Trial notebook For state Vs. John BURNS case

2:18 Case File Burns Done B 3 of 55 charged John Burns with first degree murder and robbery for the death of the attempted robbery of the Carletti grocery store on May 9, YR-0, in Nita Lauren Jones was attempting to rob the Carletti grocery store when the owner, James Carletti, pulled a gun from under the counter and fired at Mr. Jones. The bullet missed Jones and struck and killed Carletti's wife, Teresa. Jones was arrested at the scene of the robbery and has pleaded guilty to robbery. No murder charges are pending against him. The State alleges that the defendant, John Burns, planned the robbery of the grocery store and waited outside in the getaway car while Jones went inside to rob the store. The defendant has been charged with armed robbery for his alleged participation in the holdup and with felony-murder for the death of Mrs. Carletti. The applicable law is contained in the statutes, case law, and proposed jury instructions that are set forth at the end of the case file. All years in these materials are stated in the following form: YR-0 indicates the actual year in which the case is being tried (i.e., the present year); YR-1 indicates the next preceding year (please use the actual year); * YR-2 indicates the second preceding year (please use the actual year), etc. Authors' Note: The crime charged occurred in May, YR-0 [current year] and if the case file is used before June 1 in any given year, please backdate the dating system by one year. For example, YR-0 becomes YR-1; YR-1 becomes YR-2; YR-2 becomes the YR-3; etc. -1- Burns Case File 2 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE AS A FULL TRIAL When this case file is used as the basis for a full trial, the following witnesses may be called by the parties: For the State: Arthur Hellman James Carletti Lauren Jones For the Defendant: John Burns Mary Burns Laurence Roberts Q A ...2:19 Case File Burns Done 24 Hour Nita City Jail Gregory S. Lewis 43 TYPE BOND 4 AMOUNT 15 DATE RELEASED TIME 46 RELEASED BY YR 24 HOUR CLOCK None N/A N/A DISPOSITION INFORMATION 17 DEPOSITION DATE 48 COURT DOCKET 9 COURT/JUDGE CITY DAY YR-0-6969 Darrow County-Superior Court in Nita City 5/18/YR-0 50 DISPOSITION 51 SENTENCE Plea. guilty robbery/murder Continued at request of District dismissed with leave Attorney 2 NARRATIVE On 5/19/YR-0 I was summoned to Carletti's IGA Market at 401 Main St., Nita City, Nita, where there had been a reported attempted robbery and shooting. I received the call at approximately 4:15 p.m. and proceeded directly to the scene of the offense. Upon arrival, I found the owner of the market, James S. Carletti, who was RIGHT THUMB holding at gun point the defendant, Lauren Jones. I also discovered the owner's wife, Teresa B. Carletti lying in a pool of blood adjacent to the magazine rack along the TIME 53 ARRESTING OFFICER - NAME AND SIGNATURE 54 DATE/SUBMITTED MO DAY YR 24 Hour Clock Det. Arthur Hellman, NCPD 5/12/YR-0 300 55 SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE 56 ARRESTEE SIGNATURE J. mccormick -11- Burns Case File ... '. . NITA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT NITA CITY, NITA ARREST REPORT-CONTINUATION PAGE 1 ARREST NUMBER 2 NAME LAST FIRST MIDDLE ALIAS/NICKNAME 3182-YR-0 Jones Lauren NMI Spike 4 COMPLAINANT'S NAME ADDRESS James Silvio Carletti 61 Hill Avenue, Nita City, Nita unknown NARRATIVE front window of the store. Mrs. Carletti was apparently dead. An ambulance had already been summoned. I placed the defendant, Lauren Jones, under arrest for robbery and murder and obtained a statement from the owner, Mr. Carletti. He was in a very disturbed state but I was able to ascertain the following facts. On 5/9/YR-0, the defendant, Lauren Jones, entered the above described premises at approximately 4:00 p.m. His face was covered with a blue and white bandana. He was pointing a pistol at Mr. Carletti and demanded all the money from the register. Jones got impatient and pushed the cash button on the register. At that point, Mr. Carletti reached under the cash register counter and withdrew a .22 caliber pistol and rapidly fired one shot. Jones had ducked underneath the counter and the shot struck Mrs. Carletti. Jones yelled out that his weapon was not loaded and not to shoot. Mr. Carletti then proceeded to where his wife had fallen and talked to her briefly before she died. I was unable to ascertain the contents of their conversation before Mr. Carletti broke down completely. Defendant Jones was taken to police headquarters by Officer Yank of N. C. P.D. I took into custody both the Carletti . 22 pistol and the weapon found in the possession of the defendant. The defendant's weapon was a . 38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol. I ascertained that the firing pin had been removed from that weapon. Both weapons were placed in evidence bags which I kept in my possession until I returned to the station house whereupon they were inventoried and secured in the N.C. P. D. evidence locker. Serial Nos. on the two weapons are as follows: .22 caliber pistol 348X75H498; .38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol V672952. I then drove Mr. Carletti to the home of his neighbor, Walter Dellinger. At that point, Mr. Carletti had calmed down some and I asked if he could give me a more compete statement concerning the events in question. He consented to do so and gave me a signed statement that I typed out on Mr. Dellinger's typewriter that was witnessed by Mr. Dellinger and myself. Later at the police station, I informed Mr. Jones again of his Miranda rights. I asked him if he understood his rights and he responded in the affirmative. I then talked to him and he gave a statement to the police stenographer which he later signed with a notary present. 5/10/YR-0-Continued investigation in the above matter. Signed out .38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol from the evidence locker for the purpose of performing fingerprint analysis. Analysis indicated a complete set of prints from the defendant Lauren Jones on the gun butt and trigger. There was also one unidentified latent thumb print on top of the gun barrel just forward of the firing mechanism. The print was positioned so that the fingernail would have been pointing towards the hammer and the rest of the finger towards the muzzle. Returned above-described pistol to the evidence locker and signed it 6 OFFICER'S NAME CER'S SIGNATURE Det. Arthur Hellman Det Arther Hellman 8 DATE/SUBMITTED TIME To SLIDERVICE Q A .. . Case File Burns v NITA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT NITA CITY, NITA ARREST REPORTCONTINUATION PAGE T ARREST NUMBER 2 NAME LAST FiRST WIOOLE 4 COMPLAINANT'S NAME ADDRESS James Silvio Carlet 61 Hill Avenue, Nita City, 5 NARFATIVE back in. I once again spoke to the defendant Jones with his consent and he informed me that he had nothing further to say about the matter. 5/11/YR-0Continued investigation in above matter. Jones was arraigned at 9:00 a.m. on Murder and Robbery charges. With Mr. Carletti's permission, I gained entrance into the premises at 401 Main Street and took various measurements and made a to-scale diagram of the market area in question. Called in serial numbers of the two weapons in question to Nita Weapon Registration Department to ascertain whether the weapons were registered. Ascertained that .22 caliber pistol, serial no. 348X75H498, was registered to James Silvio Carletti of 61 Hill Avenue, Nita City, Nita, and that .38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol, serial no. V672952, was registered to Mary N. Burns of 221 Elm Street, Nita City, Nita. Checked with larceny division to see if that weapon had been reported stolen and found that the theft of the weapon had been reported by the owner at 9:00 a.m. that morning. Checked with motor vehicles to ascertain what type of car, if any, was registered to Mary N. Burns at the above address. Motor vehicles reported that a YR-1, 2-door, green, Oldsmobile Cutlass was registered to John Burns at the same address, 221 Elm St., Nita City, Nita. Requested that D.M.V. send confirmation of that registration to me at N.C.P.D. Then called the Nita Weapon Registration Department and asked that they send confirmation of the weapon registration to Mary Burns noted above to N.C.P.D. Checked with N.C.P.D. records to ascertain if we had any records of John Burns and found that he had two convictions for possession of heroin and had been arrested on numerous occasions in the past five years, but that no convictions had resulted. All arrests were for gambling related offenses, so spoke to head of Vice Squad for N.C.P.D. for further information. Was informed by Lieutenant Davison that Burns was a suspected numbers runner and more recently a higher up in local organized crime. Davison informed me that if we could get a conviction on Burns that it as likely that he would inform on the leadership in Darrow County organized crime. Then pulled records on Burns, along with fingerprints on file. Compared latent thumb print, previously unidentified on .38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol taken from Defendant Jones., Comparison was positive., Left thumb print on pistol matched left thumb print in Burns's file. Then proceeded to talk to Jones. Informed Jones that I had a lead on the driver of the vehicle that delivered him to the front of Carletti's Market and asked if he would like to cooperate. He asked what was in it for him so I told him that I'd have to talk it over with the District Attorney. Spoke to the District Attorney on the phone. He informed me that he concurred in Lt. Davison's analysis of the Burns situation and informed me that in return for truthful information from Jones 6 OFFICER'S NAME 7 OFFICER'S SIGNATURE Det. Arthur Hellman DAt /Zf/'lb\"\"'/ 8 DATE/SUBMITTED TIME 9 SUPERVISOR'S NAME 10 MO DAY YR 24 Hour Clock 3 5/12/YR-0 300 J MeCormick 13- 1 Burns Case File ! . - e NITA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT NITA CITY, NITA A 1 ARREST NUMBER 2 NAME LAST FIRST HRESIIDDHtEEPORT?A%::II'CTmTION PAGE ADDRESS Carletti 61 Hill Avenue, Nita City, Nita unknown 5 NARRATIVE regarding any connection that Burns might have to the Carletti murder, would result in accepting a plea to lesser charges from Jones, presumably accepting a plea to Robbery and dropping of the Murder charges. The District Attorney, Anthony Alifano, instructed me to get an arrest warrant for Burns for Robbery and Murder and to execute the warrant as soon as possible. Warrant was obtained on ?/11/R0 at 6:00 p.m. from Judge Beckman and was executed 1mmgdlately. Burns was placed under arrest at 6:30 p.m. at his residence at 221 Elm Street, Nita City, Nita. 5(12/R0continued investigation in the above matter. Spoke to District Attorney Anthony Alifano concerning possible plea bargain from Jones in return for testimony. Mr. Alifano authorized me to tell e ones that in ratrnrn far tsaehal w0 (h Q