PANAMA CITY — Attorneys began selecting jurors to decide the fate of a Panama City man accused of killing a Panama City Beach marijuana distributor he planned to rob before the tables turned and he found himself at gunpoint.
Randy Jackson, 24, could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted as charged with manslaughter, attempted robbery with a firearm and other charges. Judge James Fensom told potential jurors he expected testimony in a three-day trial to start Tuesday.
Jackson was arrested July 10, just hours after a gunfight at the Club condominiums in Panama City Beach that left 20-year-old Ryan Brooks dead.
According to an account from Joshua Smith, who has accepted a deal with prosecutors to testify against Jackson, some friends and he wanted to get high, so they looked for someone with marijuana to sell.
Brooks, who dated Jackson’s co-defendant Alyssa Watford, agreed to sell them two ounces of weed for $550.
Jackson and Smith had the money to pay for the marijuana, but they allegedly decided instead to attempt to rob Brooks, procuring pistols and going to the Club.
According to Smith’s account, when Jackson and Smith arrived, Brooks jumped Smith, who approached Brooks alone with a pistol and a wad of cash while Jackson waited in the car. Smith, with a pistol in his pocket, got into a vehicle where Brooks and an acquaintance, Joseph Cannizzo, waited. Brooks and Cannizzo drew pistols and smacked him in the face with a gun, and then they ordered Smith to take his pants off, Smith’s account states. Brooks and Cannizzo took Smith’s gun and money, then went to see what was in the car he drove to the meet.
Smith said he watched as Brooks opened the door to the car where Jackson waited. Seconds later, he said, he saw muzzle flashes and Brooks seemed to stumble backward. Jackson put the car in reverse and began to leave, Smith said, and Cannizzo left his vehicle and opened fire at the car as Jackson drove away.
Smith was able to escape at that point and ran away through the woods in his underwear. He and Jackson, Watford and Cannizzo were arrested shortly thereafter.
Prosecutor Bob Sombathy told jurors he expected Jackson to argue he acted in self-defense, and said the Stand Your Ground Law didn’t apply in situations where someone was attempting to commit robbery.
“If someone is committing a robbery, they cannot use deadly force — period,” he said.
Sombathy and defense attorney Rob Boyette questioned potential jurors about their views on marijuana laws and gun ownership. They were looking for anyone who felt so strongly about the prohibition of marijuana that they might feel the law itself was at least partially to blame for the crime.
“There are a lot of laws on the books ... that people don’t agree with,” Boyette said.
One juror expressed surprise that a person can be charged with robbery for stealing a prohibited substance such as marijuana.