A Chicago jury on Friday convicted Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson’s former brother-in-law of murdering her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in what prosecutors’ described as an act of vengeance by a jilted husband.

Hudson, who expressed her undisguised disdain for William Balfour when she took the witness stand and who endured weeks of excruciating testimony about the October 2008 killings, was visibly overcome with emotion as the verdict was read. Hudson’s eyes filled with tears and she shook her head and bit her lip. Afterward, she looked over at her sister, Julia Hudson, and smiled.

Balfour, who faces a mandatory life prison sentence, showed no emotion.

Jurors deliberated for three days before reaching their verdict against Balfour, a 31-year-old former gang member who was the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister at the time of the triple murders.

With no surviving witnesses to the Oct. 24, 2008, slayings or fingerprints, prosecutors built a circumstantial case against Balfour by calling 83 witnesses over 11 days of testimony. Witnesses said he threatened to kill the entire family if Julia Hudson spurned him.

Balfour’s attorneys proposed an alternate theory: that someone else in the crime-ridden neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side targeted the family because of alleged crack-cocaine dealing by Jennifer Hudson’s brother, Jason Hudson. During the 30 minutes in which they called just two witnesses, however, they presented no evidence to support that theory.

The verdict came shortly after jurors sent the judge a note saying they were split. The jury did not say it was giving up, though.

“We are trying,” jurors said in their note.

Jennifer Hudson, who was in Florida at the time of the killings, attended every day of the two-weeks of testimony, sobbing when photos of her relatives’ bloodied bodies were displayed to jurors during closing arguments. Known for wearing tony designer dresses on Hollywood’s red carpets, Hudson wore toned-down clothes at the trial, often all black.

Hudson, 30, rose to prominence as a 2004 “American Idol” finalist. But she became a bona fide star for her performance in the film adaptation of the musical, “Dreamgirls,” for which she won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Hudson was the first witness prosecutors called to testify, and during her more than 30 minutes on the stand she talked about her murdered family members and spoke endearingly about her nephew, Julian King, whom she called Tugga Bear. She said she knew Balfour since the eighth grade but always deeply disliked him.

Balfour had lived in the Hudsons’ three-story Englewood home after marrying Julia Hudson in 2006. He moved out in early 2008 after falling out with his wife, but witnesses told jurors he often stalked the home.

The killings occurred the morning after Julia Hudson’s birthday, and prosecutors said he became enraged when he stopped by the home and saw a gift of balloons in the house from her new boyfriend.

After his estranged wife left for her job as a bus driver on the morning of Oct. 24, 2008, prosecutors said Balfour went back inside the home with a .45-caliber handgun and shot Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, in the back; he allegedly then shot Jason Hudson, 29, twice in the head as he lay in bed.

Prosecutors said Balfour then drove off in Jason Hudson’s SUV with Julian – Julia’s son, whom she called Juice Box – and shot the boy several times in the head as he lay behind a front seat. His body was found in the abandoned vehicle miles away after a three-day search.

The defense tried to counter the portrayal of Balfour as an embittered husband by noting Julia Hudson continued to have sex with him until just days before the killings.

In heated closings Wednesday, public defender Amy Thompson, almost shouting, said prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

Prosecutor James McKay shot back that the defense was exploiting a popular misunderstanding that circumstantial evidence is lesser evidence.

 Jurors enter a third day deliberating at the Chicago trial of Jennifer Hudson’s former brother-in-law accused of slaying the Oscar-winner’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

They begin Friday after offering no clues Thursday about whether they’re close to a decision about William Balfour. Jurors sent the judge a note Wednesday but none since.

They’re sequestered overnights at a hotel so they can’t see news on the case.

Some juries first go through all testimony before polling themselves. At Balfour’s two-week trial, prosecutors called 83 witnesses and entered boxfuls of evidence, from maps to the .45-caliber handgun allegedly use in the slayings.

Some legal observers say the longer jurors deliberate, the better for the defense. But that frequently doesn’t turn out to be true.

