Christopher Roesser was sentenced to life in prison five years ago for the murder of a Lawrenceville man in what prosecutors contended was a botched drug deal.
But Roesser should soon be a free man because of a ruling Monday by the Georgia Supreme Court. The high court said Roesser, who was acquitted of murder in a retrial, would be unconstitutionally subjected to double jeopardy if prosecutors were allowed to retry him again on lesser charges.
“I am extremely pleased,” Roesser’s lawyer, Brian Steel, said. “I look forward to Mr. Roesser leading a productive, happy, lawful life that benefits our community.”
Roesser has claimed he killed 26-year-old Keith Price in self-defense. After his 2008 murder conviction, he sought and was granted a new trial on grounds his trial judge gave improper instructions to his jury.
Roesser was retried three years later and acquitted of the murder charge. But his jury could not reach a verdict as to whether Roesser was guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and his trial judge ruled Roesser could be retried once again on the manslaughter charge. He has remained in prison pending that retrial.
On Monday, however, the state Supreme Court said the manslaughter retrial is barred on double-jeopardy grounds.
When the Gwinnett County jury acquitted Roesser of murder in his retrial it determined that Roesser acted in self defense, Justice Carol Hunstein wrote for the unanimous court. Because “this issue of ultimate fact constitutes a critical element of voluntary manslaughter,” prosecutors cannot try him for it again, the ruling said.
Prosecutors contended that Roesser fatally shot Price in the chest on Dec. 20, 2006, during a dispute over the cost of a marijuana transaction as they sat in a car on Old Norcross Road.
But Roesser testified he met Price to buy a PlayStation 3 video game for his 8-year-old son. When he entered the car to buy the game, Roesser testified, Price grabbed him by the collar, put a gun to his forehead and demanded his money. Roesser said he put $2,000 on the car seat and, when trying to escape, fired a shot at Price who had reached out to grab him again.
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