COLUMBIA, S.C. — A jury has found a Lexington County doctor not guilty in the death of a man who died of a gunshot wound at his home years ago.
A Lexington County jury returned the verdict in favor of Adam Lazzarini early Thursday night. Lazzarini had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the October 9, 2017, death of 30-year-old medical salesman William Holland.
It took the jury about three and a half hours to reach a verdict. The decision didn't come without some confusion, however.
The jury returned just before 7 p.m. and said they had a verdict. But when the judge polled the jury, one juror said that they weren't sure of their verdict. The judge sent them back in the jury room, and a half hour later, they came back with their final decision.
The trial lasted nine days.
The defense rested their case early Friday. Prosecutor Shawn Graham of the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office presented his closing argument first.
“We are not here because Adam Lazzarini meant to kill Holland,” said Graham. “Nobody’s saying he can’t be upset, but that doesn’t mean he’s not guilty.”
Throughout the trial prosecutors have attempted to show jurors Lazzarini was reckless and criminally negligent of a firearm.
To emphasize this, Graham went through the National Rifle Association (NRA) safety guidelines one by one, and told the jury Lazzarini did not follow any of them the night of Holland’s death. Graham presented evidence that Lazzarini was drinking that night and argued he shouldn't have been handling a firearm under any circumstance.
At one point Graham put a fake gun to his chest to demonstrate to jurors how the gun would have been handled when it went off.
Graham also called into question Lazzarini’s different version of what happened. Lazzarini originally told investigators he wasn’t in the room when the gun went off and that Holland had accidentally shot himself. Eight days later he told investigators he left the room and when he came back Holland handed him a gun he thought was unloaded.
In another version, Lazzarini said his daughter wasn't in the room, but video testimony has proven that to be untrue.
Since day one, Lazzarini’s defense had maintained it was a mix up of two different pistols which resulted in the accidental death of Holland.
Lazzarini’s defense attorney Jack Swerling’s hour and a half-long closing statement countered all of Graham's points.
“It is our position that Doctor Lazzarini did not do anything that day to be guilty of involuntary manslaughter,” said Swerling.
Swerling said Lazzarini was distraught and in shock because Holland died in his arms, resulting in a difficulty to recall exactly what happened that day. Swerling asked jurors to think about the most emotional or tragic accidents they’ve been in, pointing to 9/11 survivors and whether they were able to remember everything perfectly that day.
Prosecutors are “ignoring what normal human emotion is,” said Swerling. Lazzarini and Holland knew each other for several years and considered each other “best friends.”
Swerling said Lazzarini "was not handling the pistol" at the time of the shooting.
Swerling Addressed the different statements Lazzarini made to investigators.
Swerling said Lazzarini’s statements may not be consistent, but “they all come down to one thing: he’s not guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
Swerling denied claims Lazzarini was under the influence of alcohol. “There’s no evidence of any impairment at all,” said Swerling. He continued to say testimony proves Lazzarini is meticulous about gun safety.
Swerling then read excerpts from Lazzarini’s conversation with investigators eight days after Holland’s death, attempting to prove to jurors
Swerling also pointed out investigators failed to account for a 10th bullet– one discharged when Lazzarini put the gun’s safety on even after Lazzarini provided it to them.
Swerling accused investigators of hiding evidence because it would’ve proved everything Lazzarini said was true.
Swerling also read excerpts from Lazzarini’s conversation with Coroner Margaret Fisher the night of the shooting. Swerling rebuked many of the state’s witnesses and accused police of bullying Lazzarini to get him to say what they wanted him to say.
His final point focused on how the gun used in the shooting had safety malfunctions, citing the fact that the Arizona department of public safety and Baltimore County stopped using the gun.
Lazzarini was not charged at the time of the shooting, but when Cayce Department of Public Safety officers returned to the home in May 2018 to investigate the death of Lazzarini's wife, Vanessa Biery, investigators found evidence that Lazzarini had withheld information during the investigation into Holland's shooting. Officers arrested Lazzarini then on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The warrant stated Lazzarini did not give investigators information about a witness to the shooting -- which officers felt obstructed justice -- and claimed the doctor had been drinking before Holland's death.