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Dozens of people gathered in front of the Albany County courthouse on Wednesday, May 22, to rally in support of 20-year-old McKyle Hall, who was found guilty in connection with the September 2022 incident.
According to Saratoga Black Lives Matter (BLM), the then 18-year-old Hall was attacked on campus by a group of 12 to 15 people. In an attempt to escape, he accidentally cut one of the female attackers with a knife, the group claims.
On Friday, March 15, an Albany County jury found him guilty of attempted assault with intent to cause serious injury, according to court documents.
However, eight jurors who heard the case against Hall now say they misunderstood the charges, even after repeatedly asking the judge for clarification, Albany station WRGB reports.
“In our deliberations we did not understand that that particular charge that he was found guilty of did in fact apply to her,” one juror told the outlet. “If we had understood that, I do believe that we would have made a different verdict, because we did not agree that he intended to hurt her.”
Several jurors have signed affidavits admitting their mistake and asserting the man’s innocence, and a motion to set aside the verdict has been filed with the court, WRGB reports.
Despite that, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office has refused to vacate the verdict. In a scathing response to activists, DA David Soares maintained that Hall received due process.
“The irony of today’s display by local Black Lives Matter activists is a clear demonstration of everything wrong with our current cultural conversation about violence,” Soares said.
“A young Black woman was gutted by a knife held by the defendant, which he admitted, and instead of advocating for her, activists have decided to side with a person who received due process and was convicted of attempted assault by a jury of his peers.”
Soares went on to list several recent violent crimes that were committed around Albany County, saying they received “no rally, no presser, no interest.”
“So when it comes to the credibility of people who claim ‘Black lives matter,’ it seems their only interest is in furthering a political agenda at the expense of real victims.”
Hall’s parents said they’re worried that their son could spend years in prison.
“They are prepared to sentence a young, innocent, black man. My family has not come requesting any favors of the court. We just want to do what is right and what is just,” his mother, Shevaun Brown, told WRGB.
Hall is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, May 30.
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