Two Peachtree

City college students have been convicted of damaging two mailboxes in

a late-night incident at the Planterra Ridge subdivision in September.

David G. Mitchell

and Justin T. Belill, both 22, were found guilty of two counts of criminal

trespassing by a Fayette County State Court jury. They were acquitted

on the other nine counts of criminal trespassing which alleged they damaged

nine other mailboxes on the same night.

State Court

Judge Fletcher Sams delayed sentencing in the case until next week.

Two witnesses

testified that they saw a white truck strike one of the mailboxes before

it pulled into a driveway at a cul-de-sac in the subdivision.

Neither witness

could positively identify who was in the truck. Police later determined

that Belill and Mitchell were the two occupants of the vehicle, said State

Court Solicitor Steve Harris.

Belill testified

and denied damaging any of the mailboxes. Mitchell testified that he was

passed out after drinking heavily that night and couldn't remember what

occurred.

One of the

witnesses, David Werner, said he and his sister Claire had just come home

from a concert in Atlanta when they heard a loud "celebratory"

noise that alerted them to a white truck driving down the street. They

looked up and saw someone in the passenger side of the truck strike a

mailbox with a foreign object, the Werners testified.

David Werner

said he didn't pay attention to who was driving the vehicle because he

was more focused on trying to get the truck's tag number. He said he thought

the driver was lost because the truck turned onto a street that ended

with a cul-de-sac.

Werner said

he was surprised when the truck entered the driveway and never returned

to the street.

Werner said

he couldn't get the truck's tag number because he slipped and fell on

the lawn while running to the street and dialing 911 on his cell phone

at the same time.

Mitchell and

Belill were represented by attorney Scott Ballard, who tried to convince

the jury that David Werner couldn't have seen where the truck was parked

in the Belill's driveway since that location could not be viewed from

the street.

Ballard also

pointed out that on the 911 tape played in court, David Werner said the

occupants of the truck damaged two mailboxes. Werner testified Monday

that he saw only one of the mailboxes damaged by someone in the truck.

David Werner admitted that he may have "assumed" the second

mailbox was damaged by someone from the truck after he heard a banging

sound moments before he saw the original mailbox damaged.

"A brown

wooden object came out of the window in someone's hand," David Werner

said as he described how one of the mailboxes was damaged.

When first

questioned by police, Belill indicated he was alone that evening and had

been home an hour and a half before police came to his door, Harris said.

Belill later admitted that he had driven Mitchell home after they went

to two local bars, Harris said.

Ballard said

Belill was trying to protect his friend from being hassled because Mitchell

was very upset that evening.

Back

to News Home Page | Back

to the top of the page