ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9601050029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LUMBERTON, N.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Testimony will show that defendant Daniel Andre Green pulled the trigger when basketball star Michael Jordan's father was killed, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.
A defense lawyer insisted the prosecution's case is not credible and that Green was not even present at the killing.
The key prosecution witness, former co-defendant Larry Martin Demery, will testify that he was present when James Jordan was slain, District Attorney Johnson Britt said in opening arguments for Green's murder trial.
Demery, 20, who has pleaded guilty, has said previously he was not present when the 57-year-old Jordan was shot as he napped in his car along a highway near Lumberton in 1993. Both he and Green could face the death penalty.
``Daniel Green, with Larry Demery standing beside him, pointed the gun inside the car. The driver of the car woke up and made some statements. Daniel Green pulled the trigger and shot the driver of the car,'' Britt told jurors.
Defense attorney Angus Thompson said in his own opening statement that Green was not present when Jordan was killed. He said Demery asked Green for help disposing of Jordan's body.
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB