Wednesday, April 30, 2003
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Wednesday, April 30, 2003 |
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2nd twin gets life + 25 years in chase death By JOHN MUNFORD
An Atlanta man was convicted Monday of killing an innocent motorist after robbing a south Fayetteville grocery store at gunpoint with his twin brother and leading police on a brief chase Easter Sunday last year. Melvin Edward Mitchell, 23, was also found guilty of killing Union City veterinarian Jason Trotman when the vehicle he drove crashed into Trotman's vehicle which was waiting at the intersection of Ga. Highway 85 and north Jeff Davis Drive. Mitchell was also convicted of armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer and two counts each of kidnapping and false imprisonment. Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison plus 25 years by Superior Court Judge Tommy Hankinson. His twin brother, Marvin Edwin Mitchell, received the same sentence last week after he was found guilty of murder, armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and two counts each of kidnapping and false imprisonment. Witnesses in both trials testified that two armed and masked men entered the Ingles store just before it closed Easter Sunday. One of the men jumped a counter to an office area and forced one of the victims to empty the safe at gunpoint, witnesses testified. Others in the store were ordered to the ground, according to testimony. Although Melvin Mitchell's attorney argued the police were at fault for causing the chase, assistant district attorney Dan Hiatt said that wasn't the case. "The right foot under that table is the foot that was on that gas pedal," Hiatt said, pointing to the defendant. "The hands in that lap were driving that steering wheel. ... The choice he could've made was to pull over." Mitchell's attorney, Judy Chidester countered that the prosecution didn't test the guns that were recovered from Mitchell's vehicle for fingerprints and they didn't test the masks taken from the vehicle for any hair fibers. "I want you to consider the evidence the state didn't put in," Chidester said. Fayetteville police officer Robert Mask testified that his vehicle reached speeds of 110 mph on north Jeff Davis Drive trying to catch up to Mitchell's vehicle trying to get a tag number. At that point, "I was slowly gaining on the vehicle but it had gained some distance on me," Mask said, adding that he felt safe to pursue the vehicle because of the light traffic that evening. The in-car video camera on Mask's patrol vehicle was malfunctioning during the pursuit, but he testified that he attempted to pull over the Mitchell's vehicle with his blue lights and siren activated since the vehicle matched the description relayed to 911 dispatchers by an eyewitness. When the collision occurred, it flipped over Trotman's sport utility vehicle, Mask testified. After the collision, two black males exited Mitchell's vehicle and were later caught on foot by Fayetteville police officers and deputies from the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. Fayetteville police officer J.D. Lakeman testified that he was present when Melvin Mitchell was treated at the Fayette Community Hospital Emergency Room after he was arrested. At that time, Mitchell told the nurse that he was injured in a motor vehicle collision. "He told her his name was Melvin Mitchell," Lakeman said. "... He said he was in the driver's seat of the vehicle." Dr. Kryzsztof Podjaski, a medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said an autopsy of Trotman's body revealed that he died of a severe injury to his spinal cord.
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