- Monique
Turenne
| Dennis
Dechaine
| Blog
this story
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-
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- Takoya Dominic
Criner
-
- From Takoya's sister:
- I am looking for guidance
in seeking justice for one of my family members who was recently
found guilty of two counts of 1st degree murder and one count
of attempted 1st degree murder. Although our family believes
in the judicial system and that criminals should be punished,
we feel in lieu of all the evidence and perjury committed on
the witness stand, it has caused us to question the legitimacy
of the case.
·
There was blatant evidence of misconduct and evidence tampering
by the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office and one of the states key
witnesses
·
Perjury was committed by the states two key witnesses and inconsistencies
in both testimonies as well as the lead detective.
·
The lead detective admitted on the witness stand to altering
the defendants statement 3 months after his initial interview
to sound more convincing (another detective in fact wrote down
the defendants statements while the other interviewed him but
3 months later, the lead detective typed it up)
·
The first patrol officer to arrive on the scene admitted to changing
her arrival time on her report a week before trial (which had
been 3yrs prior)
·
There were drugs and a mini-arsenal of assault riffles and semi-automatic
weapons collected from the crime scene that belonged to one of
the states key witnesses, neither were charged (both were given
immunity)
·
There was no search of the crime scene or the home for the weapon
(detectives contradicted one another regarding whether a search
was done or not) A weapon was never recovered.
·
The state and detectives built their case solely on a known drug
dealers statements which changed constantly and never searched
for another theory. (i.e. self defense)
Most importantly, one of the deceased victims happened to be
the son of a Jacksonville police officer and coincidentally he
was awarded police officer of the year the week the trial was
to start. There was really no mention of this until a week
before trial and all of a sudden, it was broadcast on every local
station. Also, evidence suggested the crime scene was altered.
The Judge presiding over the case would not allow the defense
to present the results of the gun powder residue from the FDLE
stating it was hearsay as well as the DNA evidence which was
consistent with the defendant's statements. The prosecution
objected to evidence which would prove the witnesses perjured
themselves and the judge sustained the objections.
Lastly, we feel as though the juror's opinions were prejudiced
due the circumstances surrounding the case as well as the strong
presence of police officers in and out of the courtroom through
out the trial. Also, minutes before the judge was going
to bring the jurors in to inform them they would have to continue
deliberations on Monday, we were told the jury was hung.
The judge had to attend his son's wedding and expressed his desire
to wrap up by 5:00pm if the jury had not come up with a verdict.
When the bailiff informed the jurors of the judge's intentions,
they came back with a verdict. Before the jurors were released,
one juror ran out of the courtroom crying and told our family
she was sorry, this was not what she wanted.
Please inform us in what steps we can take to possibly have the
verdict overturned or suspended? He is due to be sentenced
on June 16th.
Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated.
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Suspect guilty
in murders
- Takoya Dominic Criner,
22, will get life in prison for killing two men in May 2002.
By PAUL PINKHAM, The Times-Union,
May 15, 2005
A Jacksonville man was convicted
Saturday of fatally shooting a police officer's son and a friend
as they played video games in a Southside home.
Jurors deliberated about five
hours before finding Takoya Dominic Criner guilty of two counts
of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Because prosecutors didn't seek the death penalty, Criner, 22,
will be automatically sent to prison for life when Circuit Judge
Peter Dearing sentences him June 16.
Relatives and friends of Criner left the courtroom sobbing and
wailing when the verdicts were returned at the end of a rare
weekend court session. They accused witnesses, including police,
of lying on the witness stand.
But relatives of the two murder victims -- Ike E. Brown Jr. and
Jeffrey Martin Hicks, both 21 -- praised police and prosecutors
for their work in the case.
"I feel like justice was served," said Cathy Hicks,
Jeffrey Hicks' mother. "I feel like the Lord answered our
prayer, and he can't harm anyone else now."
Brown's father, Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Ike Brown Sr.,
said the verdicts were correct but no cause for celebration.
He and Hicks hugged Assistant State Attorney Dan Skinner after
the courtroom was empty."
"It's just really sad that all the families have suffered
a terrible loss," said Brown, a former Officer of the Year.
"Another young man now will spend the rest of his life in
prison, so while I am pleased with the outcome, this is no victory,"
he said.
Criner fatally shot Brown Jr. and Hicks and wounded another man,
Gavin Berry, in May 2002 when he opened fire in the house where
the four men and Berry's girlfriend were playing video games,
prosecutors said.
Skinner said the prosecution was made more difficult by the arsenal
of guns and large amount of marijuana in the home. But the jury's
verdict shows the presence of drugs and weapons "absolutely
will not excuse murder," he said.
"It shows the community that we're just not going to stand
for all this violence," Skinner said.
Defense attorney Thomas Fallis had argued that the shootings
occurred after Berry pulled a gun on Criner and the two struggled
over the weapon. He said Criner was acting in self-defense.
Fallis declined comment as he left the courtroom Saturday.
Criner's trial began Monday and closing arguments ended late
Friday afternoon. Dearing brought jurors in Saturday morning
to begin their deliberations fresh.
About 4:15 p.m., the judge was about to send them home until
Monday when the foreman informed a bailiff that they had reached
a verdict.
The jury left the courthouse under police escort and didn't comment
on its decision.
The trial was the last of three first-degree murder trials that
began last week to conclude. All three defendants were convicted
but none will receive the death penalty.
Criner's conviction also capped a busy seven-week period that
has seen Jacksonville judges and lawyers try eight first-degree
murder cases since the end of March.
Prosecutors won guilty verdicts in all but one.
Man Convicted
Of Killing Two 21-Year-Olds
News4Jax.com, May 14, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a week-long double-murder trial,
a Saturday of jury deliberation ended with a guilty verdict and
an emotional reaction on both sides.