I get that, but I can’t help to be a bit worried.  WTH is taking so long?

source: AP

Jurors have started deliberating in the trial of a man accused of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

The jury took William Balfour’s case Wednesday afternoon after a day filled with closing arguments. Balfour has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the October 2008 slayings.

His defense attorneys told jurors prosecutors failed to make their case. Prosecutors countered that they had “a tsunami of evidence” linking him to the crime.

If convicted on all counts, Balfour faces a mandatory life prison term.

Actress and singer Jennifer Hudson has sat through much of the trial, closing her eyes or hanging her head during particularly grim testimony. She took the stand last month as prosecutors’ first witness.

Source Associated Press

The court’s accommodations made for Jennifer Hudson are under scrutiny.

The Chicago courthouse where the trial of the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew is taking place has made certain accommodations for the actress and singer. Some say they violate a principle of equal treatment. Others say they’re justified on security grounds. Among the accommodations:

- Hudson arrives each day through an undisclosed entrance, possibly through a back courthouse door. Other speculate she arrives and departs through a labyrinth of tunnels that run to and from an adjoining jailhouse.  I can’t see why this would hurt anyone that she does this, but the Jackson’s entered court through the normal entrance.

- More than a half-dozen of Hudson’s personal bodyguards accompany her to court. Some occasionally talk into microphones embedded in their sleeves in the manner of Secret Service agents protecting the president.  Necessary

- Several of Hudson’s personal security keep vigil by an elevator in the hallway, holding it for their boss during breaks and shooing away those not in her entourage.  Maybe Necessary

- During lunch breaks, Hudson avoids the dilapidated first-floor eatery at the courthouse – where others reluctantly consumed microwaved, pre-made burgers – by dining on presumably delivered meals in a private room.  So what….you can’t be serious.

- Hudson waits for proceedings to begin each day in judge’s chambers. The rooms behind the trial room are normally off-limits to members of the public.  This maybe a conflict that can be deemed excessive, but she’s not the one on trial.

- Members of the public attending the trial must undergo a full-body pat-down outside the courtroom before entering. Hudson walks past deputies doing the pat-downs, though it’s possible she goes through security elsewhere.  Again, the Jackson’s went through pat downs.

When the accusation was made to the judge’s liaison Irv Miller, he said,”Absolutely not,” Most accommodations, he insisted, are courtesies routinely extended to victims having to endure the grim ordeal of sitting through a murder trial.

I guess it can be said that they are giving Jennifer favorable more accommodations, but apparently it’s part of their protocol to do so with victims.  This is probably because of the huge loss some victims  sustain.  I can’t see how the accommodations  would harm anyone. I’m willing to bet Balfour’s family and defense team made these accusations.

My thoughts within the quotes are in green.

Source: AP

The futuristic blogger had a phone interview with Gregory King, seven year old Julian King’s father, to get his feelings surrounding the case.  It’s sad because I had assumed he wasn’t part of Julian’s life because I rarely hear him mentioned.  He touched on that,  how smart Julian was, and how much he misses him.  He’s also in the courtroom daily listening to the heart wrenching details surrounding  Julian’s murder.

1. Gregory King talks about keeping his composure in the court room. (Time Frame 1:24)
2. His relationship with Jennifer & Julia Hudson right now. (Time Frame 2:16 )
3. What you didn’t know about his son Julian King. (Time Frame 3:02 )
4. Accused Killer William Balfour and the Death Penalty. (Time Frame 4:51 )
5. And his frustration with Media/Press ignoring him. As if Julian King didn’t have a Father. (Time Frame 6:03)

 Source

 The mother of the man accused of murdering Jennifer Hudson’s three relatives snapped at Jennifer Hudson during a break in courtroom testimony Friday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“Why the hell are they looking at me?” the mother of murder William Balfour said as Hudson and her sister were standing directly in front of her.  What a rude bitch.   This girl has lost most of her family, at the hands of your son and this is the crap she has to say?  Bitch!!!

Jennifer, did not give a visible reaction, the newspaper reported.  Clearly they are beneath her.  Definitely a class act.  She’s a good one because I think I would have cursed her azz out.

