Two police officers who were working side security jobs on the night of a Winn-Dixie robbery testified today that they noticed one of the store’s (Collier Kirksey) employees behaving differently than the others.
Updated 05/21/2013 at 6:44 PM
Most of the workers who had just undergone a traumatic experience under gunpoint from two masked men were crying and shaken after the ordeal, Officers Stephen Emmons and Brittney Bush testified. They said one of the employees, defendant Collier Kirksey, remained absolutely calm.
“The defendant was acting like nothing was wrong,” “He was on his phone.” said Emmons, who was working a side security job at the supermarket on Government and Catherine Streets but had left minutes before the robbery.
Prosecutors allege that Kirksey, using his knowledge as an employee of the supermarket, helped plan the robbery.
Bush, who was working a side security job with Wynne on the night of the robbery, offered a similar observation.
“Mr. Kirksey was kind of sitting distant from them and not showing any kind of emotion,” she testified.
Bush testified that she had left her security job a few minutes before Wynne. She said she responded to the robbery but that Wynne already had been shot by the time she arrived.
On cross-examination, Kirksey attorney Byrd showed Bush a photograph of store employees sitting outside the store during the robbery. None was crying or appeared any more emotional than Kirksey. She also acknowledged that she made no mention of the defendant’s demeanor in her report.
Earlier today, prosecutors played surveillance footage of Wynne taking a gunshot to the chest. Jurors also heard his screams of agony from his city-issued body camera as fellow officers rushed him to the hospital.
Dr. Jon Simmons testified about the lasting injuries that Wynne suffered from his injury. The trauma surgeon testified that Wynne received 18 units of blood – nearly an entire body’s worth.
Kirksey faces a charge of first-degree robbery and five counts of attempted murder as an aider and abettor.
Glass testified that he could tell the gun was aimed at him, not up. He compared it to the difference between the light given off by a flashlight when it is pointed out or up.
Glass testified that he returned fire and tripped trying to get behind his patrol car. “There was nothing between me and the shooter other than air,” he said.
Officer Brad Lathan testified that he fired several times at the gunmen, who had opened a door, hitting one of them four times He testified that eventually, Harrison emerged from the door, put his hands in the air and surrendered. He said police then dragged co-defendant Ronald Crear out of the store and took him in to custody.
Jurors watched surveillance of that exchange, as well as recordings from the surveillance system inside the store. From various angles, the recordings showed the two masked robbers, dressed in black, running through the store with their guns drawn.
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Updated 05/21/2013 at 10:45 AM
Video surveillance footage played for a jury showed then- Winn-Dixie employee Collier Kirksey cowering with his co-workers as a pair of masked gunmen robbed the Midtown supermarket last year.
One of those co-workers, Patrick Headley, said the defendant was next to him as one robber tried to get money from a safe in the back room and the other made sure no one moved from the floor.
Headley described for the the Mobile County Circuit Court jury hearing gunshots that nearly killed a Mobile police officer responding to the March 2, 2012, robbery.
Headley said Kirksey screamed and put his arm around him.
District Attorney Ashley Rich told jury that it was all an act. She alleged that the robbery was an inside job. She said Kirksey possessed the knowledge of the store’s internal layout and procedures that made the robbery possible.
Defense attorney James Byrd told jurors that his client was not involved.
Kirksey, 19, faces first-degree robbery and five counts of attempted murder, one of each of the five officers who faced gunfire.
A half-dozen employees took the witness stand this afternoon to talk about their experiences that night. The night manager, McArthur Powe, testified that the masked men, dressed in black, rushed him and the day manager, ordering them to the back of the store.
Jurors watched a recording from the cash office, where Powe struggled to open a safe.
“I couldn’t remember the code. … I was scared he was going to shoot,” Powe testified.
Another employee, Sean Napier, testified that Kirksey had been moving plants in the store’s receiving area when the robbers came in. He testified that the robber pointed his gun at him and Kirksey.
“He marched me and Kirksey up to the front where he told me to get down on the floor,” he said.
The trial continues Tuesday. Prosecutors expect it to last until Wednesday or Thursday. Kirksey faces up to life in prison if convicted.
This story is developing.......
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