Jones acquitted on all charges
At the conclusion of a two-day trail that wrapped up on Wednesday, a Franklin County jury acquitted a local woman charged with theft by deception and forgery.
Shannon Nicole Jones, 30, 1106 Rail Splitter Road, Phil Campbell, was originally charged with first-degree theft of property by deception, second-degree theft of property and three counts of possession of a forged instrument.
However, after hearing the facts of the case, the jury decided she was not guilty of stealing from and deceiving a local businessman and a local bank.
According to Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing’s opening statements, Jones was accused of deceiving property owner Elmer Hovater and stealing almost $50,000 from him during the course of a business deal and of forging three traveler’s checks cashed at a Russellville bank.
Rushing said Jones had approached Hovater in August of 2007 about leasing a store he owned in the old Food World shopping center in Russellville.
Jones told Hovater she wanted to open a party supply business but didn’t have the money to lease the property and then asked Hovater to loan her the money.
Rushing said Hovater wouldn’t loan her the money without some assurance he would be paid back, which is when Jones was accused of producing false letters from an attorney’s office stating she would soon receive a settlement for $200,000 after she sued Wal-Mart for slipping on some water in their store’s floor.
“Mr. Hovater would have never leant her the money to lease this building and start her business if she hadn’t showed him those letters,” Rushing said. “This was just a scheme to take Mr. Hovater for a lot of money and when it caught up to her, she disappeared.”
Defense attorney Rebecca Green Thomason said there was no doubt that her client owed Mr. Hovater some money and that she was willing to pay him back, but no crime had been committed.
“Shannon Jones never tried to deceive Mr. Hovater. She just didn’t manage her money well,” Thomason said. “This should be a civil suit, not a criminal trial.”
The jury seemed to agree when they returned a not-guilty verdict after almost six hours of deliberation.
“The central issue in these types of cases is to prove the defendant stole the money deliberately and with an intent to deceive,” Rushing said. “I’m disappointed in the jury’s verdict, but I respect their decision and that they didn’t think the state met the burden of proof in this case.
“Mrs. Thomason did a great job representing her client and her passionate closing argument made all the difference in this case.”
Thomason said she was pleased that she received justice for her client in what she called a “David and Goliath” trial.
“I told the jury in my closing argument that I have always believed in the justice system, but I was afraid the outcome of this trial wouldn’t be fair,” Thomason said. “But the jury renewed my faith that the underdog can win.”
