Man acquitted in son-in-law’s death
Staff writer
Published: October 29, 2009
A Lee County jury found a former Russell County Sheriff’s corrections officer not guilty of killing his son-in-law last October.
After deliberations resumed Thursday morning in the murder case against Michael Britton, 57, of Smiths Station, the jury of eight men and four women rendered a not guilty verdict before Circuit Court Judge Jacob A. Walker III. The jury had deliberated for about an hour Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments.
Britton was charged with murder after Robert Bryan Hurst, 32, was found dead Oct. 7, 2008, in a residence Hurst shared with Britton’s daughter on Lee Road 292 in Smiths Station. Hurst, who law enforcement officials have said was the common-law husband of Britton’s daughter, had been shot in the chest with a
shotgun.
A grand jury in January returned a no bill in the case against Britton, saying that the shooting was self-defense. But another grand jury in May indicted Britton for one count of murder.
Law enforcement officials have said that Hurst had a domestic incident with Britton’s daughter the night before, in which she was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
On Oct. 7, Britton went to the house the couple shared and waited for Hurst to return home. When he did, the two had a verbal exchange, and Britton shot Hurst in the chest with a shotgun, according to authorities. Law enforcement officials have said there was no physical struggle between the two in the incident.
Assistant district attorneys Kenny Gibbs and Margaret Mayfield prosecuted the case for the state and Jeremy Armstrong of Phenix City defended Britton.
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Reader Reactions
It would be nice if you attended the trial before writing articles about it. The only reporter in the courtroom was from a television station. I don’t know who you got your “facts” from, but they’re clearly incorrect. First of all, Assistant District Attorney Margaret Mayfield did not prosecute the case. I’ll leave the actual lawyer’s name out of it since her side lost. The home that “Hurst shared with Britton’s daughter” was Britton’s home, which he had told Hurst not to return to. Britton didn’t “wait for Hurst to return home.“ Britton was at home eating lunch in the middle of the day when Hurst got there to do drugs with some friends. Britton told Hurst to leave, Hurst approached him, and Britton shot him in self-defense. Hurst’s two dope-smoking buddies had enough sense to get out; they were not harmed. Britton had called the cops twice in two days about Hurst, but Hurst was hiding out at another girlfriend’s house and the deputies could not arrest him. Hurst was not “found dead,“ either. Britton called 911 and summoned deputies himself after the shooting.
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