A judge Wednesday dismissed a bank robbery charge against a 56-year-old parolee after jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal.
Deputy District Attorney Ed Grubaugh argued for a retrial for Donnie Lee Jones, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven Bromberg granted defense attorney Alison Worthington’s motion to dismiss the second-degree robbery charge and declare a mistrial.
Jones was charged with a Dec. 16, 2013, heist at a Chase bank branch at 1235 N. Harbor Blvd. in Fullerton.
Grubaugh argued that a booking mug photo of the defendant, showing him wearing the same shirt he was seen wearing during the heist, would help jurors in another trial reach a verdict.
Bromberg, however, noted none of the witnesses in the bank robbery identified Jones as the culprit.
“The evidence in this case candidly — photo or not photo — was exceptionally weak,” the judge said. “I’m not saying he’s innocent, but I don’t think another jury will (reach a verdict).”
Jones was suspected of robbing other banks in Placentia and Fullerton in December 2012 and February 2014, but he was not charged with those heists.
According to FBI Special Agent Chris Gicking, Jones was arrested last October by Los Angeles police officers who recognized him from a just-issued “wanted poster.” He was a potential third striker with numerous felony convictions, authorities said.
Jones was convicted of two counts of bank robbery and sentenced in February 1999 to 150 months in federal prison, according to court records. He was ordered to make restitution to a bank in Anaheim at that time.
— Wire reports