Prosecutor Frank Sullivan told jurors during his opening statement Thursday that Rodrick Sessions, shot in the mouth during an armed robbery two years ago, was lucky to be alive to testify.
After hearing testimony from Sessions and two Springfield Police Officers, those jurors took 1 hour and 20 minutes to find Mark Salmon guilty of Robbery With a Firearm and Attempted Manslaughter for his role in the robbery and shooting of Sessions on Feb. 22, 2020.
The defendant is one of three men charged in the case, and the first to go to trial. One co-defendant is accused of shooting Sessions, the other is accused of physically taking about $2,000 from him.
Salmon was also there, armed with a pistol, according to testimony. And though he did not fire the shot or physically take money from the victim, Sullivan explained to jurors that under Florida Law, anyone who participates in a crime is culpable for whatever happens during that crime.
“If you find Mark Salmon participated in any way, he is just as guilty,” Sullivan told jurors during his closing statements. “He is a principal to it and he’s just as guilty as the person who took the money.”
Sullivan, who prosecuted the case with co-counsel Jae Hee Kim, called three witnesses, beginning with the victim.
Sessions told jurors that on the night he was robbed, he said, he was checking on his property at 3807 E. 6th St.
Sessions said he noticed flashlights in the RV parked there and then, “a dude came from behind the RV and stuck a long-barreled, like rifle, in my face.” Sessions said the man made it clear he knew he had money and he wanted it, and two other men appeared – one armed with a pistol-grip type rifle and the other with a handgun.
“They started asking, ‘Where the money at, where the money at? We know you got money,’” Sessions testified.
Sessions said he was trying to get it out of his pocket when the man with the rifle shot him, the bullet passing through his chin/lower lip. He said they forced him to the ground and told him not to look at their vehicle’s tag.
“That’s when I spit the teeth out and spit the bullet out,” he told jurors. He said after his money was taken, the men fled.
Evidence and testimony showed that Sessions had never met the men before, but when they were developed as suspects a couple of months later, he was able to identify all three of them from separate photo lineups presented by Springfield Police Sgt. James Choate.
Springfield Police Sgt. Jason Purdy testified that he took a taped statement from the defendant, and it was played in court for jurors.
The defendant also took the stand in his own defense, claiming he stayed in the car the whole time and had no idea what was happening outside. Sullivan pointed out the inconsistencies between that testimony, his original statement, and the evidence in his closing statements.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.