East Bay man convicted in foiled Bennett Valley jewelry store robbery

A jury Monday convicted an East Bay man of armed robbery and assault with a firearm for his role in a thwarted 2014 robbery at Bennett Valley Jewelers in Santa Rosa that left three people wounded by gunfire.

But the six-man, six-woman jury could not agree whether to convict Johnny Tasker Douglas Jr., 35, of aggravated kidnapping or attempted murder, resulting in a mistrial on those two charges. Barring a successful retrial, Douglas no longer faces the possibility of life in prison.

The question the jury couldn’t resolve with a unanimous vote was whether Douglas was liable for the actions of his suspected accomplice, Jimmy Lee Terry, who is suspected of grabbing a clerk, holding a revolver to her head and using her as a human shield while exchanging gunfire with store owner Ty Visscher.

Douglas had come in behind Terry, a 44-year-old Oakland resident, and was smashing the glass tops of jewelry cases containing expensive Rolex watches and filling a bag with merchandise until he was shot in the gunfire, according to police and the surveillance footage of the July 10, 2014, encounter at the Yulupa Avenue store.

Douglas is shown on the video, which was viewed in court, falling to the ground and dragging himself out the front door. He got away, leaving in a stolen vehicle, and wasn’t arrested until about three months later. Terry also was shot and apprehended outside the store by an off-duty officer.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday. Just before 3 p.m. Monday, the forewoman told Judge Dana Simonds she believed they would not be able to reach a unanimous decision on the kidnapping and attempted murder charges.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Urioste asked Simonds to allow the jury to continue deliberating, but the judge said she felt the jury had reached an impasse.

Outside the courtroom, several jurors gathered to discuss their deliberations with the attorneys. One juror confirmed in an interview that the sticking point was whether Douglas was liable for the other man’s actions in this particular circumstance. The legal question was whether a reasonable person would expect that an aggravated kidnapping and attempted murder would occur.

Douglas’ attorney Joe Bisbiglia said his client could not have predicted precisely what occurred that day, including the fact that the store owner took a forceful stance and brandished a gun in defense of his employee.

“In his mind, that was not a reasonably foreseeable outcome,” Bisbiglia said of his client.

Urioste said it was too soon to say whether the District Attorney’s Office would attempt to retry Douglas.

“It was a complex issue,” Urioste said. “The jury worked very hard for two and a half days and came up with what they believed was a just verdict.”

Urioste said Douglas faces a maximum of nine years in state prison for the convictions, plus the possibility of two additional years if Simonds determines at a Wednesday hearing any prior convictions warrant additional time.

The prosecution of Terry has been suspended while doctors evaluate his psychological competency and ability to stand trial. Terry’s next court hearing is scheduled for May 11.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.