Jaycee Fuller will again stand trial in the stabbing death of a cab driver found in a South Tacoma parking lot in March 2009.
Fuller is accused of killing Mohamud Ahmed, a 22-year-old cab driver who fled his native Somalia looking for a better life.
The Washington State Court of Appeals overturned Fuller’s first-degree murder conviction in August, saying Pierce County prosecutors violated his rights by suggesting to a jury that Fuller was guilty because he was silent during parts of a police interview.
Fuller was transferred to Pierce County Jail on Thursday and is scheduled to appear in court today to set a new trial date.
Prosecutors allege Fuller killed Ahmed in an attempted robbery partially motivated by hate for immigrants. Fuller maintained his innocence throughout the trial but was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
The case was mostly circumstantial and hinged on a knit cap found near Ahmed’s cab. Forensic experts found Fuller’s blood on the outside of the cap and his DNA inside of the cap.
Fuller was known to wear a cap like the one found near the cab. Prosecutors showed the jury surveillance footage of a man resembling Fuller outside a Sixth Avenue restaurant about the time Ahmed picked up his last fare.
He agreed to speak with police after being picked up on suspicion of killing Ahmed, but was silent at portions of the interview rather than denying or admitting he was the killer. That led to his successful appeal.
stacia.glenn@ thenewstribune.com
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