Compromise Verdict Seen as Possibility

Jurors in the Rae Carruth murder trial might consider a compromise verdict as they enter their third day of deliberations.

There are four charges against Carruth, including first-degree murder punishable by the death penalty. The former Carolina Panther receiver is accused of masterminding the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, on Nov. 15, 1999.

The other charges are conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied property, and using an instrument with the intent of destroying an unborn child. Sentences for those charges range from three months to 20 years.

The prosecution has maintained that a guilty finding on one of the lesser charges would also prompt guilt on the murder charge because Adams died. But because Adams’ child, Chancellor Lee Adams, survived, an expert believes jurors could find Carruth guilty only of a lesser charge.

“The jury could agree he didn’t want a baby and this whole thing was about killing the baby,” said James Coleman, a Duke law professor. “They could conclude that Carruth was part of a conspiracy to kill the baby but that the killing of Adams was done because [confessed gunman] Van Brett Watkins was [angry] at her.”

Gentry Caudill, the lead prosecutor, said Wednesday he had not considered the jury deciding on a compromise verdict.

David Rudolf, Carruth’s attorney, agreed the scenario is possible.

“The only basis would be finding no intent to harm Cherica Adams,” he said.

One of the jurors is a retired lawyer who could help the rest of the panel understand how the charges relate.

“I’m surprised they left a lawyer on the jury,” Coleman said. “It could be he becomes very influential.”