Jurors: Guilty on all counts

Jun. 15—EATONTON, Ga. — Ricky Allen "Juvie" Dubose is now a convicted murderer — twice over.

A Glynn County jury of six men and six women deliberated an hour and 45 minutes Monday before returning a six-count guilty verdict against the 29-year-old Madison County native.

The jury began deliberations at 5:15 p.m. and returned to the courtroom shortly before 7 p.m. with a unanimous verdict.

The verdict came on the five-year death anniversary of Sgt. Curtis Billue and Sgt. Christopher Monica, both of whom worked as officers with the Georgia Department of Corrections. The officers, both of whom lived in Baldwin County, were shot to death during an escape from a state prison transport bus on June 13, 2017 in Putnam County.

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Alison T. Burleson, who presided over the eight-day double-murder trial for more than two weeks straight, asked Putnam County Superior Court Clerk Trevor Addison to read in open court the verdict of the juror as to each charge against the defendant.

Jurors found Dubose guilty of two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of escape, and one count of hijacking a motor vehicle.

Since it is a capital case, each juror was polled by the clerk.

Each of the 12 jurors answered affirmatively to each of the three questions asked.

Now that the first phase of the trial is complete, the same jurors will entered the second phase of the trial on Tuesday.

Whatever jurors determine as punishment must be unanimous.

The prosecution team, consisting of Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III, along with Chief Assistant District Attorney Allison Mauldin, Assistant District Attorney Blayne May and Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills is seeking the death penalty.

Capital defense attorneys Amber Pittman, Nathanael Studelska, Gerald Word and Shayla Galloway, meanwhile, are hoping jurors will opt for life in prison with the possibility of parole to spare the life of their client and allow him to be medically treated while in prison.

The defense team contended from the beginning of opening statements through closing arguments that Dubose was guilty but intellectually disabled and suffered from mental illness at the time of the crimes.

Mauldin first talked with jurors about the law pertaining to the case and provided them definitions.

She first talked about the law.

"The judge gave a charge from the very beginning that your job will be to determine the facts and the law that she gives to determine a verdict," Mauldin said.

On a large television screen, she showed jurors the definition of malice and felony murder so they would have a better understanding of each of the criminal charges.

Mauldin explained that the burden of proof was on the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. She noted that in this case, the defense also carried a burden — they must prove that Dubose was mentally ill and had intellectually disabilities at the time of his crimes.

The chief assistant district attorney talked to jurors again after two of the four defense attorneys talked with jurors.

Pittman went first.

She told jurors that from the beginning of her opening statements that this case was about a terrible series of crimes, committed by a man suffering from untreated mental illness and intellectual disabilities.

"Ricky Dubose shot and killed two prison guards while trying to escape from a prison bus, and was in fact, a member of Ghost Face Gangsters," Pittman said.

She called what happened a tragedy.

Pittman said Sgt. Billue and Sgt. Monica did not deserve to die the way that they did.

"Our hearts go out to the families, our prayers go out to the families," Pittman said.

She noted that Monday marked the fifth anniversary of their deaths.

"And nothing we say up here is meant in any way to disrespect their memory or their families' losses," Pittman said.

She explained that trials are not meant to be about emotions.

"They are meant to be places where the truth is found," Pittman said. "We come to court to hear the truth, even if we might not like what the truth is. And that is what we're asking you to do."

Pittman told jurors that Ricky Dubose was intellectually disabled and suffered from untreated mental illness at the time of the crimes.

She pointed out that several witnesses, including mental health experts, had testified that Dubose had a variety of learning disabilities from the time he was a child.

Studelska also addressed jurors.

He said Dubose's co-defendant in the murder case, Donnie Russell Rowe Jr., who was tried separately last year and convicted, had nothing to lose.

"Donnie had nothing to lose," Studelska said. "He was never getting out."

Rowe was already serving a life sentence for other crimes.

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Brenda H. Trammell sentenced Rowe to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole after jurors were unable to decide unanimously on sentencing him to death.

Since Rowe was already serving a life sentence for previous convictions of felony crimes, he is serving three life terms.

"Sgt. Monica and Sgt. Billue did not deserve that at all," Studelska said.

The defense attorney admitted that Dubose was guilty the crimes but that he was never the mastermind of any plan to escape.

"That's what this case boils down to," Studelska said. "The state has put forth a lot of evidence. You've seen it."

Such evidence includeded photographs, guns and shell casings.

"All of that points to one thing, and that is Mr. Dubose shot and killed Sgt. Billue and Sgt. Monica," the defense attorney said. "He did. He knew what he was doing. No one is saying he didn't know the difference between right and wrong. But that's not what this is about. Was he mentally ill? Is he intellectually disabled? Those are the questions you need to answer."

Studelska told jurors there was no mastermind.

He said what happened on the prison transport bus was impossible to plan.

"There was not a single inmate on that bus that knew what was going to happen," Studelska said. "They didn't even know they were going to be transported until hours before they got on the bus."

Maudlin said the state has proven the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.

"The defense — they agree," she said.