MARTIN BURGLARY CASE

A stolen paint sprayer cost a man 20 years in prison last week.

Steve Martin, 42, who had a Sarratt Avenue address when he was arrested last year, was convicted following a jury trial of the daylight burglary of a Spring Valley Road home’s utility room, from which

he allegedly fled with a paint sprayer.

While he was initially charged with second-degree burglary in connection with the incident, Martin had prior burglary convictions from 1997 and 2001 that allowed the 7th Circuit Solicitors Office to seek a conviction on the more serious offense of first-degree burglary.

A jury of seven women and five men determined Martin was guilty of the charge.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes, who presided over the one-day trial, sentenced Martin to 20 years in prison. The charge does not allow for parole, so Martin will have to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before he can be freed.

BARRON The charge against Martin stemmed from a Dec. 15, 2008, incident during which a Spring Valley Road resident saw a strange vehicle in the driveway of his granddaughter’s home, which basically is across the street from his own.

Horace Wilson said he walked across to his granddaughter’s home to investigate and saw Martin exit his granddaughter’s carport carrying a paint sprayer — a paint sprayer Wilson had bought at a local home improvement store.

“Just before I got to the car, I asked him what he was doing there,” Wilson told the jury.

Martin allegedly replied that he had been asked by another person, whom Wilson did not know, to come clean out the garage.

Wilson said he told Martin that no one by the name Martin mentioned lived there. He said Martin then put the paint sprayer in his trunk while trying to conceal his license plate number and then hopped in his car and sped off down the road.

JONES Wilson was able to get a partial tag number and immediately called police.

A short time later, a Cherokee County Sheriff’s Deputy came across Martin at Mallard Lane and Ellis Ferry Road.

When questioned, Martin claimed he didn’t take anything and invited the deputy to search his vehicle. No paint sprayer was found in the vehicle but Martin still was taken into custody.

About two weeks later, a resident who lived near the Mallard Lane and Ellis Ferry Road intersection found the paint sprayer hidden under his deck and called police.

Martin, who did not testify in his own defense, maintained his innocence during sentencing.

Assistant Solicitor Michael Morin essentially argued to the jury that it was easy to connect the dots in the case — that Martin was the person who fled from the Spring Valley Road home and was the person who hid the paint sprayer under the deck of a home just short distance from where the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Deputy found Martin.

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” Morin told the jury.

Judge Hayes gave Martin credit for time served since his Dec. 15, 2008, arrest.

Martin’s attorney immediately served notice of an appeal after the trial.

During pre-trial motions, Martin’s defense attorney sought to limit the amount of information prosecutors could introduce to the jury about Martin’s prior criminal record.

Prosecutors argued they needed to introduce the prior criminal record in order to meet their burdens for a first-degree burglary charge.

HOME INVASION

Two young Cherokee County men were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment last week in Cherokee County General Sessions Court for their involvement in a home invasion in the Corinth community and a first-degree burglary in Blacksburg.

Donnie Jones, 22, formerly of Killion Street, Blacksburg, and Thomas Barron Jr., 18, formerly of Wofford Road, Gaffney, each pleaded guilty before Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes to charges of firstdegree burglary, armed robbery and assault and battery with intent to kill for a Sept. 23, 2008, home invasion in the 100 block of Spring Lake Road.

The duo also pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree burglary and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in connection with a Sept. 24, 2008, break-in on Whisonant Street in Blacksburg.

Assistant Solicitor Kim Leskanic, who prosecuted the cases, alleged in court that Jones and Barron were two of four men who targeted the Spring Lake Road home in the early morning hours of Sept. 23, 2008.

Also charged in connection with that incident were Michael Angelo Dicosola, who was then 19, and Christopher Patrick Giroux, who was then 18. Both Dicosola and Giroux lived in the 200 block of Spring Lake Road at the time of the break-in, according to a police report.

The charges against Dicosola and Giroux have not yet been resolved.

During the Sept. 23, 2008, incident, it was alleged that three of the four men went inside the home, while one stayed outside. The three who entered, including Jones and Barron, were accused of assaulting and robbing the homeowner and then ransacking the home before fleeing with a shotgun, guitars and money.

Detective Daniel Ward of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office headed up the investigation.

The 58-year-old victim of the Sept. 23, 2008, incident addressed the court during Jones’ and Barron’s sentencing, describing the threats he received while he was assaulted and robbed.

Because the charges against Jones and Barron were considered violent offenses, they will not be eligible for parole and must serve 85 percent of their 20-year sentences.

Judge Hayes gave both men credit for the time they have served since their arrests, which equated to just over a year.