Gary Craig

@gcraig1

A County Court judge, responding to an issue that arose during jury deliberations, has tossed out the conviction of a man convicted of a role in the triple homicide on Genesee Street outside the Boys & Girls Club.

County Court Judge Douglas Randall on Thursday set aside the convictions of Jalen Everett, who was found guilty by a jury in November.

Everett, 21, was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, and one count of second-degree assault. Three young men — Jonah Barley, Raekwon Manigault and Johnny Johnson — died in the shooting. Three more were injured.

Little information was available Thursday about the basis of the decision. Randall did not release a written decision.

"We are very disappointed and disagree wholeheartedly with the judge’s decision," District Attorney Sandra Doorley said in a statement. " The sanctity of a jury’s verdict once rendered is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system."

"The decision was apparently based upon events allegedly occurring during jury deliberations," the statement said.

"We are currently conducting our own investigation and plan to take whatever action we deem appropriate," she added.

Everett's attorney Clark Zimmermann declined to comment Thursday.

After Everett's conviction, his attorneys asked Randall to set aside the guilty verdict.

Everett was the second man to be convicted in the incident. Johnny Blackshell Jr. was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to life in prison.

A third defendant, Michael Mathis, 19, was to be tried separately in January. Everett could be tried with Mathis if the District Attorney's Office opts to retry him.

In her statement, Doorley challenged Randall's decision, saying that a "full and fair inquiry" into the possible jury issue should have been conducted beforehand.

"When this issue was first brought to our attention, we were prohibited from investigating the alleged improprieties due to a gag order which was imposed by court," the statement said. "More importantly, we were unable to advise the victims’ families of today’s proceedings. That gag order was finally lifted today. Unfortunately, the judge’s ruling came as quite a shock to them."

GCRAIG@Gannett.com