NEW YORK (AP) -- A mugger who killed aspiring actress and playwright Nicole duFresne on a Lower East Side street was convicted of first-degree murder on Thursday.
Rudy Fleming faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on Nov. 30. He was convicted on nine counts, including murder, robbery and weapon possession.
Lawyers for both sides agreed that Fleming, 21, shot duFresne after they shoved each other while he and some of his companions robbed her and her three friends around 3 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2005.
DuFresne, 28, a native of Wayzata, Minn., who lived in Brooklyn, was working as a bartender when she was killed. She had acted in several productions and co-wrote a play about two women in an asylum that toured in drama festivals in the United States and Canada.
The deliberations began Wednesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
Fleming was not present for the verdict; he refused to come to court for the entire trial. The jurors left the courthouse without comment.
Some of the people accused of being Fleming's accomplices have been charged separately, and their cases are pending.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Hettleman said Fleming shot duFresne intentionally because she challenged him. Witnesses said she pushed him and said to him after the robbery, "What are you going to do, shoot us?"
Hettleman said in closing arguments that Fleming's fatal shot was a cold-blooded choice, not an accident as the defense has argued: "He pushed Nicole duFresne, pointed that gun at her chest, pulled the trigger and killed her."
Fleming's lawyer, Anthony Ricco, said his client's gun fired accidentally during the shoving match. He said that while Fleming killed her recklessly, he did not kill her intentionally.
The prosecutor attacked Ricco's claim that Fleming's .357 Magnum went off accidentally. Hanging a 10-pound barbell weight from his index finger, Hettleman cited the testimony of a police gun expert who said the trigger required 10 pounds of pull and was very unlikely to fire accidentally.
Ricco pointed out that in an earlier robbery attempt that morning, when Fleming tried to take a man's leather jacket, his client hit the man but did not shoot him even though he resisted and kept his property.
The defense lawyer also cited the testimony of duFresne's fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, who said that when he tried to walk away from Fleming the gunman hit him in the face. Ricco noted that Fleming had not shot him.
Hettleman said Fleming's violence level escalated with every incident until finally he shot duFresne. He shot her, the prosecutor said, because she confronted him and he "wanted to show that he was the man that night."
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