The case against a Hutchinson man accused of aggravated robbery ended before it really began Tuesday when Judge Trish Rose granted a defense request for a mistrial.
Apparently one of the jurors for the Douglas Plummer case had worked for the Department of Corrections and mentioned during the selection 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 Defense Attorney Alice Osburn to ask for the mistrial which was granted by the judge. Osburn suggested they could start all over on Wednesday, but District Attorney Keith Schroeder didn’t think he could change the subpoenas for prosecution witnesses that quickly. So the judge set a new trial date of August 27.
Plummer had been convicted once before on the aggravated robbery charge. A Reno County jury found him guilty 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.
The Court of Appeals in April of 2012 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 agreed.
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.
While the state contended it was aggravated robbery, the defense contends it was shoplifting and that Target employees over-reacted.
Again, a mistrial called in the case meaning they will start all over next month.