| Connecticut Post Newspaper Thursday, March 29, 2007 By - Daniel Tepfer Murder trial defense rests Bridgeport - The defense in the murder trial of Miguel Zapata rested Wednesday after a key witness refused to testify. The Superior Court jury will begin deliberations this morning. Louis Velasquez was supposed to corroborate his former girlfriend's earlier testimony that the couple had seen "two black men" run from the scene where 24-year-old Zoltan Kiss was fatally shot Sept. 28, 2001. Velasquez, with the jury out of the room, invoked his right to silence under the Constitution's Fifth Ammendment. The only question he would answer from Zapata's lawyer, Francis O'Reilly, was his name. Zapata, 22, of Bridgeport, is accused of fatally shooting Kiss, of Toronto, who police said went to Pembroke Street to buy the drug ecstasy. He is charged with Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and Carrying a Pistol Without a Permit.' About five years later, Zapata was arrested in Tennessee on the charges. Both sides will present final arguments this morning, followed by instructions to the jury by Judge Lawrence Hauser. The jury will then begin its deliberations. |
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