Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507120028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The all-day trial ended shortly after 9 p.m. when U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson declared a mistrial. The jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal, according to Jones' lawyer.
Jones, 21, has been in jail since March, but Wilson said he would sign an order today releasing him on personal recognizance bond.
Jones' attorney, Randy Cargill, said Jones would consider pleading guilty to a marijuana charge - which would mean he could be sentenced to time already served - to avoid the "anguish" of a new trial. Lawyers for both brothers said their clients cried at the prospect of one testifying against the other.
Jones and his younger brother, Jerome "Doobie" Jones, were known to Wasena residents, who fought against what they believed was the pair's drug dealing out of a friend's house. Members of the neighborhood watch kept journals of the brothers' activities at a house on Kerns Avenue and called police regularly about anything unusual.
Nike Jones, 21, was tried on gun and marijuana trafficking charges stemming from a January raid on his mother's Ferdinand Avenue house by police looking for evidence against his brother.
Doobie Jones, 19, faces a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years on crack cocaine and gun charges because of what police found in the house.
Doobie Jones agreed last week to cooperate with the government, hoping to get a reduction in that sentence. Part of the deal was that, if called, he would testify against his brother.
Doobie Jones admitted distributing a kilogram of crack per week in Roanoke. His brother, however, was charged with possessing marijuana - not crack - with intent to distribute. Nike Jones also was accused of possessing a gun in relation to a drug trafficking offense - a mandatory five-year sentence.
Almost six ounces of pot was found in Nike Jones' bedroom when police searched the house. A gun also was found tucked under his mattress. Cargill hammered at the fact that the brothers had adjoining bedrooms - giving Doobie Jones access to the room - and that no fingerprints were found on the gun or the bag of pot to tie them to his client.
In Doobie Jones' room, police found 132 grams of crack, according to court records, and $47,000 in cash stuffed in a shoe box under the bed. A handgun was found beneath the living room couch.
Doobie Jones testified Tuesday that he gave his brother the bag of pot to sell two days before the house was searched. He said he didn't know where the gun came from.
Under cross-examination, Doobie Jones acknowledged that he hadn't implicated his brother until last week, when he entered a plea agreement with the government.
Joe Nash, chairman of the Wasena Neighborhood Crime Watch, said he was disappointed that Nike Jones would be released on bond. He said the neighborhood had quieted down after the pair's arrests. But he said it was unlikely Nike Jones would return there, because the friend he stayed with on Kerns Avenue had moved.
IF YOU MUST CUT, CUT NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS PLEASE Wilson declined to lower Doobie Jones' bond, which is set at $45,000. Testimony showed that Doobie Jones had owned between 20 and 60 guns, including a rocket launcher. Ammunition and gun paraphernalia were found in his bedroom and car.
The Jones brothers worked part-time for a cleaning service, making less than $150 every two weeks. Yet Doobie Jones drove a 1987 BMW convertible and had another car titled in his sister's name, according to court records.
Cargill argued that there was no evidence that Nike Jones led an extravagant lifestyle that would indicate illegal activity.
"Don't you think if they had evidence he was a drug dealer, they'd have shown it?'' he asked the jury during closing arguments. "He led a simple life, a life quite different from his brother's."
The prosecution argued that the pot and one gun were found in Nike Jones' room, along with his driver's license and a certified letter in his name. Doobie Jones testified that he wouldn't leave things in his brother's room for fear he'd steal them.
Doobie Jones' attorney, Jeff Rudd, had hoped both brothers' trials could be delayed so Doobie could continue to help the government.
Having him testify against his brother "may have undermined Jerome's opportunity to provide more substantial assistance," Rudd said.
The government can make a motion of substantial assistance for defendants who provide information helpful to the prosecution; such a motion means the judge can consider a lower sentence than normally is required.
by CNB