Poplar Bluff teen found not guilty of burning fellow teen

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) -- A Southeast Missouri teenager accused of setting another teen on fire has been found not guilty.

A jury deliberated one hour and 22 minutes Friday before reaching the verdict in the case of 18-year-old Billy Joe Rasberry of Poplar Bluff, who was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Rasberry was 16 and the victim 15 when they had a confrontation outside a Poplar Bluff convenience store in 2009. Rasberry's attorney, Steve Walsh, says several youths surrounded Rasberry, who had anticipated trouble and was carrying a bottle of gasoline. When he felt endangered, Rasberry threw the gas on the other teen and used a lighter to ignite it.

The teen was hospitalized for nine days with severe burns.

Walsh called it a "classic case of self-defense."

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Information from: Daily American Republic, http://www.darnews.com