NOT GUILTY ARMED ROBBERY! NOT GUILTY AGGRAVATED ASSAULT!

Last week in Coahoma County, I defended a young man charged with Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Kidnapping. He was facing a max sentence of double life by jury plus 25 years. After a three day trial, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on armed robbery, not guilty on the aggravated assault with a firearm, but did find him guilty on Kidnapping. The sentencing judge - correctly recognizing my client’s very minimal role in the event, the much greater role of his codefendants, and the fact that this young man had zero criminal history, had three children, and had maintained steady employment his whole life - gave him a sentence of 5 years Probation on his conviction.

The charges were extremely serious, but the District Attorney’s Office charged everybody with the same charges, despite the clearly different levels of involvement. In our opinion, this is “group punishment” and lazy prosecution. A prosecutor has a duty to charge each individual based on the facts, not based on the actions of a group. 

I am proud that Tyrekius Allen maintained his innocence and exercised his constitutional right to trial. And I’m also very thankful he trusted our firm to uncover the truth.