Hillsborough Jury Acquits Husband & Wife of Attempted Murder

A Hillsborough County jury took about three hours last week to acquit Tyrone Jackson of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery. The charges related to the February shooting of Miezan Etti at a birthday party in Seminole Heights.

Jackson admitted shooting Etti but claimed he was acting in self-defense, that he was shot at first.

The trial judge had earlier directed a judgment of acquittal for Jackson’s wife, Veeandrea. In making that decision, the judge granted a defense motion for acquittal at the close of evidence. The defense argued that prosecutors failed to present enough evidence to let a jury consider her case. The judge clearly agreed.

Veeandrea Jackson was accused of tampering with evidence by driving her husband and his gun away from the scene. Her attorney argued that the Jacksons left the scene because they feared for their safety. They were stopped in their SUV shortly after the shooting. The vehicle had bullet holes in the windows.

Etti testified that he and a friend were at a birthday party when Tyrone Jackson, who had been involved in an altercation with other guests, came toward him with his arm raised and his pistol pointed at him. Etti was shot once with a .45-caliber pistol that was retrieved from the Jacksons’ SUV.

Evidence at trial indicated that police found numerous .40-caliber rounds, both live and spent, at the scene but only the single .45-caliber shell. It appears that this evidence (when taken in conjunction with all the evidence and testimony presented at trial) was enough to cause the jurors to have a reasonable doubt as to Jackson’s guilt.