An Enterprise man who waited almost four years for his criminal case to be heard by a jury was found "not guilty" after deliberations of less than an hour.
Morris Rivers Jr. was arrested in January 2008 on a charge of theft of property, first degree.
Rivers was arrested and later indicted after police said an investigation determined Rivers had failed to pass on money he received from the sale of a customer's car.
Prosecutor Scherryl Harrison told the jury Rivers was given a check for $24,000 and $500 cash by a customer who purchased a 2004 convertible Thunderbird Roadster in November 2007. Morris Rivers Motors LLC was entitled to $500 for handling the sale of the car.
Morris Rivers Motors LLC acquired the car under a consignment agreement that was signed by an employee of the company and Steven Morgan, who was handling the car transaction on behalf of his deceased mother's estate.
Rivers' attorney Gary Bradshaw never denied claims that Morgan has yet to receive any money from the sale of the car, but said that fact did not mean Rivers is a criminal.
Bradshaw said Morgan's complaint is a civil matter against Morris Rivers Motors LLC and his client was wrongfully arrested.
At the time, Rivers was one of three members of Morris Rivers Motors LLC created by Rivers, Roger Collier and James Redd, but Bradshaw said Rivers was the only person arrested in connection with Morgan's complaint.
During the course of the trial, jurors learned that instead of endorsing the $24,000 check to Morgan or depositing it into a company account, Rivers' endorsed the check and gave it to a representative of a finance company who was threatening to close the business because of its mounting debt.
Rivers took the stand and said he "tried to do the right thing" and offered a partial payment to Morgan, but Morgan refused to accept the check.
Rivers told the court Morris Rivers Motors LLC owed $100,000 to the finance company when he made the decision to give Morgan's money to the company's representative.
"He (Morgan) is entitled to the money," Rivers said. "Morris Rivers LLC owes you money Mr. Morgan."
In order to find Rivers' guilty of first-degree theft of property, the jury had to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Rivers' intentionally deceived Morgan when he decided to endorse the check and give it to a third party.
Harrison said Rivers' actions became criminal when he endorsed the check, but Bradshaw said Rivers just made a bad decision.
"Did he (Rivers) steal from Mr. Morgan or did he make a bonehead decision," Bradshaw said in his closing argument. "He made a bonehead decision."
It is not known at this time if Morgan plans to file a civil lawsuit against Rivers or Morris Rivers Motors LLC.
Rules of Conduct
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Current users sign in here.
Register