, and corroborating each other’s story, without knowing about the murder. But in the child’s 4th and final interview at 12:30am, she added information about guns and hearing a “boom.” She took the stand on the final day of testimony and maintained her story.
“They felt great relief it took incredible courage for [her] to take the stand, and they’re very relieved the jury took her testimony seriously,” said Boland.
Kenzie’s family celebrated after the verdict came in. They told Channel 11′s Cara Sapida that Kenize’s story got lost along the way. She was due to give birth the day after she was killed.
“For me and my family, nothing is going to bring her back. and we don’t have to relive this again, so it’s been an emotional rollercoaster ride for us,” said Jennifer Kraner, Kenzie Houk’s sister.
Jordan’s lawyer’s told jurors that state police had a two-minute theory of impossibility. And that he would have had to leave the 7-year-old by the door to grab socks, get the gun out of the dresser where Kenzie was watching TV, load the ammo in front of her, shoot her in the back of the head, and leave for school with no blood evidence on the gun or his clothing.
“I promised Jordan when we undertook this battle we would succeed. In his entire life nothing has gone his way,” said Brown’s lawyer. “When we talk about children and how they could be protected in this world. This case was the exact opposite.”
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