TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – All three men accused of a home invasion that left a Tallahassee Police officer shot were found guilty Friday night.
Rahyim Sanders, Tyrell Guinnie and John’Darious Wright all faced felony charges. Wright was accused in two home invasions on the same night, while Guinnie and Wright were only accused in the second, in which Officer Caleb Babb was shot.
Sanders and Wright were found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, and Guinnie was found guilty of attempted murder of Officer Babb. He was found not guilty on count four.
The jury deliberated four hours before returning those verdicts.
John’Darious Wright, Rahiym Sanders and Tyrell Guinnie (left to right) are accused in the September 25 shooting of a Tallahassee Police officer.(Photos/Tallahassee Police Department, Gainesville Police Department)
Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman began closing arguments, Friday afternoon, saying the true motive of the crime is a mystery, but it wasn’t just about drugs.
Cappleman said Wright may have realized he couldn’t control the whole family at the first home invasion.
“What better evidence could there be for consciousness of intent than shooting the younger Patel in the face?” Cappleman said.
She argued Guinnie’s choice to continue on with the plan makes him an accessory, saying he went to rescue Wright and Sanders after the second home invasion.
The jury was shown a slow-motion video from Babb’s body camera after he was shot.
“He was shot for what? A little bit of dope? A little bit of cheese?” Cappleman said.
The state conceded they don’t have phone evidence for Wright, but they have DNA, video and eyewitness testimony.
Wright’s defense attorney claimed that the identification of Wright isn’t strong. He said Detective Corbitt, who testified on Thursday, only knows about the reports and the records.
“It’s second-hand at best,” Lammers said.
He also pointed out that the father of the Patel family didn’t get a great look at Wright, but later testified he saw Wright’s mugshot on WCTV and recognized him.
“He only saw the gunman for at most one to two seconds. One to two seconds, when you wake up in the middle of the night, he said it was dark. Burglar alarms going off. You don’t know what’s going on,” said Lammers.
Defense attorney Craig Brown represents Sanders. He told the jury the cell phone data, which places Sanders at the scene, isn’t an exact science.
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“There’s been nothing different than what we said in the opening,” Brown said. “He was by the Sandpiper address, he was over there to purchase marijuana, and that was that.”
“What was he over there for? Ladies and gentlemen, he was over there because he was thinking that there was going to be just a purchase of some marijuana and that was going to be it,” Brown said.
Kurstin Kym Phelps-Hernandez is representing Guinnie. She said the three suspects being together at a hotel the night of the home invasions isn’t a crime.
She argued that if the jury finds Wright guilty, Guinnie is automatically not guilty.
“Being in the car with someone after they committed a crime is not a crime,” Phelps-Hernandez said.
Phelps-Hernandez is Wright and Sanders are seen walking through the Sandpiper neighborhood, but said the third man could have been another man allegedly involved but not charged with crime, not Guinnie.
She admitted that Guinnie is a drug dealer, which she claims explains texts messages presented in evidence more than the two home invasions.
“Did the state have enough evidence to prove that just based on his text messages during and after the incidents and the fact that he was around people alleged to have committed crimes, does that make him guilty by association with them? No,” said Phelps-Hernandez.
In her rebuttal, Cappleman claimed Wright had an “itchy trigger finger,” and didn’t hesitate to shoot two people. Lammers objected, but then Cappleman began talking about Wright instead of Sanders.
“He shot without hesitation at Sandpiper inside that residence at those people. And when confronted by law enforcement, he didn’t hesitate for a moment to shoot Officer Babb, a uniformed officer,” said Cappleman.
Cappleman emphasized evidence that showed Wright’s DNA on “each and every item,” involved in the shooting.
Around 7:15 p.m. on Friday, almost four hours into deliberations, the jury wrote to Judge Sjostrom to ask a technical question about questions on the verdict form for counts six and seven as it pertained to Guinnie.
The state and defense agreed on a response, and the judge gave the answer to the jury without bringing them back into open court.
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