Jury convicts would-be Mohegan Sun mugger
File - Winston Riley
NEW LONDON —
A jury found Winston Riley guilty on Thursday of trying to mug an elderly woman in March 2012 in a Mohegan Sun elevator.
The jury of five women and one man took a little more than two hours to reach a verdict in the case, which came after a two-day trial in New London Superior Court in front of Judge Arthur Hadden.
Riley took the news impassively. His wife, Latoya Riley, who was watching from the audience, sobbed. Riley was taken into custody after Hadden raised his bail to $99,000.
Jurors found Riley guilty of attempt to commit first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, attempted second-degree larceny and carrying a dangerous weapon. Jurors found him not guilty of first-degree reckless endangerment.
“You have done the best that you can in rendering a fair and just verdict,” Hadden told jurors. “I thank you all.”
Riley is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8. He faces a maximum of more than 20 years in prison.
A native of Jamaica, Riley also is likely to be deported after he gets out of prison.
“The jury obviously worked hard on this matter. We appreciate their efforts,” Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Carney said.
“This case would have never had to go to trial if the offer had been remotely fair for a first offense,” defense attorney Tina Sypek D’Amato said.
In February, Riley rejected a plea bargain offer of 15 years in prison, suspended after six years served, plus 3 years’ probation.
Riley, 28, of Bridgeport, who did not have a criminal record and ran a successful business, went to Mohegan Sun on March 18 to gamble, he testified Wednesday. After discovering that he could not get money from an ATM there, he took a nap in his car and decided to rob someone after awakening, he said.
Riley got a carving knife that happened to be in his car and entered a parking garage. He followed an 83-year-old Norwich woman into an elevator and pulled the knife from his sleeve. Their encounter was captured on surveillance video.
D’Amato told jurors in her closing argument that Riley was indeed guilty of threatening and carrying a dangerous weapon.
But jurors did not accept Riley’s claim at trial that he had a change of heart and didn’t go through with the robbery attempt because he felt guilty and sorry for the woman.
Rather, by finding him guilty of attempted robbery, jurors accepted Carney’s explanation that Riley called off the robbery only after the woman refused to hand over her purse, and that if she had cooperated, he would have taken it.
D’Amato said she expects to file an appeal in the case.
The jury of five women and one man took a little more than two hours to reach a verdict in the case, which came after a two-day trial in New London Superior Court in front of Judge Arthur Hadden.
Riley took the news impassively. His wife, Latoya Riley, who was watching from the audience, sobbed. Riley was taken into custody after Hadden raised his bail to $99,000.
Jurors found Riley guilty of attempt to commit first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, attempted second-degree larceny and carrying a dangerous weapon. Jurors found him not guilty of first-degree reckless endangerment.
“You have done the best that you can in rendering a fair and just verdict,” Hadden told jurors. “I thank you all.”
Riley is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8. He faces a maximum of more than 20 years in prison.
A native of Jamaica, Riley also is likely to be deported after he gets out of prison.
“The jury obviously worked hard on this matter. We appreciate their efforts,” Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Carney said.
“This case would have never had to go to trial if the offer had been remotely fair for a first offense,” defense attorney Tina Sypek D’Amato said.
In February, Riley rejected a plea bargain offer of 15 years in prison, suspended after six years served, plus 3 years’ probation.
Riley, 28, of Bridgeport, who did not have a criminal record and ran a successful business, went to Mohegan Sun on March 18 to gamble, he testified Wednesday. After discovering that he could not get money from an ATM there, he took a nap in his car and decided to rob someone after awakening, he said.
Riley got a carving knife that happened to be in his car and entered a parking garage. He followed an 83-year-old Norwich woman into an elevator and pulled the knife from his sleeve. Their encounter was captured on surveillance video.
D’Amato told jurors in her closing argument that Riley was indeed guilty of threatening and carrying a dangerous weapon.
But jurors did not accept Riley’s claim at trial that he had a change of heart and didn’t go through with the robbery attempt because he felt guilty and sorry for the woman.
Rather, by finding him guilty of attempted robbery, jurors accepted Carney’s explanation that Riley called off the robbery only after the woman refused to hand over her purse, and that if she had cooperated, he would have taken it.
D’Amato said she expects to file an appeal in the case.
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