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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
March 15, 2003, Saturday
SECTION: ARKANSAS; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 499 words
HEADLINE: Teen, fired gun at store owner, gets prison term Partner killed in heist at LR store last year
BYLINE: BY AMY UPSHAW ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE
BODY:
A teenager who prosecutors say started a deadly gunfight while robbing Sigma Imports in Little Rock last year will spend at least 14 years in prison, a judge decided Friday.
Don'ta West, 18, had pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery before Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Langston sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
West will be eligible for parole after he serves 70 percent of his sentence. He faced up to life in prison.
West also was charged with manslaughter for the death of fellow robber, Charles Patillo, 17, who was fatally shot when Sigma Imports owner Chris Gaudet fired his gun to protect himself and his employees.
West's attorney, Kent Krause, argued that convicting his client of both manslaughter and aggravated robbery for the same crime would be "double jeopardy."
Arkansas Code Annotated 5-1-110 defines aggravated robbery as a lesser included charge for manslaughter. Krause argued that a criminal defendant can't be convicted and sentenced for a crime and the lesser included offense in the same crime.
Langston and Pulaski County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bart Dickinson both agreed after researching the issue.
So Dickinson asked Langston to set aside the manslaughter conviction, a class C felony, and sentence West only on the more serious class Y felony of aggravated robbery.
"You just cannot be convicted of a crime and a lesser included because of the double jeopardy argument," Dickinson said.
The lookout man for the robbery, Danny Maurice Brown Jr., 17, already pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and robbery.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended. Brown will be eligible for parole in about two years.
Brown was not carrying a weapon on Aug. 28 when he walked into the store at 5606 Patterson Road to make sure he and his accomplices could safely get away with the cash they planned to steal.
It was unclear Friday whether Langston's decision will affect Brown's case. His attorney could not be reached.
Witnesses told police that Brown entered Sigma Imports, looked around and then left. About 10 minutes later, Patillo and another gunman prosecutors have identified as West burst in, telling the salesmen to hit the floor and hand over their money.
As one salesman sank to the floor, he deliberately nudged open Gaudet's office door. Gaudet testified during a previous sentencing hearing that he saw someone with a red cloth over his face, later identified as Patillo, holding a gun on the salesmen.
He said he grabbed his Colt.357 revolver from his desk drawer and told the gunman to freeze.
Patillo did, but West fired once, missing Gaudet by less than a foot. Gaudet said he returned fire from about 20 feet away, hitting Patillo in the upper chest.
"It was so quick," Gaudet said the day after the shooting. "It was all reaction."
Police say West pushed Patillo out the door. He was found dead on the sidewalk.
March 15, 2003, Saturday
SECTION: ARKANSAS; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 499 words
HEADLINE: Teen, fired gun at store owner, gets prison term Partner killed in heist at LR store last year
BYLINE: BY AMY UPSHAW ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE
BODY:
A teenager who prosecutors say started a deadly gunfight while robbing Sigma Imports in Little Rock last year will spend at least 14 years in prison, a judge decided Friday.
Don'ta West, 18, had pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery before Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Langston sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
West will be eligible for parole after he serves 70 percent of his sentence. He faced up to life in prison.
West also was charged with manslaughter for the death of fellow robber, Charles Patillo, 17, who was fatally shot when Sigma Imports owner Chris Gaudet fired his gun to protect himself and his employees.
West's attorney, Kent Krause, argued that convicting his client of both manslaughter and aggravated robbery for the same crime would be "double jeopardy."
Arkansas Code Annotated 5-1-110 defines aggravated robbery as a lesser included charge for manslaughter. Krause argued that a criminal defendant can't be convicted and sentenced for a crime and the lesser included offense in the same crime.
Langston and Pulaski County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bart Dickinson both agreed after researching the issue.
So Dickinson asked Langston to set aside the manslaughter conviction, a class C felony, and sentence West only on the more serious class Y felony of aggravated robbery.
"You just cannot be convicted of a crime and a lesser included because of the double jeopardy argument," Dickinson said.
The lookout man for the robbery, Danny Maurice Brown Jr., 17, already pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and robbery.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended. Brown will be eligible for parole in about two years.
Brown was not carrying a weapon on Aug. 28 when he walked into the store at 5606 Patterson Road to make sure he and his accomplices could safely get away with the cash they planned to steal.
It was unclear Friday whether Langston's decision will affect Brown's case. His attorney could not be reached.
Witnesses told police that Brown entered Sigma Imports, looked around and then left. About 10 minutes later, Patillo and another gunman prosecutors have identified as West burst in, telling the salesmen to hit the floor and hand over their money.
As one salesman sank to the floor, he deliberately nudged open Gaudet's office door. Gaudet testified during a previous sentencing hearing that he saw someone with a red cloth over his face, later identified as Patillo, holding a gun on the salesmen.
He said he grabbed his Colt.357 revolver from his desk drawer and told the gunman to freeze.
Patillo did, but West fired once, missing Gaudet by less than a foot. Gaudet said he returned fire from about 20 feet away, hitting Patillo in the upper chest.
"It was so quick," Gaudet said the day after the shooting. "It was all reaction."
Police say West pushed Patillo out the door. He was found dead on the sidewalk.
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