LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock man on parole for a 1993 gang-related murder was acquitted Wednesday of a 2007 home-invasion holdup after his defense attorney argued the victim wasn't completely honest with police.
The eight-woman, four-man jury in Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey's courtroom deliberated about 20 minutes Wednesday to clear 32-year-old Montay Antwon "Gotti" Robinson of aggravated residential burglary and aggravated robbery charges, both Class Y felonies. The charges could have sent Robinson, with his criminal record, to prison for at least 40 years without parole.
But Wednesday's verdict didn't mean Robinson would go free.
Aside from his 1993 murder sentence, Robinson was sentenced to 6 1 /2 years in February after admitting to participating in a 12-man marijuana-trafficking ring. Federal authorities report the group is believed to be responsible for bringing at least a ton of marijuana through the Little Rock area between May 2007 and January 2008, court records show.
In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Robinson pleaded guilty to a reduced trafficking charge, involving at least 220 pounds of marijuana. Terms of the agreement are sealed, but his sentence is 1 1 /2 years more than the 5-year minimum. He's scheduled for release from federal prison in March 2014, when he will serve another four years on supervised release.
Robinson was convicted of first-degree murder in 1993 at age 16 for participating in the killing of Terrance Taylor, an 18-year-old college student who was shot to death while fleeing an armed showdown between gangs at a Little Rock nightclub. Authorities said 47 shots were fired, but the bullet that killed Taylor wasn't found.
Witnesses at trial identified Robinson as one of three gunmen. Federal records indicate he was paroled in 2007.
Three months after the October 2007 home invasion, Pulaski County court records show that Little Rock police were tipped off that Robinson might have been involved.
The victim, 47-year-old Martha Sue Holzhauer, was able to pick him out of a photo lineup that month as one of three men who suddenly burst into her Fourche Dame Pike home and demanded drugs and money. Her husband was in his "man cave" out-building shop watching TV at the time, prosecutors said.
"It was like a bomb went off," Holzhauer testified, describing the sound of the front door being kicked in.
The gunman she identified as Robinson put a pistol to her head and took her into the bedroom, where she gave them her purse, containing credit cards and $40,and a small amount of marijuana she had in a cabinet. But the robber wasn't satisfied, making her lay on the floor as he continued to demand "dope" and money, she said. She said she realized the robbers had the wrong house when the gunman's demands grew more specific, asking her "where's the 50 pounds?"
Holzhauer told him they had the wrong home, testifying that she had neighbors who were drug dealers. The gunmen quickly left without a word, she said.
Police testified Holzhauer was hysterical when officers arrived and only able to give investigators a general description of the gunmen.
Defense attorney Bill Luppen pounced on discrepancies in her description of the robbers. Holzhauer first reported two men, but then said there were three, and Luppen questioned Holzhauer about why she didn't tell police she had marijuana in the house. Holzhauer said she threw the drugs away before police arrived, saying she was "humiliated" that her occasional marijuana use, which she'd kept secret from her family, might be discovered.
Holzhauer was steadfast in accusing Robinson, saying she'd paid careful attention to the gunman in the hopes of being able to describe him for police.
Luppen, who rested his defense without calling any witnesses, derided the lack of physical evidence against his client, with only Holzhauer's testimony that Robinson was involved. Her removal of the marijuana before police arrived cast doubt on her story, Luppen said, also questioning how well she could remember the features of a robber after only seeing the gunman's face for a few seconds.
"All of a sudden, she's giving a description when she's never done that before," he said. "I think she is mistaken. What type of person would be 100 percent certain after a 4- to 5-second look?"
Deputy prosecutor Joan Lucas told jurors that Holzhauer made mistakes, but none that cast doubt on her identification of Robinson. Holzhauer had no reason to identify an innocent man as her attacker, the prosecutor said.
"Because she couldn't communicate that night, he should go free after he busted into her house and changed her life forever?" Lucas said. "Martha Holzhauer didn't know how to be a victim. She's never been a victim before."
Robinson didn't take the stand, preventing prosecutors from disclosing his criminal record. His two co-defendants in the murder case, teenage brothers London Pierre Bradley and Cedric Bernard Bradley, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges after Robinson's trial in exchange for 30-year and 25-year sentences, respectively.
Robinson was arrested in May
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 08/28/2009