A man charged with breaking into Center Hill Wine and Spirits and taking two bottles of vodka last September stood trial and was found guilty in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday.
After deliberating for less than an hour a jury of ten men and two women convicted 51 year old Amail John Land of burglary, vandalism, and theft and imposed a total fine of $3,250. The trial was covered exclusively by WJLE
Following the verdict, Judge David Patterson scheduled a sentencing hearing of December 12 for Land and revoked his bond. He will be incarcerated at the DeKalb County jail until that hearing.
Land, who was seated beside his legal representatives District Public Defender Craig Fickling and Assistant Allison West, became upset upon hearing that his bond was being revoked and pointed toward the Smithville Police Detectives who testified against him, Brandon Donnell and Matt Holmes, and said “I hope you’re happy now. This is not over yet. You’re going to lose your jobs over this”. Judge Patterson then ordered the court officer to remove Land from the courtroom and to take him into custody.
Land is facing the possibility of being sentenced as a career offender. According to Stephanie Johnson, Assistant District Attorney General, Land has eleven prior felony convictions, including ten for burglary and the state will be seeking the maximum sentence for Land which is twelve years to be served at 60%.
During the trial Tuesday, the state called three witnesses, James Bradshaw, the owner of Center Hill Wine and Spirits along with Detectives Donnell and Holmes.
Land did not testify in his own defense and no other witnesses were called to testify on his behalf.
“The proof the jury heard today (Tuesday) was that on September 25, 2015 the defendant (Land) threw a rock through the door of Center Hill Wine and Spirits on South Congress Boulevard at around 5:00 a.m. The victim (Bradshaw) received notification from his alarm company that morning that his business had been broken into. He immediately responded as did law enforcement. They viewed some surveillance footage from a store security camera. Law enforcement officers recognized the defendant (Land) as being depicted on that footage and attempted to make contact with him. Later that afternoon the defendant (Land) came back in the store and the owner (Bradshaw) immediately recognized him from the security footage and notified law enforcement that he was back in the store. Law enforcement conducted an interview and the defendant (Land) made the admission to breaking the door and taking two bottles of vodka from the business,” said Assistant D.A. Johnson.
However in her closing remarks to the jury, Assistant Public Defender West took issue with the police investigation in this case, saying the detectives failed to preserve evidence and produce recordings of interviews with the defendant and that they had not presented sufficient proof to convict Land.
“The police have a duty to preserve evidence. You heard testimony from two officers who have a good deal of training and experience who know that it is important to keep records and to keep recordings with suspects and witnesses yet they didn’t do that. They knowingly chose not to do that because Mr. Land didn’t say what they wanted him to say when they spoke with him. That’s a failure of them to perform their duties. They have a duty to gather evidence,” said West.
“Initially when the defendant was interviewed in the interview room at the police department, Land denied any involvement in this offense and that is why that interview was not recorded. It wasn’t until later during a more casual point when they were about to book him that Land made this spontaneous admission to this offense,” said Assistant D.A. Johnson.
The crime was also captured on video from the store’s surveillance camera but that was lost later when Bradshaw inadvertently erased it as he was trying to preserve it. “He wasn’t familiar with his surveillance system at that point. It is a very sophisticated system and he had only been open two weeks. But officers were able to capture some still photographs from that video footage which showed the defendant outside the door with a rock in his hand,” said Johnson.
West, during her closing remarks to the jury, said regardless of what happened to it, the video no longer exists and that it could have been useful to the defense.
“You didn’t get the see the surveillance video today. It was deleted. By mistake yes but deleted none the less. If we had it here today there would be no question who is responsible for this. We probably wouldn’t be here having to decide these things because it would be clear that Mr. Land is innocent of these charges,” said West.
She said the investigators also “dropped the ball” in other aspects of the case. “They haven’t brought this rock in that was supposedly used to break the window at the liquor store. They haven’t presented you with a picture of the broken glass. There is no evidence that Mr. Land was found with these vodka bottles. There are a lot of things in this case that are missing and it is because of the police officers’ failure to complete their duties. The evidence today is that the police dropped the ball here. There is not enough evidence before you today to convict Mr. Land of these crimes,” West concluded.
In her closing remarks to the jury, Assistant D.A. Johnson said the Public Defenders for Land were trying to shift the blame from their client to the police. “The defense would like you to focus all your attention on the police officers. They want you to blame the police because they didn’t record an interview where the defendant denied any involvement. Detective Donnell testified that during that initial interview the defendant denied being involved in this offense. They want you to forget the fact that we have these photographs which clearly depict the defendant. The detectives immediately knew who they were looking for. The proof is overwhelming and undeniable in this case. It’s overwhelming against this defendant. He (Land) burglarized Mr. Bradshaw’s business and stole from him, but they (Public Defenders) want you to lessen his accountability for those crimes. The state has shown you enough proof that your mind can rest easy that the defendant is guilty,” concluded Johnson.
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