By ANDY GARDNER

CANTON -- A courtroom packed with over 100 people erupted in simultaneous but polar opposite wails as the judge handed down a not guilty verdict in the Oral “Nick Hillary” murder trial.

“The case against the defendant is entirely based on circumstantial evidence … (the court) must review evidence under a rigorous standard,” Catena said before announcing the verdict. “It must appear the inference of guilt is what can fairly be drawn from the facts … (and) exclude every reasonable hypothesis of evidence.”

The family and friends of Garrett Phillips, seated behind the prosecution, began sobbing. A male who appeared to be in his teens lurched forward loudly crying and appeared to nearly hit his head off of the bench in front of him. Tandy Cyrus Collins, the mother of the victim, cried with her head in her hands while family members tried to comfort her.

At the same time, supporters of the defendant, seated behind the defense, clapped and shouted with joy as Judge Felix Catena said “not guilty.”

“Thank you Jesus,” a woman yelled as a bailiff called for order.

Hillary’s supporters immediately rose and left the courtroom as Phillips’s family and friends remained seated and sobbing.

“Karma will get you,” a male from the Phillips side shouted after court was adjourned.

There was a heavy police presence in the courtroom, including a half dozen court officers, several St. Lawrence County sheriff deputies and the county undersheriff.

Kayla Phillips, Garrett Phillips’s cousin who testified as the last person to see him alive before the murder, collapsed shortly after the verdict was read and the courtroom emptied.

She fell in a stairwell on the first floor. Family members tending to her said she was having a diabetic episode. Although an ambulance arrived with a stretcher, she made it to her feet and was helped to a waiting vehicle.

Hillary appeared solemn and somber as he stood with his defense team for a post-verdict press conference, although he did smile and chuckle at a joke his attorneys made. For the most part, Hillary stood looking down at his feet with his hands folded in front of him. He said little, declining through his attorneys to answer questions from the press after making a brief statement.

“Today I want to express my gratitude to my entire legal team, my entire supporters, my entire family, teammates, all my friends and thank Judge Catena,” Hillary said.

After his attorneys spoke, Hillary, encircled by St. Lawrence County Sheriff deputies and court officers, got in his car with attorneys Norman Siegel and Earl Ward as passengers and drove away.