“Jury ends deliberations for night in Corr case”

Jury ends deliberations for night in Corr case

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 10:50 AM PDT

The 12 jurors deciding the fate of three men accused of conspiring to rob jewelry stores in New Jersey and New Hartford, which resulted in the death of Officer Joseph Corr, called it quits for the night after three hours of deliberating Thursday.

They will return at 9 a.m. Friday to continue.

Attorneys presented their closing arguments throughout the day in the trial of Marion Pegese, Robert Ward and Toussaint Davis, who are accused of robbing Lennon's-W.B. Wilcox Jewelers on Commercial Drive on Feb. 27, 2006, which resulted in the shooting death of New Hartford police Officer Joseph Corr during a foot chase.

Corr's relatives have been there throughout the trial, as well as several New Hartford police officers.

Earlier Thursday during closing arguments, prosecutors relied heavily on cell phone records that allegedly linked Pegese, Ward and Davis to the jewelry store robbery that resulted in Corr's death.

Among the key points argued by U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick were:

* The cell phones associated with the three suspects and a fourth suspect, alleged shooter Walter Richardson, were calling each other while traveling from Philadelphia to New Hartford the night of the robbery.

* The numbers link to Ward and Pegese were found in Davis' phone after he was taken into custody following Corr's shooting.

* Davis' girlfriend, Cheryl Brown, identified Davis in a surveillance video with Pegese and Ward during a jewelry store robbery in New Jersey six months prior to the New Hartford heist.

"These two men temporarily escaped," Southwick told the jury about Pegese and Ward during closing arguments, "Don't let them escape again."

The three defense attorneys spent a good portion of Thursday also giving their closing arguments.

Pegese's attorney, Jeff DeRoberts, argued:

* Pegese was a suspect immediately after the robbery and investigators created evidence linking him to the crime. As a result, police did not investigate other suspects like Joseph "Jo Jo" Gibson.

* Two jailhouse informants, David Carroway and Kareem Alverest, said what investigators wanted them to say in order to get a deal on lesser sentences.

* Prosecutors haven't proven that the phone linked to Pegese actually was in his possession during the New Hartford robbery.

"The government is trying to throw a bunch of garbage against the wall and hoping you believe something," DeRoberts said. "Little piles of junk don't make my client guilty of anything here in this court."

Ward's attorney, William Rose, argued:

* No witnesses said they ever saw any of the Lennon's robbery suspects walk with a distinct limp that Ward has.

* No witnesses could say that the phone linked to Ward actually was seized from him the night he was arrested two days after the robbery. Also, Gibson was with Ward when he was arrested in Philadelphia but never called to testify.

* An eyewitness, New Hartford resident Julie Shkane, who identified Ward several months after the robbery but couldn't identify him the day after the robbery, is not reliable. Memory does not get better as time passes, a memory expert previously testified.

"No ID, no DNA, no fingerprints put Mr. Ward in Upstate New York," Rose said.

Davis' attorney, Stephen Lance Cimino, argued:

ä Davis identifies another man in the surveillance video, Tony Grooms, present at the earlier New Jersey robbery with Pegese and Ward. Brooms and Gibson were involved in the later Lennon's robbery, not Pegese and Ward.

* Prosecutors have not proven that Davis wasn't in Florida with his son during the New Jersey robbery. Davis testified Wednesday on the stand that he was in Florida during the robbery.

* Davis already was handcuffed and in custody before Richardson shot Corr behind Byrne Dairy in Kirkland.

"What evidence did the government show that Toussaint knew Richardson actually possessed a gun?" Cimino said.

During the prosecution's rebuttal, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan attacked DeRoberts for suggesting that police would spend nearly five years creating a 'garbage' case after the death of a police officer.

"This is a show? Really? Really," Duncan said. "Excuse me. This isn't garbage, this is real evidence."

During jury deliberations Thursday night, the only evidence they asked to see again was the video surveillance tape of the New Jersey jewelry store heist. They then asked to have the video paused to see if the only unidentified suspect was Davis.

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