the jury. a killing he said smith was party to. >> travion smith is a murder also. look at the nature of the attack. there's injuries to both sides of her body. look at the blood in the room. look how small that apartment is. both of them had to have known what was going on in there. >> he claimed that smith's reactions were crucial for the jury to consider like when ron anthony showed a bloody knife. >> travion has no reaction to seeing that knife. >> when witness sara asked smith what was going on. wallace says smith's reaction was important. >> what doesn't he say? he doesn't say i don't know. but the defense claimed smith was under ron anthony's influence and was following along. >> travion did what ron told him. >> the lawyer claimed there was no physical evidence to connect smith to the murder. >> there was to fingerprints of any relevance or value collected in this case.

link the cuts on travion's palms to struggle with melissa huggins jones. the jurors obviously felt the state proved a first-degree murder case. now here's what happens tomorrow. there will be a so called mini trial if you will. the jurors come back and listen to evidence, the victim's family will speak through victim impact statements. it'll take several days then the jurors go back to the jury room and deliberate. should smith get the death penalty or not. steve, wncn news now. we're following breaking news in raleigh. police tell us they're on the scene of a death investigation after receiving a report of a dead person on south wilmington streets near the greenway on city farm road. be sure to stay with wncn.com and your mobile news app as we continue to learn more. to meet a friday deadline set by a panel of federal judges, state lawmakers are working to withdraw

this will effect next month's primary election. bo minnick breaks it all down. including how the legal battle may not be over yet. >> i don't think it's wise to federal judges. >> but democratics in the general assembly say that's what their republican counterparts are doing. disagree. >> we were told that racially, polarized voting doesn't exist. so we'll draw a map that doesn't factor in race. >> three federal judges used race as a predominant factor when they drew congressional lines in 2011 and must redraw the lines by friday. the state is asking the u.s. supreme court for a delay on that. without one lawmakers are picking new criteria for the maps and republican lawmakers say they'll leave race out of the equation entirely. >> the only way we can go before the court again and say we absolutely did not use race is not to have race as a criteria. >> democratics say race should

and to leave it out may send this back to court. >> the voting rights act requires race to be a factor. >> another controversial measure has to do with partisan advantage. there are ten republican congress members in north carolina. and three democratics. in drawing the districts, the general assembly wants to make sure the numbers don't change. >> we're trying to follow what the judges ask us to do. we're going to use politics to draw these lines. >> we want to manipulate the citizenry of the state in a way that we can be sure we elect 10 out of the 13 congress people as republicans. that bothers me. >> we're waiting to hear if that delay be granted if they don't hear by tomorrow, it's likely lawmakers will be back for a special session on thursday. in raleigh, bo minnick, wncn news now. after a stormy start to the day, sunshine and 60s return to central north carolina this

but there's more rain on the way. chief meteorologist wes hohenstein joins us now with the latest. >> good evening to you and to you at home. this morning it was severe storms. an alarm clock if you will for many of us. tomorrow morning, much, much different. dry right now. sunny skies this afternoon. temperatures near 60. that was nice. a little rain coming down out of the mountains will be here in the early morning hours. including a little bit for the early morning commute. quickly it moves out. let's talk more about the temperatures. it's cooled into the 40s and 50s now. but today was the warmest day. around 60 so the cold front and storms that moved through earlier are well into the rear- view mirror. a little disturbance in the upper atmosphere in tennessee will roll over the mountains tonight and bring us a little bit of rain. here's what that will look like. we'll increase the clouds as we drop to 48 at 8:00. 43 at midnight. and a little bit of light rain around tomorrow morning. but no travel concerns as

freezing. not warm, 38 degrees. but definitely above freezing. if you like warm, how do you like highs near 70. i have that on the seven-day forecast. i'll tell you when in minutes. many homeowners are keeping an eye on the state supreme court ruling after the department of transportation is holding their properties hostage. the high court heard arguments today about the map act that allows the state d.o.t. to limit development on properties they're considering for future highway projects. wncn's david hurst has the story. >> everett has been fighting for years to prevent the state from taking his property. >> without being paid for, it's been condemned. he's the property owner who filed the lawsuit. now it has the attention on property owners across the state. walter has been looking to sell his farm in southern wake county for years. but the state has not let him cash in on rising property values because it sits in the

