Well, I just wrapped up my time serving on a jury. It is my second time on a jury and it was my second murder trial.

These had to be two of the dumbest criminals ever tried. They robbed the fellow wearing a $7000.00 gold chain with a "McScrooge the Duck" holding two money bags medallion in his own front yard . The shooter shot the victim two times, killing him, grabbed the chain with the medallion, making their escape on foot running through a side parking lot.

The two dummies sold the chain with medallion to a local fine jewelry store (the store owner's words, not mine) about two miles from the crime scene within an hour of the murder. The pawn shop is required to photograph the loot and the seller's ID which are to be sent to the police.

They couldn't cash the check they received for the loot, so the alleged shooter calls his ex to ask a favor; "please cash this check for $1100.00." They tried to cash the check themselves, but no one would accept the ID they presented. So the ex cashes the check and hands over the money the next day after the check clears.

Up to this point, no one realized the chain and medallion is missing. The victim’s confederates scattered when the shooting started. At least four shots were fired, two bullets hitting a car and two bullets hitting the victim in the torso.

All the while the accused shooter is making phone calls before the robbery, after the robbery, to his ex, and so on. 22 calls on his cell phone in the span of about 2 hours. Who spends that much time on their cell phone? After the robbery/murder and after cashing the check, the accused calls the phone company and changes his telephone number. Hello, it is called a burner phone for a reason stupid!

Someone IDs the shooter that same evening, calls the police, and sends the police a photograph of the alleged shooter. They are circulating the photograph of the alleged shooter and planning retribution. Someone places a phone call to warn the police. The same group that witnessed the shooting will not give the police any information.

The police issue a flier with the alleged shooter’s photograph. A detective spots them a few days later driving their car through the city. The detective pursues the car, the car finally stops and the suspects take off. A cell phone falls to the ground unseen by the suspects.  One fellow, the driver gets away. The passenger is captured by another police office and he fingers the shooter.

The police get a warrant and get a record of the phone calls, but the report ends the evening of the shooting. They call the phone company and learn of the change in the phone number for that “burner phone.” They have a fake address and a fake name, but that is normal for a burn phone. So, they get another warrant for the new telephone number and make a few phone calls to confirm who the number belongs to. The phone records provide the point by point record of the day's events and the alleged shooter's travels. Damming evidence that places the alleged shooter in the vicinity of the robbery/murder.

The police learn of the robbery. They check their files and the chain with medallion is identified. The pawn shop provides the police with a name, address, and photograph of the seller. The police follow the money; discover where the check was cashed, who cashed the check, and where the person lives. She gives the police a false statement. She learns the police has the suspect’s cell phone and realizes her number is on the cell phone. Damn, she calls the police and wants to change her story. She fingers the suspect and the fellow that sold the gold chain with medallion.

The cops impound the car of one of the witnesses because it has bullet holes in it. They tear the car apart to get the bullets. She wants the car back so she agrees to make a statement. She’s ticked because she still doesn’t get the car back.

Another witness agrees to meet with the police in a park so that no one will know he’s cooperating with the police.

The alleged shooter goes to a restaurant/night club several days after the shooting and is recognized by a local patrolman. The officer knows the suspect and calls him over. The suspect produces a fake ID matching the burner phone with his real address. The officer knows the ID is fake because they know each other! Dumb move! Alleged shooter is arrested.

At the trial, the witnesses’ statements conflict. One says the shooter is wearing a white tee shirt, the other says he is not wearing any shirt. Both live in apartments where the shooting happened and both know the victim. Both say they do not know the alleged shooter, both deny seeing the photograph circulating through the neighborhood (unlikely). Both pick the alleged shooter’s photograph out of a photo array.

One of the witnesses gets into an argument with the defense lawyer and refuses to answer his questions while on the witness stand. She tells the judge she isn’t afraid of him, but is afraid of the defendant, the alleged shooter. The judge charges her with contempt and has her thrown in the jail cell for several hours. She comes back to the stand and essentially tells the judge to go to hell. Back to jail, do not collect $200. Whether she could actually see the shooting is called into question because of her vantage point and the large tree between her and the location of the shooting. She doesn’t mention the gold chain with medallion.

The other witness says he saw the shooting. He says the shooter had the victim by the chain while shooting him in the stomach. The evidence from the autopsy does not agree with his testimony because there is no powder residue, no burns, etc., so the testimony doesn’t seem to hold up. In addition, there are differences between his written statement where there is no mention of the gold chain and his testimony where the shooter is grabbing the chain.

The jury found the defendant guilty of three of the four count indictment. The jury’s verdict was not guilty on the murder charge because the witness’s testimony wasn’t credible. While the alleged shooter could be placed at the scene, there were too many inconsistencies in the witnesses' testimony and it appeared they were fabricating some of their testimony. No gun was produced by the police. The defendant was found guilty of felony murder, felony robbery, and conspiracy to commit felony robbery. His sentencing will be in eight weeks. A 25 year sentence is the minimum on the felony murder charge and possibly a total of a 160 year prison sentence for all the charges. As it turns out, the accused was just released on parole.

It has been an interesting two weeks.

Lesson learned: They call it a burn phone for a reason! Burn the damn thing! Buy a new burn phone! Remember, there is a record of every call made whether it is on a land line or a cell phone.

Best regards – Al