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Thread: Jerry Collins Sentenced to LWOP in 2011 AL Slaying of Joseph Smith

  1. #1
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    Jerry Collins Sentenced to LWOP in 2011 AL Slaying of Joseph Smith



    Alabama - Opening statements are expected this morning in the capital murder trial of a Birmingham man charged with stabbing another man and then running him over with a sports utility vehicle in 2011.

    Jerry Collins Jr., 31, of Birmingham, could face a possible death sentence if found guilty in the trial before Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pulliam.

    A jury was selected in the trial on Monday.

    Collins is charged with capital murder in the death of 23-year-old Joseph Smith during a robbery on April 11, 2011.

    Police have said Smith was inside an SUV when he was stabbed in the 500 block of 50th Street South. Smith jumped out of the vehicle, trying to escape. The driver then tried to run over Smith and struck a small embankment. When the driver backed up, the vehicle's bumper and a few other broken parts were left behind.

    Smith then ran down the street where, investigators said, the driver ran over him at least three or four times.

    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/09/...gham_ma_4.html
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    Jefferson County jury deliberating in capital murder trial of man charged in 2011 death

    A jury will continue deliberations Friday in the capital murder trial of a Birmingham man charged with stabbing a man and then running over him with a sports utility vehicle during a 2011 robbery.

    Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pulliam gave the jury instructions before breaking for lunch in the trial of Jerry Collins Jr. The jury is to begin deliberations after they return from lunch.

    The jury left about 4:45 p.m. today and will return Friday morning to continue deliberations.

    Collins, 31, is charged with capital murder in the course of a robbery in the April 11, 2011, death of 23-year-old Joseph Smith. If convicted of capital murder, he could face the death penalty.

    Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave closing arguments to the jury this morning.

    Prosecutors contend Collins gave Smith a ride and let him use his cell phone to make a call before Collins stabbed Smith, who then jumped out of the Chevrolet Trailblazer and ran in the 5000 block of Sixth Avenue South. Smith ran 233 feet into an alley where he was run over by the Trailblazer multiple times, prosecutors contend.

    A witness testified she saw a man, who she later identified as Collins, get out of the car and tug at Smith's pants, which one prosecutor said showed his intent to rob Smith.

    "Why else would he be doing that unless he wanted something from Joe," Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Mara Russell told jurors this morning.

    Smith's shoes came off as he ran in the 40 seconds from the time he was stabbed to the time he died, Russell told the jury. "Joe Smith will never walk in these shoes again," she said as she held the black shoes up.

    Blood inside and on the undercarriage of Trailblazer that Collins drove, the call on Collins' cell phone Smith made, and the eyewitness all point to Collins, Russell

    Defense attorneys Derrick Collins, however, told prosecutors have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Collins was the man driving the Trailblazer or that he was with Smith when the phone call was made.

    Derrick Collins said that the witness after first told police should couldn't identify the man, but later she did identify him. He also said she also didn't remember the tattoos Jerry Collins had and testified she thought she would have remembered that.

    Prosecutors also did not prove that no one else had access to the Trailblazer, Derrick Collins said.

    "If the Trailblazer was on trial then they would have proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt, but Jerry Collins, they haven't proven that," Derrick Collins said.

    Defense attorney John H. Wiley III also gave closing arguments today. Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Sarah Beth Ritchey also prosecuted the case.

    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/09/...elibera_3.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  3. #3
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    BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A Jefferson County jury on Friday convicted a Birmingham man of murder in the 2011 stabbing of a man who was then repeatedly run over by a sports utility vehicle.

    Jerry Collins Jr., 31, was charged with capital murder in the course of a robbery in the April 11, 2011, death of 23-year-old Joseph Smith.

    The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Collins guilty of the lesser charge of murder.

    His trial began Monday before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Pulliam, who set a sentencing hearing for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 28.

    Deputy Jefferson County District Attorneys Mara Russell and Sarah Beth Ritchey prosecuted the case.

    Defense attorney Derrick Collins and John H. Wiley III represented Collins.

    Prosecutors contended that Collins gave Smith a ride and let him use his cell phone to make a call before Collins stabbed Smith, who then jumped out of the Chevrolet Trailblazer. Smith ran into an alley in the 5000 block of Sixth Avenue South, where he was run over by the Trailblazer multiple times, a witness told police.

    Smith had stab wounds on the left side of his face and his arm, abrasions on his cheek and back and three fractured ribs, according to testimony from a medical examiner in the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.

    A DNA expert also testified that several blood stains found inside the SUV matched Smith.

    In a recorded call to 911, a frantic witness reported that she had seen a white SUV run over a man. The woman later added that the driver put the car in reverse and ran over the other man.

    The driver fled the scene, leaving behind several pieces of the vehicle that police traced and matched to an SUV owned by Collins' mother.


    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/09/...d_of_mu_2.html

  4. #4
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    BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A Birmingham man was sentenced Monday to serve a prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole for his conviction in the 2011 death of a man who was stabbed and repeatedly run over by a sports utility vehicle.

    Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Pulliam sentenced Jerry Collins Jr., 32, to a mandatory life without parole sentence after a prosecutor presented evidence that Collins had four previous convictions, according to the judge's order. Three of the state convictions are applicable to the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender law, according to her order.

    Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Mara Russell and defense attorneys Derrick Collins and John H. Wiley III were at Monday's hearing, according to court records.

    Pulliam on Monday also appointed Derrick Collins to represent Jerry Collins on his appeal.

    Collins was convicted Sept. 20 of murder in the course of a robbery in the April 11, 2011 death of 23-year-old Joseph Smith.

    Prosecutors contended that Collins gave Smith a ride and let him use his cell phone to make a call before Collins stabbed Smith, who then jumped out of the Chevrolet Trailblazer. Smith ran into an alley in the 5000 block of Sixth Avenue South, where he was run over by the Trailblazer multiple times, a witness told police.


    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/10/...ted_of_st.html

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