Murder defendant named you, judge tells jurors after verdict

After the jury delivered a guilty verdict Tuesday in a murder trial, the judge delivered to the six jurors what he called a “bombshell.”

It was the news that during the trial, defendant Tavaress Alexander Wilson had called his brother from jail and gave the names of all the jurors and the two prosecutors and said, “The jurors need to pray on it.”

While Wilson’s lawyers said this was done for purely religious reasons, one of the prosecutors said, “There’s no appropriate reason to give out the names other than a nefarious purpose.”

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath tried to assure the jurors that there was no reason for them to be scared, because detectives investigated the matter and didn’t find any evidence of an actual threat to the four men and two women of the jury.

“I want to reassure you about your safety,” the judge said. “I know this is unsettling. It’s unsettling to me … Nothing had happened as a result of the names being given out.”

Colbath did not elaborate on the specific comment made by Wilson during the phone call, nor the fact that Wilson used another inmate’s telephone access code, allegedly to shield his identity.

But Colbath said Wilson did not give out any instructions concerning the jurors’ names, and “there’s no suspicion that anything was directed toward you.”

“I don’t know if that’s any comfort,” the judge continued. “I have as much comfort as I can be given that nothing bad is going to happen or has happened.”

Colbath said he felt obligated to tell the jurors that Wilson disclosed their names, and the prosecutors’ names as well. He explained that juror names are public record under Florida law, as well as the fact that all phone calls from the jail are recorded and monitored by the authorities.

The judge said he couldn’t tell the panel about it any sooner, as “it would have skewed your ability to be fair” in considering the evidence in the trial. On Monday, he denied a motion from prosecutors to bring up the call during their questioning of Wilson.

Colbath told the jurors that Wilson will remain in jail and faces a sentence of up to life in prison when he is sentenced at a later date.

Finally, Colbath sent the jurors into a private room to discuss the situation with an investigator for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Wilson, for now, has lost all phone privileges from jail except for calls to his lawyers from the Public Defender’s office. Wilson asked for permission to call his mother, but the judge said he would consider that at another time.

Wilson, 29, was found guilty as charged, on counts of second-degree felony murder with a firearm, burglary with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, and two animal cruelty charges.

He didn’t actually pull the trigger in the crime. He was convicted in the death of a 23-year-old accomplice, who was shot by a homeowner during the burglary of a residence near Lantana on Aug. 13, 2015. The homeowner’s dogs were killed during the break-in.

mjfreeman@sun-sentinel .com, 561-243-6642 or Twitter @marcjfreeman