After the second trial for a 47-year-old man accused of aggravated robbery ended with a mistrial, the trial was supposed to begin late last month again, but it was delayed.
Apparently Douglas Plummer was in jail up in Saline County on new charges there and was a no show for court and they didn’t know where he was. His attorney Alice Osburn told Judge Trish Rose that she had not heard from him, so the potential jurors were sent home and the judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest with a 25-thousand dollar bond.
He is now back in the Reno County Jail on the bond and another trial date has been set for July 1.
They had started the second trial when one of the perspective jurors indicated that they had worked for the Kansas Department of Corrections and mentioned that he thought he remembered the defendant. Another juror thought he could render a verdict already without having heard any evidence. That was enough for Osburn to ask for the mistrial which was granted by the judge.
Plummer had been convicted once before on the aggravated robbery charge and he was sentenced to over 19-years in prison. But the case was ordered back to District Court for a new trial by the Kansas Court of Appeals.
In an April 2012 ruling, they agreed with the defendants argument that the court erred when they didn’t include a lesser included offense of “simple robbery” or “theft.” The Appeals Court ruled that a defendant is entitled to have a jury instruction on the law applicable to their theory or defense if there’s evidence to support that theory. The Supreme Court then got the case and agreed with the Kansas Court of Appeals ruling.
Plummer went into Target in Hutchinson and allegedly attempted to steal merchandise, and when he attempted to leave was confronted by employees. He then allegedly battered at least one of those employees resulting in the charge being jumped from shoplifting to robbery. The alleged incident occurring on March 24, 2008.
What made for the long sentence was in part because of his previous criminal history which includes convictions for criminal deprivation of property, driving while suspended and felony flee and elude in Saline County in 2007. He also has convictions for two counts of forgery and aggravated assault in Sedgwick County, also from 2007.