Earlier in the day, an FBI agent told jurors that cell phone records show Balfour was near the Hudson home on the morning the singer’s 57-year-old mother Darnell Donerson and 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson were slain.

Follow-up witness William Graham, a 71-year-old local retiree, testified that he saw Balfour driving a white SUV through the Hudson neighborhood that day and made a mental note because Balfour usually drove a green Chrysler.

Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew Julian King was later found shot to death inside the abandoned vehicle several miles away.

Balfour, who has pleaded not guilty, told police he wasn’t in the area.

He was married to Hudson’s sister at the time of the October 2008 triple homicide and allegedly flew into a jealous rage when he saw balloons he thought were from his estranged wife’s new boyfriend, prosecutors said.

The trial of the man charged with murdering three of Jennifer Hudson’s family members resumed Tuesday with the Oscar-winner shutting her eyes as a police officer described finding her dead family members and later leaving the courtroom before photos of their bodies were shown.

Hudson watched much of the testimony before getting up and leaving shortly before prosecutors displayed pictures of her mother and brother’s bloodied bodies. Prosecutors often let family members know when they will be showing unsettling evidence.

It was previously reported that she intended to be in the courtroom each day.  The trial is expected to last for four weeks.  This is so messed up that this girl has to go through this hurt all over again.  Have you ever wondered how closed she came to also being there with her family? Bone chilling just to think about.  I hope they fry his azz ashy crisp.

source via AP

Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson left the witness stand and took a seat in the courtroom before the trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and nephew broke for lunch.

Hudson testified for about 30 minutes Monday at the start of William Balfour’s murder trial. She started answering questions calmly but became emotional the longer it went on.

Balfour has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the 2008 slayings. He was married to Hudson’s sister at the time but they were estranged.

Prosecutors allege that Balfour killed the victims in a jealous rage because his estranged wife had a new boyfriend.

She said: ‘My name is Jennifer Kate Hudson. I’m an actress and a singer’, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

She responded to prosecutors’ questions softly but confidently and when asked to identify the defendant, pointed at Balfour.

‘He’s sitting right there,’ she said.

Hudson told the court that she had known Balfour since middle school but had never liked him. Balfour looked at Hudson but otherwise showed little emotion during her testimony.

Hudson began to cry when she spoke about her seven-year-old nephew Julian.

Emotional: Jennifer Hudson wept on the witness stand today when she spoke about the murders of her mother, brother and nephew

‘It was always me and my Tugga Bear. That’s what I called him,’ she said of her nephew, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Hudson was tearful as she started to describe her reaction when her sister, Julia Hudson, told her she was going to marry Balfour.

‘None of us wanted her to marry him,’ she said, her voice cracking and struggling to hold back tears.

‘None of us – myself, my mother, or my brother  – we did not like how he treated her, and I didn’t like how he treated my nephew.

‘I would tell her (Julia) over and over again not to marry William.’

Hudson testified about the harrowing day she learned of the deaths, flying home to Chicago on October 24, 2008, and identifying her mother and brother’s bodies at the morgue.

Three days later she was back at the morgue to identify her nephew’s body.

The testimony became increasingly difficult for the star when talking about seeing her family the Sunday before the killings and later when a prosecutor showed her a picture of her mother.

She identified a photo of her mother, saying: ‘That’s my mommy.’

After more than 30 minutes on the stand, Hudson walked slowly across the courtroom directly in front of jurors clutching tissues.

She then took a seat in the fourth row next to her fiance David Otunga.

Source  Associated Press and chicago tribune

The murder trial for the man who murdered Jennifer Hudson’s family has begun.

It is revealed that when Jennifer’s sister received a bundle of balloons as a gift William Balfour snapped and murdered her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew out of pure vindictiveness.  Jennifer is expected to be in the courtroom during the entire trial.  The jurors have been given special instructions to set aside their feeling or emotions toward Jennifer and view the case from an unbiased eye.   It was also recently revealed that Jennifer’s sister’s divorce from the accused murdered became finalized last year.  I’m not sure it it will be televised on TruTv as of yet, but I expect at least some inside courtroom updates.

