The defense kept pushing that there was not enough evidence to convict a Columbus man of armed robbery, kidnapping and burglary.
And it worked.
A 12-person jury of nine women and three men found Lavento Shannon Fox, 28, innocent of all five charges Wednesday morning after deliberating about an hour. Closing arguments ended at around 10:15 a.m., and the jury returned its verdict about 11:15 a.m.
Fox, of 1624 Fourth Ave. S., faced two counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping and one count of burglary that stemmed from an Aug. 15, 2010, incident involving the home invasion, armed robbery and kidnapping of Rodrick Davis and Eric Treadwell, both of Columbus.
According to statements and testimony from Davis and Treadwell, Fox was one of the men who entered Davis’ then-residence at 1417 13th Ave. N., held them at gunpoint, tied them up and locked Davis in the trunk of his 2003 Honda Acura.
However, defense attorney William Starks told the jury “there’s too many holes” in the state’s case and the only person who can place Fox at the scene is Davis. But Davis was not an eyewitness; he only believes he heard Fox’s voice because the two men were dressed in all black and had black masks covering their faces. He said Tuesday he was 100 percent sure it was Fox’s voice.
“This is like a car wreck where … no one knows who the driver was,” Starks said during his closing argument. “The biggest thing I know for a fact is they have the wrong person.”
Starks focused on inconsistencies between Davis’ testimony and his report to police the night of the incident, including whether he smoked marijuana at a party earlier. Lt. John Pevey took the stand Tuesday for the defense and said Davis told him he smoked earlier in the day.
Davis testified that he does smoke but did not before the incident; he said he drank some champagne.
“Well, if Mr. Davis will lie about that, then what else will he lie about?” Starks asked the jury.
The defense also argued that voice identification was not enough evidence to convict Fox of the crimes.
“We can’t rely on just a voice identification. You must ask for more,” Starks said.
Prosecutor Mark Jackson told the jury in his closing arguments that “the person that is guilty is (sitting) right here,” referring to Fox.
Jackson also said the statements made by Davis and Treadwell, the two complainants, corroborated.
“They both go to the police department and speak with different investigators and give different statements,” Jackson said. “And they match up.”
Jackson also brought up Fox’s statement to police that he was not at the scene but later said he was there and was one of the victims.
Fox has pending charges and is still in custody at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
The trial began Monday at the Lowndes County Courthouse, during the third week of the Lowndes County Circuit Court session.
Judge Lee Howard presided over the case.
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