PANAMA CITY — Prosecutor Larry Basford asked prospective jurors Monday whether they were fans of the television shows “CSI” or “Law and Order.”
All 21 raised their hand.
It has become a standard jury selection question and usually is followed by a statement explaining that what they see on television is not like real life. But Basford indicated, instead, that some of the evidence jurors would see in Maurice Robinson’s trial this week would rise to the “CSI” level.
“What I anticipate we will present is such things as glass fragments and paint chip evidence,” Basford said. “Listen to the lab analysts as to the tests they performed and whether that evidence is reliable.”
Robinson, 32, of Opa-locka, is charged with two counts of grand theft of more than $100,000, burglary of a structure with damage of more than $100,000, burglary of a structure or conveyance and possessing burglary tools. He faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Robinson is accused of participating in three jewelry store burglaries the morning of Nov. 19, 2007. According to police, as many as eight people were involved in burglaries beginning about 5 a.m. with Maharaja’s Fine Jewelry & Gifts in the Grand Panama Beach shopping complex on Middle Beach Road. The burglars hit Surf Jewelers 23 minutes later, then struck the Maharaja’s store on 23rd Street at 5:40 a.m., police said.
Witnesses to the 23rd Street break-in identified two getaway vehicles, and police gave chase. One car led police into Panama City, and officers lost sight of the car for about a minute near Varsity Drive. When it was located, Robinson was found in the area, according to authorities. Officers said he fled and discarded three watches as he ran.
The other vehicle got away.
Authorities estimate the burglars, who may have hit several other jewelry stores in the Southeast, made off with $1.5 million in merchandise.
Basford said in a hearing last month that Robinson was linked to the crime by glass fragments found in his pocket that match the shattered glass at one of the burglaries.
On Monday, Basford and Robinson’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Fritz Mann, picked seven people to act as jurors this week. Opening statements in the trial are expected this morning, and the trial could go into Friday.
Before jury selection began, Robinson rejected a plea offer that would have put him in prison for 20 years as long as he agreed to cooperate with authorities to locate his accomplices.
Mann told jurors to treat the trial like a movie: suspend disbelief and stay to the end to get the whole story.
He asked the panel if any of them had ever been wrongly accused. Several said they had. He also asked if any prospective juror believed there were no coincidences.
Mann said at an earlier hearing that the case against Robinson is entirely circumstantial and Robinson is innocent. Mann said Robinson was in the area where the chase ended and brushed against him as he ran from the car, which transferred the glass fragments onto his clothes. Robinson, Mann said, also was shopping for watches a few days before the burglaries and was caught on tape at one of the shops.
“I want you to go in (to trial) with that suspension of disbelief,” Mann said. “Be willing to just let that reality, to just take you with it.”
Source: www.newsherald.com/news
