Syracuse, NY — A Syracuse man was found not guilty of manslaughter Monday after a jury decided that he acted in self-defense in the death of his son’s uncle, a defense lawyer said.
Ortez Madison, 42, was embroiled in a heated dispute with his ex-girlfriend’s brother, Kamerin Farrier, 22, at the time of Farrier’s death, lawyer Annie Porter said. Madison and his ex-girlfriend share a son together.
The fatal encounter happened after Farrier and another man approached Madison inside the East Syracuse Byrne Dairy around 2 a.m. on Nov. 28, 2021, his lawyer said. Madison was with his new significant other at the time.
Madison, who took the stand during his trial last week, said that Farrier and the other man ordered him outside of the Byrne Dairy. Once outside, Madison said that both men reached for their waistbands simultaneously, making him believe they might have guns, his lawyer said.
Surveillance video shows Madison slashing Farrier across the face before stabbing him in the chest. Prosecutor Anthony Copani maintained that nothing that Farrier did could justify being killed.
It turned out that neither Farrier nor the other man were armed.
But Porter countered that Madison had a reasonable fear for his life under the circumstances, based on the past history, the verbal threats inside of the store and the adversaries reaching for their waistbands. That’s why the jury acquitted him under the so-called justification defense, also known as self defense.
“You don’t have to wait to be killed or wounded,” Porter said of her client’s actions. “Once you’re dead, there’s no justification defense.”
After being stabbed, Farrier got into the driver’s seat of a white Jeep and tried to drive away but crashed just around a block away. A DeWitt police officer was on the way to another call when he witnessed the crash and saw Farrier coming over to his patrol car covered in blood.
The officer reported the incident and tried to treat Farrier’s wounds. Farrier was…
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