Jury convicted a former Winn-Dixie employee of helping to set up a robbery of the store that resulted in the near-fatal shooting of a police officer but acquitted him of attempted murder charges related to the gunfire.
Mobile County Circuit Judge Rick Stout said he would sentence Collier Kirksey, a week from today at the same time he imposes punishment on co-defendant Jackeith Harrison. Kirksey faces 20 years to life in prison on the robbery offense, and District Attorney Ashley Rich said she would seek the maximum.
“We respect the jury’s decision,” Rich said. “Again, it was a difficult case.”
Defense attorney James Bryd said he respectfully disagrees with the jury’s verdict and stated.
“This isn’t victory or loss. This is questions of law,” he said. “It’s not win or lose.
Kirksey, 19, was the last of three defendants to be convicted in the case. Ronald Crear pleaded guilty in April moments before jury selection was to begin, and Stout later imposed back-to-back life prison sentences.
Prosecutors contended that Kirksey provided key information about the personnel and inner workings of the Winn-Dixie on Government and Catherine streets on March 2 of last year.
Perhaps the strongest evidence was a series of calls between cell phones registered to Kirksey and Crear during the two hours leading up to the robbery.
The jury never saw other evidence linking Kirksey to the crime. Rich tried to introduce records showing that Harrison and Kirksey had been incarcerated together at Camp Martin Leadership Academy, a boot camp in Mobile for delinquent boys.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours Wednesday before asking the judge to review parts of the video surveillance. One showed one of the robbers passing the defendant in the stockroom, and another showed Kirksey walking to the parking lot and then returning to the store.
Details on other suspects:
May 1, 2013 a jury found Jakeith Harrison guilty on five counts of attempted murder and one count of first degree robbery.
Ronald Crear pleaded guilty in March 2013. He was also charged with five counts of attempted murder and robbery.
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