Contact: Beth Stone (508) 584-8120
BROCKTON – A man convicted of murdering a 15 year-old Brockton man in 2006 has been denied a bid for a new trial, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
On February 19, 2006, Jerard Rogers was shot to death in Brockton shortly after midnight. Upon report of the shooting, Brockton Police were dispatched to the area of 26 Clifford Avenue where a house party was occurring and 50-60 youths were gathered in the area. Several witnesses reported that a fight at the party broke out between the victim and Robert O. Jacobs, now 31 years-old. Witnesses reported that Jacobs and Rogers argued before Jacobs shot Rogers with a .380 caliber automatic pistol. State Police Detectives and Brockton Police retrieved several shell casings from the scene and conducted an investigation. An arrest warrant was issued for Jacobs the same day of the shooting but he remained at large for 17 months until his arrest. In September, 2008, a jury found Jacobs guilty of murder in the first degree, by means of both deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Jacobs moved for a new trial based on five claims of ineffective assistance by defense counsel and a courtroom closure claim.
In his decision issued yesterday, Judge Robert C. Cosgrove wrote, “Jacobs has made no showing that the absence of his family and friends during jury selection affected the outcome of the trial, or that their exclusion somehow resulted in a jury that was not impartial. Thus, Jacobs is not entitled to a new trial based on the alleged courtroom closure. Nor has he otherwise demonstrated that justice was not done in this case.”