Jury finds man guilty of armed robbery

A Geneva County man faces life in prison after being convicted of armed robbery in Enterprise.
A four-man, eight -woman jury deliberated an hour at the Coffee County Courthouse in Enterprise before finding Emmitt R. Jones guilty of first- degree robbery.The guilty verdict followed a half-day trial Monday before Circuit Judge Robert Barr.
Jones has been incarcerated since he was arrested by Enterprise police in connection with the Jan. 29, 2008, armed robbery at ACA Financial on Main Street.
Jones was one of two men arrested in DeFuniak Springs, Fla., in connection with the robbery that occurred at the Enterprise business after 6 p.m. The woman who was branch manager of the financial institution when the robbery occurred testified Monday she had seen Jones earlier in the day of the robbery when he came to have his income taxes done.
When he returned with another man after 6 p.m., she was the only employee in the building. A man in a gray hooded sweatshirt held a revolver while he closed the window blinds and Jones approached her demanding money and telling her he had a weapon, she said.
“All I could think about was my kids, my husband and that I was going to die in the place that I loved,” she said. “Mr. Jones’ eyes: I see them everywhere I go, every night when I go to bed.”
She said after she gave Jones $400 from the desk at the front of the office, he put her in the office bathroom. The motion-activated video cameras in the ACA offices recorded the sequence of events and those videos were played twice for the jury.
Enterprise Police Investigator Chris Hurley testified a red 2000 Ford Focus vehicle parked at ACA Financial the night of the robbery and previously reported stolen by its owner was found in Jones’ possession when he was stopped in DeFuniak Springs on unrelated charges.
After the jury deliberated 15 minutes, they asked to view the videos again and Barr granted their request. After 30 additional minutes of deliberation, the jury asked the judge to re-state the first-degree robbery charge and the charge for the lesser included offense of second-degree robbery. They then deliberated less than 10 minutes before finding Jones guilty of first-degree robbery. 
After the jury was dismissed, Barr told Jones because he has three or more prior felony convictions he faces a life sentence with or without parole at his March 1 sentencing in Coffee County Circuit Court.