 

CHICAGO (AP) — A prosecutor is expected to tell jurors that Monday during opening statements at the trial of William Balfour. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 24, 2008, slayings that generated nationwide headlines because of Hudson’s fame.

The estranged husband of Hudson’s sister, Balfour believed the balloons he saw at the Hudson home came from Julia Hudson’s new boyfriend; driving away for her job as a school bus driver, she glimpsed Balfour in her mirror still lingering outside, prosecutors have said.

They say Balfour went back inside the three-story house around 9 a.m. and used a .45-caliber handgun to kill Hudson’s mother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, in the living room, and then shot her 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson, twice in the head as he lay in bed.

He allegedly drove off in Jason Hudson’s SUV with Julia Hudson’s son, Julian King, inside. Authorities say he shot the boy nicknamed Juice Box in the head as he lay behind a front seat. His body was found in the abandoned vehicle miles away after a three-day search.

There are no known witnesses to the slayings, and it’s unclear what physical evidence exists, be it fingerprints or DNA. Prosecutors say gunshot residue was found on the steering wheel of Balfour’s car. But the defense says it and other evidence is circumstantial.

A gun, which Balfour allegedly stole months before from Hudson’s brother, was recovered in a lot near where the SUV was found and will be presented as the murder weapon.

Establishing motive may pose less of a challenge.

A high-school dropout and one-time Gangster Disciple known by the gang name “Flex,” Balfour allegedly threatened to kill the Hudson family at least two dozen times, starting earlier in 2008 when he moved out of the house, lead prosecutor James McKay has said.

McKay says that a day before the killings, on Julia Hudson’s birthday, Balfour told her, “If you ever leave me, I’m going to kill you, but I’m going to kill your family first.” She didn’t take him seriously, McKay said, because Balfour hadn’t acted on the threats before.

Court records indicate the now 34-year-old Julia Hudson’s divorce from Balfour was finalized last year.

If convicted of at least two of the murder counts, the 30-year-old Balfour, on parole at the time of the killings after serving nearly seven years for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, would face a mandatory life sentence.

Jennifer Hudson’s name is among 300 on a list of potential witnesses, though it’s not certain she will testify. The 2004 “American Idol” finalist and 2007 Oscar winner for her role in “Dreamgirls” is expected to attend each day of testimony, which could last up to a month.

Judge Charles Burns has instructed jurors to set aside any sympathy for Hudson and decide a verdict strictly according to testimony. The panelists include a teacher, a trucker and two people who have had close relatives murdered.

Prosecutors have said Balfour claimed he wasn’t near the Hudson home at the time of the killing, but they are expected to introduce cellphone records that allegedly prove he was in the area when two teenage girls who live nearby heard gunshots.

The witnesses didn’t immediately report the shots to police because the sound of gunfire isn’t uncommon in the impoverished, crime-ridden Englewood neighborhood, according to court filings.

The trial is being held in a nearly century-old, oak and granite courtroom where several TV legal dramas have been filmed. It’s the same courtroom where R&B singer R. Kelly was acquitted on child pornography charges in 2008.

Source AP

Well, the time is near where our girl will have to face the piece of vermin that murdered her her family.   It’s truly sad that she has to relive this mess and see his face again, but we can definitely look forward to the day where she can have some closure in the whole thing.  Say a prayer for Jennifer and her sister because they’ll definitely need them.

Potential jurors are getting their first look at a man accused in the slayings of the mother and two other family members of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson. William Balfour greeted potential jurors Thursday in a firm voice after the judge introduced him, saying, “Good morning, everybody.” Many in the pool of would-be jurors responded in unison: “Good morning.” The moment in a Chicago courtroom came shortly before the judge read a potential witness list that includes the Oscar-winning actress’ name. Balfour is the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister. Prosecutors say he shot Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew in a jealous rage because Julia Hudson was dating another man. Potential jurors are collecting questionnaires Thursday. Direct questioning by the judge starts Monday.

Source Associated Press via Yahoo News