the state has invoked the map act. not allowing him to make any improvements to the property. >> they're holding me hostage. and keeping me from doing anything that i desire to do with the property. >> attorneys suing the state claim the d.o.t. uses the map act to keep property values down to purchase the land at a lower price. >> the amount of mischief that's running rampant through this state all emanates from this act. >> however attorneys from the state argued that the ncdot uses the map act to regulate local land use for public benefit. >> the public purpose and benefit can be broadly described as coordinating future road projects with current and future land uses. >> it could be months before the supreme court resumes on this case. meaning many property owners are left waiting for answers. reporting in raleigh, david hurst, wncn news now. the plans for the durham orange light rail are moving forward. the federal transit

environmental review this week. political and financial issues remain though. go triangle is asking the federal government to cover half of the projects $1.6 billion cost. hillsborough town officials say they want to hear more ideas from the private sector before they take control of an historic inn. today they put off plans to file eminent domain proceedings. in october the town voted to take ownership of the inn to prevent it from being destroyed. this modern home in the historic oakwood neighborhood isn't going any where after the state court of appeals settled a neighbor dispute today. wncn's carlie griffith joins us with why the homeowners are relieved. >> the homeowners of this modestly modern house are thrilled to have this behind them and finally settle in to the neighborhood that they're so proud to call home. >> it's been a long, long process. so it's nice to feel a sense

>> finally after three years of fighting for their house, martha gordon and cheri can fully settle into their dream home. which he designed. >> i wanted to make a house reflective of today at the same time respectful and honoring for the past. >> the raleigh historic development commission agreed when they approved the design. but neighbor gail thought the look was too bold and would devalue her property across the street. for three years they have battled it out in the courts. until today. >> we're just so happy and relieved not to be in this fight any more. >> they're not the only ones. through this ordeal the oakwood modern house gained national attention. even its own twitter account. announcing the news to all 2300 followers. of course other community members are glad to have some closure as well. >> the important thing is we've share add common passion.

been to preserve and keep in tact the character of the oakwood neighborhood. >> each of the houses in oakwood was new at one time and many of them were different when they were new. and now they're part of a continuum of history. and we're now part of that continuum. >> he did not want to speak to us today but she released a statement through her lawyer saying she's disappointed with the decision. but cherry and gordon say they hope some good comes from this fight that no one else has to go through what they did. live in raleigh, carlie griffith, wncn news now. thank you. a beloved dog at campbell law school is back on campus today. >> we'll reintroduce you to ricky as well as an update on her fight to beat cancer. this is unbelievable. i can't imagine it. >> a pillar of the community killed. why folks are devastated by the

good do you remember two out of the first three days this month were in the 70s. since then it's been all downhill.

have rain all on air, online, wherever you are, this is wncn news at 7:00.

in mourning tonight. police say a domestic incident this morning led to the stabbing death of man many new so well. wncn nate rogers talked to those close to tommy about his impacts on the community. >> the victim is 67-year-old thomas mcnair. those who knew him described him as loyal, a friend, and servant to all. police responded to his home around 7:30 this morning after receiving a 911 call from monica holt. holt stabbed the 67-year-old to death. mcnair is remembered as always lending a helping hand. his cousin says he was recently released from the hospital and carried a portable oxygen tank. >> he wouldn't harm nobody. he was sweet. he love everybody. he take the boys to the boys and girls club. he give you a ride.

