Written by AP at ESPN.com
A Phoenix jury acquitted NBA players Marcus and Markieff Morris in their aggravated assault trial Tuesday.
The Morris brothers have been on trial for the past two weeks on charges that they helped three other people beat 36-year-old Erik Hood in January 2015 outside a high school basketball game in Phoenix.
At that time, the 28-year-old brothers played for the Phoenix Suns. Marcus now plays for the Boston Celtics, and Markieff is with the Washington Wizards.
Defense attorneys Timothy Eckstein and James Belanger patted the brothers on the back as the verdict was read. The Morris twins hugged their attorneys after the jury was led out of the courtroom.
“From the beginning we expected them to acquit, but just putting this time here,” Marcus Morris said outside Maricopa County Superior Court.
Both players have missed the start of the NBA preseason because of the trial.
Another defendant, Gerald Bowman, also was found not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault. Two other co-defendants pleaded guilty to the charges on Sept. 13.
Hood did not attend court to hear the verdict read.
Jurors got the case Monday afternoon. They began hearing testimony Sept. 18.
Belanger said in closing arguments that the case was tainted by Hood’s mentor trying to solicit two witnesses to implicate the Morris brothers for a cash payment in return.
Two witnesses testified about the mentor’s attempt and their refusal to lie. They both went to break up the fight and placed the Morris twins near the site but not as part of the altercation.
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