Monticello Live

Melvin LaRon James was sentenced by a Drew County Circuit Court jury Friday to serve 24 years for the robbery of EZ Mart, on the corner of Gaines and Hyatt Street, April 20.

During the trial, James testified that he had gone into EZ-Mart that night; purchased a cigarette lighter; and paid the clerk $2.00.  When the clerk opened the cash drawer, James reached into the drawer and grabbed the money out of it.

The clerk testified that when he grabbed James arm, James told him, “I won’t all of it.   Don’t make me shoot you.”  James denied having said this.  (A gun doesn’t have to be shown to qualify as aggravated robbery a weapon’s implied presence is enough to qualify for that level of crime.)

James is a church musician, playing keyboard, and has the church’s permission to use the church van for personal use.

James admitted he was addicted to crack cocaine, and has had drug problems for 22 years. $154.41 was taken during the robbery, $140 of that was spent on crack cocaine that night, before James was arrested.

One issue that developed during the one-day trial, related to a videotape of the robbery, which was not presented by the prosecution or the defense.  Judge Bynum Gibson told the attorneys “rarely do I intervene, but we have a situation here.  It (the video) has got to favor one or the other of you.”    Still, neither attorney introduced the video as evidence. (Possibly the video wasn’t played because  it did not have audio to confirm any statements that were made.)

Another interesting fact considered during the case was that after the jury was selected, James attorney requested one of the jurors be removed.  During a brief recess, James’ family told the attorney that they recognized one of the jurors as a former supervisor of James, from 1996, when he worked as a McDonald’s restaurant manager and was accused of stealing a bank deposit.  Judge Gibson did not rule at the time this was brought up, but took it under advisement.  When the jury went into deliberation at the end of the trial, that juror was chosen to serve as the alternate juror and was not part of any deliberation.

At the end of the day the jury found James guilty of robbery, not aggravated robbery, and sentenced him to serve 24 years, and another five years for using the church van as a getaway car, on the charge of “unauthorized use of another’s property to facilitate a crime”. 

The charges will run concurrently.

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$100,000 Bond Set for Church Musician (with Bank Robbery History) Arrested for Armed Robbery at EZ-Mart North
April 21, 2011    local church musician, who has served time in prison on state and federal charges for robbery of a Pulaski County bank in 1996, received a $100,000 bond from district court Judge Ken Harper, this morning, after the man was arrested for an armed robbery which occurred at EZ-Mart North, located on Hyatt Street, between Gaines and McCloy Streets.  Monticello Police dispatch received a phone call at 1:07 this (Wednesday) morning reporting the crime, where  Melvin Laron James, age 46, of South Conley Street, allegedly robbed the convenience store’s clerk, before fleeing on foot, running north.
A church van was seen in the EZ-Mart area prior to the crime.
James, who admitted to having “drug issues” is facing charges of  aggravated robbery and theft of property.
After being advised of his right to remain silent, James pointed out to the judge and officers present, “I didn’t even have a gun.”
The charge of aggravated robbery doesn’t require a gun to be used in a crime, just an “allegation of a threat,” as Judge Harper responded.
James is being held in the Drew County Detention Facility on a $100,000 bond.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Police /Legal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.