From [HERE] and [HERE] Jurors discussed the race of the defendant, Michael Bent and witnesses before convicting a Deerfield Beach teenager of aggravated battery in June for inciting the 2009 burning attack of Michael Brewer, according to the testimony of jurors questioned in a Broward courtroom Friday.

Bent, who is black, was accused of spearheading a confrontation with Brewer, who is white, on Oct. 12, 2009 at the Lime Tree Village Apartment complex in Deerfield Beach. During that confrontation, Denver Jarvis, who is white, poured a container of isopropyl alcohol on Brewer. Then Jesus Mendez, who is Hispanic, flicked a lighter igniting the liquid. The defendants and the victim are all now 18. Mendez and Jarvis pleaded no contest and are serving prison terms of 11 and eight years, respectively.

But those discussions did not weigh on the verdict, most of the jurors said, and their testimony also failed to support allegations by the jury forewoman that they discussed the facts of the case and reached conclusions before deliberations began in the trial of Matthew Bent, 18, in June.

Bent faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years if his conviction stands, but he has asked for a new trial based on the accusations of jury misconduct.