James Alex Fields Jr. — the man accused of driving a car into a crowd of people during the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in downtown Charlottesville in August 2017, killing one and injuring dozens more — was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, one count of hit and run and three counts of malicious wounding.
The jury delivered the verdict late Friday afternoon after deliberating for just under eight hours. Sentencing will be determined by the court beginning Monday morning — Fields could face up to six life sentences and 70 years in prison for the charges.
Prior to deliberations, the defense requested the jury to find Fields guilty of lesser crimes, specifically naming involuntary manslaughter and unlawful wounding.
Fields was also separately indicted on 30 counts of federal hate crimes in June, though the trial date has yet to be determined. One count is for bias-motivated interference with a federally-protected activity which resulted in death — a charged which carries a maximum federal sentence of the death penalty.
The current trial began Nov. 26 in Charlottesville Circuit Court and was presided over by Judge Richard E. Moore.
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