Takoya Criner was found guilty of two counts of first-degree
murder in the deaths of 21-year-old best friends, Isaac Brown
Jr. and Jeffrey Hicks, on Memorial Day weekend 2002.
Brown, the son of a Jacksonville
police officer, and Hicks were shot in the back of the head while
they were playing video games, drinking and smoking marijuana
at a Southside home.
Members of Criner's family
cried out when he was convicted. Both victims' parents were emotional
after waiting three years a verdict.
"I'm just glad this week
is over ... and I can find some peace," said Isaac Brown
Sr., who has sat in the trial every day.
"It's going going to bring
my son back, but at least he's can't be on the streets to do
that again to another family," Hicks mother, Cathy, said
after the verdict. "Today is just kind of bittersweet --
to know that justice was served in the same month that he died."
Prosecutors did not seek the
death penalty in the case. Criner's will be formally sentenced
to life in prison next month.
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
Jury Deliberating In
Criner Double-Murder Trial
News4Jax.com, May 13, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Prosecutors hope a 911 call placed
the night a Jacksonville Sheriff's officer's son and his friend
were shot to death will help reel in a guilty verdict in the
double-murder trial of Takoya Criner.
Criner is accused of gunning
down Isaac Brown Jr. and Jeffrey Hicks while they played video
games, drank beer and smoked marijuana at the Southside home
of Gavin Berry.
Prosecutors told jurors in
closing arguments Friday that the 911 recording of Brown's girlfriend
answers a lot of questions about what happened the night of May
26, 2002. In the recording, Brown's girlfriend can be heard telling
the dispatcher that her boyfriend had been shot by her "boyfriend's
friend."
Prosecutors contend that the
friend she is speaking about is Criner. But defense attorney
Tom Fallis suggested that she was referring to Berry, who was
also shot but survived.
Jeffrey Hicks
Fallis claimed Berry was a drug dealer who wanted $1,500 that
Criner allegedly owed him.
"I'd say for probably
the past two months, I had to be purchasing (drugs from Berry)
once every two weeks," Criner said when he took the stand
in his own defense.
Fallis also said that Berry
was a collector of guns.
"There are two sides to
every story," prosecutor Alan Mizrahi said. "And you
have heard two sides to a story this week. Only one of those
sides came true."
Brown and Hicks were shot in
the back of the head. The case has garnered lots of media attention
because Brown's father, Isaac Brown Sr., was named Officer of
the Year by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
"The defendant did not
win a gun battle," Mizrahi said. "He won an execution."
The jury will begin deliberations
at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
Criner Double-Murder
Trial Begins
News4Jax.com, May 10, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Gavin Berry described to a jury Tuesday
what it was like seeing his two best friends shot to death in
his home in May 2002.
"He was sitting in the back portion of this room, armed
with a .380 caliber firearm," prosecutor Dan Skinner told
jurors.
Skinner said Takoya Criner,
charged with two counts of first-degree murder, went to Berry's
Southside home the night of the shootings to smoke marijuana
and drink beer. Skinner said Berry, Jeffrey Hicks and Isaac Brown
Jr. -- whose father was named Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Officer
of the Year -- played video games while Criner sat back and watched,
until he pulled a gun and started shooting.
"Gavin Berry will tell
you, the next thing he knows is (the sound of gunfire), all successive
gunfire in rapid succession," Skinner said in opening arguments.
Berry was shot in the shoulder
and torso several times but survived, and he showed his wounds
to the jury.
Jeffrey Hicks
But defense attorneys said Berry is not as innocent as he portrays
himself. They told jurors that Berry planned to sell marijuana
that night, but instead got into a fight with Criner over $1,500
that Criner allegedly owed him. Defense attorneys also said that
Berry had the gun.
"You said you collect
guns, right?" asked defense attorney Tom Sallis during cross-examinations.
To further his argument, Sallis
had Berry and Criner stand face-to-face, demonstrating their
height differences to the jury.
Hicks and Brown's family sat
in courtroom for the first day of proceedings. Officer Isaac
Brown left when graphic descriptions of the murders were laid
out to the jury.
Berry's girlfriend, Tiffany
Heggs, was also called to the stand to testify for the prosecution.
Testimony will continue Wednesday.
Jury Picked For
Man Accused Of Shooting Officer Of The Year's Son
News4Jax.com, May 9, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Officer
of the Year was in court Monday, watching as a jury was selected
in the murder trial of Takoya Criner, who is accused of killing
the officer's son and a friend.
Officer Isaac Brown has waited
two years for Criner to stand trial for the murder of Isaac Brown
Jr. and friend Jeffery Hicks, who were gunned down Memorial Day
weekend 2002.
Brown Jr. and Hicks, along
with Gavin Berry, were schoolmates home for the holiday weekend
playing video games together when Criner allegedly came running
inside the house and opened fire. Brown Jr. and Hicks were killed
in the shooting, while Berry was shot but survived. The motive
behind the shooting is still a mystery.
Brown told Channel 4's Jim
Piggott he remembered the day he learned about his son's death.
He said as an officer, he is trained to deal with death, but
that nobody could have prepared him for his own child's death.
"As prepared as I try
to be, that I was not prepared for," Brown said. "I
must say that my sergeant and the entire sheriff's office, they
really put their arms around me."
Brown hasn't been able to visit
his son's grave since he was laid to rest, saying it is just
too hard for him. Those emotions should be played out in the
courtroom, where Criner could face life behind bars if convicted.
"In my case of my son,
nobody wins, not even the young man who stands trial, who also
comes from a good family and good parents who love him,"
Brown said.
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
