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Thread: Death Penalty Trial Set for Julian William Bird in 2016 FL Murder of Mohammad Alam

  1. #1
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    Death Penalty Trial Set for Julian William Bird in 2016 FL Murder of Mohammad Alam


    Jimmie Lee Rogers, Jr.





    Polk man charged in death of 2 men within 4 days

    POLK COUNTY -- A Lake Wales man has been charged in the death of two men within four days.

    Winter Haven Police said Julian Bird, 26, was arrested and charged on Dec. 24 with first-degree murder in the death of a Lake Wales gas station owner, Mohammad Alam. Police said Bird killed Alam in October of this year.

    Bird is currently in the Polk County jail and has received another charge for the shooting death of Jimmie Rogers, Jr. on November 18.

    Police said Bird and two others attempted to rob Rogers at his apartment complex. As Rogers pulled into the parking lot of the complex, police said Bird confronted the victim and fired into the car, causing Rogers' foot to come off of the brake and sending the vehicle rolling into the back of an apartment.

    Rogers died at the scene.

    Bird is charged with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery.

    The two other suspects in this case have not been identified yet, police said.

    http://www.baynews9.com/content/news...arged_in_.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Jurors hear murder defendant Julian Bird’s statement in 2016 killing of Winter Haven man

    By Suzie Schottelkotte
    News Chief

    BARTOW – Jurors in the first-degree murder trial of Julian Bird heard the statement Thursday that he gave police a month after Jimmie Lee Rogers Jr. was gunned down in Winter Haven in November 2016.

    What they didn’t hear was his confession.

    Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen had suppressed the portions of Bird’s statement where he said he was armed with a handgun when he’d walked up to Rogers, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, and demanded drugs and money.

    ″(Bird) stated that he saw the victim quickly reach with his right hand to the right side of his body,” a Winter Haven Police report stated. ”(Bird) said he thought that the victim was about to pull out a weapon because ‘average drug dealers keep a weapon,’ but the victim never displayed a weapon.

    ″(Bird) further stated that (Rogers) tried to speed away and almost ran him over with the vehicle,” the report stated.

    Rogers, 39, was shot three times as he attempted to speed away, according to the police report.

    “Bird began crying, and he stated that he felt as though he made the right decision to shoot (Rogers,)” the report stated. ”(Bird) also added that he has since had trouble sleeping and has been having ‘night sweats’ thinking about the incident.”

    On Thursday, jurors heard only the portion of the recorded statement where Bird, 29, of Lake Wales says another man, 26-year-old Juwane Alexander Smith, fatally shot Rogers about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 18, 2016. Smith has not been charged in this case, court records show.

    Smith and Bird were in a car with a third man, Javorcie Tramel, when Bird pulled up to Rogers’ apartment at 650 Ave. J N.W., Apt 101, at the same time Rogers was arriving, according to police reports. The confrontation took place moments later.

    In his April 2019 ruling, Jacobsen stated that Bird had invoked his right to remain silent midway through the interview, before he had confessed.

    “The totality of the circumstances show it is clear that at the time (Bird) makes the statement of ‘(l)isten, man, I just told y’all I’m not even gonna talk to y’all anymore,’ (Bird) had unequivocally and unconditionally invoked his right to remain silent,” Jacobsen’s order stated.

    In another ruling during the trial Thursday, Circuit Judge Catherine Combee, who’s presiding at Bird’s trial, suppressed an email that prosecutors argued Bird had sent to another inmate urging him not to implicate Bird in Rogers’ murder. Combee ruled the state hadn’t proved that Bird sent the email.

    Other witnesses are expected to testify that Bird told them he had fired the shots that killed Rogers, according court records.

    In addition to first-degree murder, Bird is charged with robbery with a firearm, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and tampering with physical evidence. He’s also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon but is not standing trial for that charge at this time. He faces mandatory life imprisonment if convicted of the murder or robbery charges.

    In an unrelated case, Bird faces another first-degree murder charge on allegations he gunned down a convenience store clerk in Lake Wales during an armed robbery in the predawn hours of Oct. 27, 2016. According to Lake Wales police reports, the store owner, 48-year-old Mohammed Alam, approached two masked assailants armed with handguns outside the QP gas station at 704 Scenic Highway after it had closed. A confrontation ensued, and Alam was shot in the chest. That case is scheduled for trial in May.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in that case if Bird is convicted.

    He was arrested on allegations of driving on a suspended license about two weeks after Rogers was murdered, and has remained in the Polk County Jail without bail since that time, according to jail records.

    https://www.newschief.com/news/20191...nter-haven-man
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
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    Edited:

    Jury: Polk man guilty of manslaughter in 2016 shooting death

    By Suzie Schottelkotte
    News Chief

    BARTOW — Julian Bird faces up to 15 years in prison when he’s sentenced for manslaughter in the November 2016 shooting death of Jimmie Rogers Jr.

    A Polk County jury deliberated 5 ½ hours Friday before deciding that Bird, who was charged with first-degree murder, was guilty of the lesser manslaughter. In their decision, the jurors acquitted him of related charges, including robbery with a firearm, conspiracy to commit robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

    After the verdict, Circuit Judge Catherine Combee ruled that Bird, 29, of Lake Wales, should remain in custody without bail pending sentencing. No sentencing date has been set, but a status hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 22. Had Bird been convicted as charged of first-degree murder, he faced mandatory life imprisonment.

    This marked the first of two murder trials for Bird. The second case - involving the October 2016 shooting death of a convenience store clerk in Lake Wales — who confronted two assailants during an after-hours robbery — is scheduled for trial in May.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Bird if he's convicted of first-degree murder, as charged, in that case.

    https://www.newschief.com/news/20191...shooting-death
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
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    He was sentenced 9/10/2020 to 15 years for manslaughter. Bird is still awaiting a death penalty trial for the murder of Alam Mohammad.

    http://www.dc.state.fl.us/offenderSe...&TypeSearch=IR
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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