Gilbert found not guilty

AURORA | An Arapahoe County jury found Velma Gilbert not guilty of all the charges against her Tuesday, including first-degree murder. 

Gilbert was accused of killing Joseph Jiles, 20, in June 2009 at the Elmwood Park apartments. 

During the trial, prosecutors argued the slaying was murder and said Jiles was backing up when Gilbert shot him. 

Gilbert’s lawyer, Scott Robinson, said the shooting was self-defense. He said Jiles threatened to shoot Gilbert and her daughter and went to the apartment complex that day planning to attack Gilbert’s daughter. 

Robinson said Tuesday he expected the not guilty verdict but didn’t take too much comfort in it. 

“It’s hard to take a lot of comfort in it because Joseph Jiles, a 20-year-old young man is still dead,” he said. 

Jiles was Gilbert’s grand nephew and Robinson said she adored him. 

“She really loved Joseph Jiles. He could be a fun, gregarious kid,” he said. 

But the day of the shooting, Jiles succumbed to his violent side, Robinson said. 

He said Jiles was screaming he had a gun and would kill Gilbert and her daughter when Gilbert shot him. 

While police didn’t find a gun on Jiles, and some witnesses say he didn’t, in fact, have one, Robinson said Gilbert believed he had one when she fired the single gunshot.

“Velma Gilbert has an absolute right to act on appearances, act on what she sees,” Robinson said.

But prosecutors argued the shooting was not self defense, but a “pre-emptive strike.”

Deputy District Attorney Byron Jones said in his closing argument Monday that witnesses saw Jiles backing away from Gilbert with his hands up when he was shot.

Gilbert did not believe Jiles posed an immediate threat, Jones said, but felt he might come back another day and hurt her daughter, who is Jiles’ cousin.

“The law says if the threat is no longer imminent ... you cannot claim self defense,” Jones said.

Jones also said Gilbert used two guns that day. When the first gun failed, Gilbert grabbed a second, more powerful pistol and shot Jiles in the head, he said.

The fact she used two guns shows the shooting wasn’t self-defense, but first-degree murder, Jones said. 

Robinson said the story about Gilbert using two guns is false.

He said the prosecution witnesses who testified about Gilbert using two guns was just repeating what she thought another witness said. He called the confusion a “high-stakes game of telephone.”

Gilbert’s trial lasted six days in Arapahoe County District Court. 

During closing arguments Monday afternoon, the courtroom was packed with Jiles’ family and friends on one side and Gilbert’s on the other. 

There was also extra security at the courtroom with two armed deputies searching people before they entered the courtroom. 

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I still have a request for comment in to the DA's office, if I hear from them I will update the story again. We are also working on a longer version of this story for our weekend paper.

- Brandon