young men affiliated with myers recreation center. mcnair was involved in youth sports activities. his family members say the two only knew each other a short while prior to that. they say holt was homeless. he remains at the cumberland county detention center charged with second-degree murder without bond. in fayetteville, nate rogers, wncn news now. the wake county sheriff's office is the latest law enforcement department to partner with next door, a private social network for neighborhoods. we have previously told you about raleigh and durham police partnering with next door. the app was built as an easy way for neighbors to talk online, to build stronger and safer neighborhoods. >> they can touch bases with us. they can let us know, hey, we've got such and such in our neighborhood. we have a break-in. or we've had this. or we see this strange car. it's just the 20th century. and keeping in touch. >> more than 455 wake county neighborhoods representing 78% of the county's neighborhoods have launched next door communities.

brought you last month, a campbell law student and her guide dog are back together in school after classmates helped raise money to pay for the dog's medical treatment. ricky needed her spleen removed. it cost thousands of dollars. donations quickly poured in for the dog who is well known and loved on campus. unfortunately veterinaries determine that ricky has cancer. she's under going chemotherapy and is feeling well but it's not clear how long she'll be able to keep working. >> they don't really know how much time ricky will have with her -- with like good health. so it's really hard for me because, you know, i've had to think about you know, now is probably the time to retire her. >> for now, she says she's happy to be back in school. chief meteorologist wes hohenstein in the weather center now. i went to bed it was cold. i woke up and we had warm weather. >> it happened a handful of times throughout the year.

you wake up and temperatures have warmed up. that's what happened. the mess that's happened the last few days. that was gone this afternoon with sunshine and 60s. if you went out of town on saturday and you got back into town today, awesome planning. because you've missed plenty of weather. to last us the rest of the week really. here we are last night at 10:00. watch as this warm air kind of attacks us from the south. you went to bed, it was freezing. you woke up and some of us were close to 60 degrees. and that was the high this afternoon with sunshine. we topped out at 60 in the triangle. 62 in the sand hills and out there right now, temperatures generally in the 40s and 50s. it's going to be cold tonight. but not as cold as last night. right now, our temperatures are 17 degrees warmer in raleigh than last night at 7:00. 19 degrees warmer in sanford than they were 24 hours ago. so we did okay today. tonight. kind of a normal night.

to 48 at 8:00. 45 at 10:00. we wind up in the upper 30s tomorrow. as you can see, we get close to midnight, clouds thicken up. there's light rain out there. nothing more. and some of that will be with us for the morning commute tomorrow morning. more on that in a second. but the storms that moved through this morning not only acting like an alarm clock for us and our animals but acting to rearrange items in the backyard. we were sent this picture from raleigh. trampolines are fun to jump on but they're like big wind socks and they catch all the wind. we had strong gusts today. they can get relocated. hopefully damage around your home wasn't too bad. the rain coming tomorrow, nowhere near as stormy as what we had this morning. but there it is. you can see most of it up in the mountains. the snow stays in the mountains. it's a rain event for us. it's moving through parts of the triad now. by 10:00, we could see a little bit falling in the area.

night and early morning hours. snow in the mountains. rain for us. dry through midnight. we start to see scattered rain showers through about 3:00 a.m. and then those will stick around through about 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 a.m. but mainly for the triangle and areas north. and they will be light. and then by 9:00 and 10:00 a.m., the showers are out of here, we're dry, and by the afternoon, we're back to sunny skies. temperatures not as warm as they were today. but we've got sunshine tomorrow afternoon through the weekend. so it will be cooler tomorrow. no more 60s tomorrow. we'll go 54 here in raleigh. 53 in durham. 57 in fayetteville. and again, our rain showers are mainly tomorrow morning. so if you have plans to head to work and school, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 a.m. maybe a little light rain. but shortly after that, we're dry and we stay that way through the rest of the day. and for the next several days. so your seven-day forecast looks like this, after 60 today.

