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Man convicted of conspiracy in murder of 2011 ODU student won't get a new trial

During a Sept. trial, the jury acquitted Dooley of 10 out of 13 charges in the 2011 murder of an ODU student.

NORFOLK, Va. — Rashad Dooley will not get a new trial.

During a September trial, the jury acquitted Dooley of 10 out of 13 charges in the 2011 murder of Old Dominion University student Christopher Cummings. That included first-degree murder.

However, jurors did find Dooley guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

On Friday, Dooley’s defense attorney Eric Korslund asked a judge to throw out those verdicts based on inmate testimony during the trial.

“A letter was introduced into evidence that he wrote, and it stated a lot of prejudicial things about my client that were irrelevant, in my opinion,” Korslund said.

Korslund also asked for a new trial. He told the judge before the proceedings, prosecutors told him they would not ask for a time cut on that same inmate’s prison sentence. However, he said they did so after the trial ended.

“I think that may have impacted the jury’s decision whether they should have believed him or not,” Korslund said.

Prosecutors said at the time of trial, they did not make an agreement with the inmate for a shorter sentence.

Next, a judge will sentence Dooley on February 10.

“If he was found guilty of everything, it would have been a life sentence, no question about it,” Korslund said. “The sentencing, in this case, is very difficult to predict, it is always difficult to predict. There are so many variables at play that the judge can consider.”

13News Now spoke with Dooley in jail after the trial. Dooley maintains his innocence and told 13News Now said he never had any contact with Cummings, especially the night of the robbery.

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