On February 28, 2009, after nearly two days of deliberation, jurors found Joseph Bearden guilty of second-degree murder in Ryan Skipper's death. Prosecutors had charged him with first-degree murder and sought the death penalty. Bearden was also found guilty on four other counts: theft of a motor vehicle, accessory after the fact, tampering with evidence, and dealing in stolen property. Bearden was sentenced to life behind bars for the second-degree murder charge, as well as two five-year and two fifteen-year sentences for the other charges, to run concurrently with the life sentence. Bearden appealed the conviction and the Second District Court of Appeal affirmed. On April 16, 2015, however, the Florida Supreme Court quashed the District Court's opinion and granted Bearden a new trial, stating that "the trial court improperly evaluated the credibility of Tyler's testimony, erroneously determined that Bearden's statement was not adequate corroboration under Chambers, and improperly prevented Bearden from recalling Ray Allen Brown." Ray Allen Brown was the individual who Bearden claimed was in the car at the time of the murder as opposed to himself. On the second day of trial, a witness had come forward claiming that Ray Allen confessed to being in the car, a statement which could have potentially exonerated Bearden if the jury was permitted to hear her account of the confession and decide for itself whether it was believable. In doing so, the court prevented Bearden from presenting his entire defense to the jury and thus, Bearden was deprived of his constitutional rights. Hence, the Florida Supreme Court granted Bearden a new trial in accordance with its opinion.