Tomarcus “Tooty” Fulks, accused of participating in the 2005 baseball-bat beating of a 70-year-old man during an armed robbery was found guilty only of armed robbery Thursday.
A Lowndes County jury found 24-year-old Fulks, of Columbus, innocent of a second charge, of aggravated assault, after a three-day retrial.
His previous conviction on both counts was tossed out by the Mississippi Supreme Court because of a misunderstanding involving continuances.
Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens was scheduled to sentence Fulks today at 9 a.m.
Fulks” attorneys argued throughout the trial that he had no previous knowledge of and did not take an active role in the July 18, 2005, robbery at the home of Billy and Sherry Franks in the 800 block of New Hope Road.
At least three people — Allegra Young, Katherine Williams and Leah Lafayette — have pleaded guilty or been convicted of breaking down the door of the Franks” home while they were sleeping.
Two people then beat Billy Franks with a baseball bat, breaking his arm, and threatened both with a handgun. His wife, who was thrown onto their bed, tossed him a handgun they kept under his pillow and he chased them out of the house, firing at least once.
They escaped with her purse, a stereo and a .22-caliber handgun, according to court records. Including those items and damage to the home, the Franks suffered a loss of $1,100.
Fulks and another defendant, Joshua Glenn, claimed they stayed in the car throughout the robbery and did not have previous knowledge it would occur. A year and a half later, Glenn changed his story and said Fulks had left the car.
The Franks maintained that at least one man was in the house during the robbery.
Their testimony, combined with evidence that the door was kicked down and Glenn”s testimony, led to the charges against Fulks, said District Attorney Forrest Allgood.
“If there was a man in that house, it was Tomarcus Fulks,” Allgood told the jury in closing arguments. “There is no other possibility.”
One of Fulks” attorneys, Chokwe Lumumba, said Allgood was using “phony logic,” and implied that Lafayette”s brother could have been involved, despite a lack of evidence.
Allgood called this “gross speculation” and quoted the English philosopher Bertrand Russell as saying, “The most obvious answer is usually the correct one.”
Even Fulks said Glenn never left the car, Allgood pointed out. “That leaves just Fulks (as the one who could have been inside the house). That”s not fuzzy logic.”
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