FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — What was scheduled as the formal sentencing for a teenager convicted of two counts of manslaughter took a left turn Thursday, with Zachary Burkard's lawyer demanding a new trial, and the judge mulling it over.
Public defender Bryan Kennedy says new testimony from Burkard's friend calls into question the jury's guilty verdicts in the deaths of Ersheen Elaiasher, 17, and Calvin Van Pelt, 16.
Burkard, 19, had testified in his own defense that he'd shot Elaiasher because he and three others were beating a friend of his so badly in a garage that he thought they would kill him. He said he shot Van Pelt when he came at him, even after he'd shot Elaiasher.
But jurors never heard testimony from that friend of Burkard's, Nicholas Guidinetti.
Guidinetti had been subpoenaed by prosecutors, but they never called him to the stand during the trial. Public defender Kennedy said Guidinetti refused to talk to him and said that he could not put him on the stand at trial without having any idea what he would say.
On Thursday, Guidinetti did testify before the judge as part of Kennedy's motion for a new trial, and confirmed at least some parts of Burkard's story.
Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Martin said Guidinetti was lying, even contradicting parts of an affidavit Kennedy had submitted in support of the motion for a new trial.
He said the jury had plenty of evidence to convict Burkard, including forensic testimony that the shot that killed Elaiasher came from above him, like he was getting up from the ground. A medical examiner testified that Van Pelt was shot twice in the back.
Judge David Bernhard is expected to rule on the motion for a new trial in the coming days. He's postponed sentencing until at least January.
The teens were all from rival groups at South County High School. The shooting was the culmination of threats exchanged on social media, including one from Burkard in which he waved a gun and shouted threats at what he thought was Elaiasher's home.
Burkard used an untraceable ghost gun that was capable of firing fully automatic.