ONE HOMICIDE SUSPECT PLEADS GUILTY AS ANOTHER IS ACQUITTED Feb. 28, 2008 The man facing trial for 28-year-old James Green’s 2006 fatal stabbing pleaded guilty to taking his life as proceedings against him were set to begin today, and a Suffolk Superior Court jury found another defendant not guilty of setting the 2001 house fire that killed 53-year-old Shelby Caddell. MICHAEL SCOTT, 22 (D.O.B. 4/8/85), of Dorchester pleaded guilty to the crime of manslaughter, admitting that he fatally stabbed Green in the course of a violent altercation on Washington Street on the night of June 12, 2006. Lawyers in the case yesterday gave their opening statements to the trial jury, which had been set to view the crime scene today. Assistant District Attorney Edward Krippendorf recommended that Scott serve a state prison term of 15 to 19 years in state prison. Judge Judith Fabricant ordered that term, saying the sentence “reflects a set of circumstances in which this defendant, although believing himself to be in danger, used force grossly disproportionate to that danger.” Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in state prison. Also today, a separate jury deliberated for about four hours before finding ERIC KING, 35 (D.O.B. 1/19/73), not guilty of murder and arson in connection with the fire at 41-43 Port Norfolk Street that killed the disabled Caddell in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2001. Prosecutors had sought to prove that King and others associated with the Esmond Street area were engaged at that time in a rivalry with individuals associated with the Franklin Hill public housing development and were retaliating for an earlier shooting. Three of King’s co-defendants – BRENDAN MORRIS (D.O.B. 4/7/82), TAMIA BROWN (D.O.B. 7/1/83), and COVIA GODFREY (D.O.B. 10/28/83) – have already pleaded guilty to various charges in connection with the fatal blaze. Scott was represented by attorney Scott Curtis and King by attorney Robert Galibois II. Return to the Press Releases page.