Murder conviction tossed after prosecutor repeatedly calls defendant 'crackhead'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The 5th District Court of Appeal overturned a man's second-degree murder conviction because of flawed jury instructions and improper comments by a prosecutor who repeatedly called the defendant a "crackhead."
 
The decision means 57-year-old Jerry Roy Crew will get a new trial on charges that he participated in a robbery that led to the death of 19-year-old Donnell "DJ" Ellis in April 2011.
 
State Attorney's Office spokesman Spencer Hathaway said that Crew will remain incarcerated, but now has the right to file a motion for bail.
 
The justices wrote that the trial judge should have done more to address the improper comments Assistant State Attorney J. Ryan Will made during closing arguments. They said the language degraded and demeaned Crew.

WFTV