50 on thursday. 52 friday. not only cooler during the day but morning temperatures, right about freezing but no precipitation. so we don't have that to worry about. and then we get into the weekend, 66 saturday. 64 sunday. i like saturday as the pick day of the weekend simply because we have more sunshine and it's going to be warmer and i would not be surprised if someone in the sand hills hits 70 on saturday. it's february. and someone's going to hit 70. that sounds all right. then we have rain. right now it looks like rain returning to the forecast next monday and tuesday. but the rain chances monday and tuesday, those numbers could be low. look for the percentages to go up as we head into the next couple days. but make your plans to do some car washing, to get outside over the next couple days. >> soak in some of the rays. >> we have to find the 70s. >> especially on saturday. >> we are 24 hours away from the first duke unc matchup of

still ahead, how its outcom we are just 24 hours away from the battle of the blues part one. duke and north carolina will tangled at the dean dome and the stakes are high. the blue devils have won three straight in this rivalry. >> duke won a huge recruiting tussle when the five-star forward brandon ingram chose

today roy williams was asked about it. >> if you're asking me to be put in a corner i'm not going to go. he's a great youngster and a great player. duke did a great job. he's playing for duke. i'm not going there. >> jerry stackhouse and reggie among others to chapel hill but ingram got away. tomorrow's game is big for both teams when it comes to the ncaa tournaments duke is fighting to make the tournaments. north carolina is fighting for a one seed. and i see you're wearing your duke colors today. >> i'll have carolina tomorrow. i promise you that. but that seed could land the tar heels in raleigh for the first and second round of the tournament. pnc is hosting games for the first weekend of the tournamentment march 17th through 19th. that means a huge economic impact on the region. that's something the recently opened inn in carey is excited about. >> it's wonderful. it's awesome. the timing couldn't be better for us. it's a great way to get national exposure inside of a

>> join us tomorrow night at 6:00 and 7:00. we'll take a closer look at other ways the area is getting set to host the ncaa tournament. >> now is the perfect time to remind you wncn is carrying march madness this year as cbs programming is coming to wncn on february 29th. find more on the transition right now online at wncn.com. it's a basketball injury that could have been much worse. check out this video. you see the young basketball player slide on the floor and just can't get up. >> the official said are you hurt? and she's like there's a piece of wood stuck to me. >> tonight at 11:00. why the school might not face legal action. and how soon she's going to be back on the court. that story and much more all new tonight at 11:00.

what's coming up tonight on the boys and girls club of wake county is celebrating 50 years of service today. the organization's work has helped thousands of young folks

as well as during the summer months mainly with just a safe space for everyone to come. so congrats on the anniversary. wonderful. they do such a great job helping the kids in the community. >> former three degree guaranteed charity. today we made it to 60 degrees. not going to be as warm tomorrow. but we've still got sunshine in the afternoon. tomorrow morning at the bus stop. a little bit of light rain, temperatures in the upper 30s. and sunshine and 54 by the afternoon.

thanks for joining >> judge judy: the defendant's dog bit your dog and your son? >> my dog was not okay. >> announcer: pet owners say it was news to them. >> his friend called him and said, "hey, your dog is in a dogfight." and we said, "what are you talking about?" i said, "well, someone had to have gotten into my house." >> announcer: but is her story of a break-in made-up? >> judge judy: did they catch anybody? >> no. >> judge judy: this is not a police report of a burglary. the only thing that this burglar

>> announcer: "judge judy." you are about to enter the courtroom of judge judith sheindlin. captions paid for by cbs television distribution michelle lemieux is suing cassie heney for vet bills and reckless endangerment after her son and dog were attacked by cassie's pit bull. >> byrd: order! all rise! this is case number 396 on the calendar in the matter of lemieux vs. heney. >> judge judy: thank you. >> byrd: you're welcome, judge. parties have been sworn in. you may be seated. gentlemen, have a seat. >> judge judy: miss lemieux, it is your claim that the defendant's dog bit your dog and your son? >> yes. >> judge judy: the defendant says -- well, she doesn't deny that her dog bit your son and your dog, but she said it's not her fault. she said her house, on the day of the incident, was burglarized, and the burglar left the door open and her dog got out. so, we'll get to that in a minute. now, you weren't there when this happened? >> correct. >> judge judy: you were.