Gang member seeks new trial in Bibb County, saying Facebook post was misused as evidence

A Facebook post used in a 2018 murder trial helped convict a murder suspect. Five years later, he is requesting a new trial, arguing the social media post should not have been used at trial, court documents show.

Addonis Rhodes, now 25, was found guilty along with another gangster, Curtis Jackson Jr., in the shooting death of Vernard Mays, a former warrant clerk for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, in 2015. Both have ties to the Crips street gang.

During the trial, a Facebook page from Rhodes’ profile was used as evidence, which prosecutors argued was an admission of guilt. Rhodes argues the post was not an admission of guilt but instead “vague rambling regarding devil worship.”

On Tuesday, prosecutors argued against a new trial, saying the judge allowed it into evidence since it was posted shortly after the shooting occurred and, since it had come from his Facebook page, the post’s origin wasn’t challenged. And, based on testimony heard in court, since Rhodes also had a gun and was the first to shoot, the post was considered relevant.

“The only reason I’m up at 5:28 in the morning now is because I’m talking to Lucifer,” the Facebook post referenced said. “Now it’s like he the only person that understands my pain, he understands the black hole in my soul, he understands my — my secrets, he understands why I kill.

“The only reason I speak to Jesus from time to time is because he told me that all the people I love and all the people that love me worship him, so he asks me why would I consider hurting the innocent,” the post said. “With the devil, I reply, because he understands me a little bit more than you do, so I know that I don’t have a soul, or if I do, I know who it belongs to ...”

Rhodes also has argued that his lawyer at the time, C. Alan Wheeler, was ineffective since he did not object to testimony from another gang member saying that he was planning to kill Jackson after the incident with Mays. If Wheeler had objected to it, he argued it would’ve changed the outcome of the case, “because the jury would further understand the lack of connection this shooting had to gang activity, and removed some highly prejudicial testimony about a planned shooting against co-defendant Jackson.”

Rhodes maintained his lawyer did not “properly present” the plea offer and, in turn, his lawyer’s efforts “fall below the level of a reasonable trial attorney and resulted in ineffective assistance to Rhodes during trial.”

Testimony heard in court said Rhodes had a .40-caliber gun when he shot Mays and the bullet fragment taken from the body was a .40-caliber projectile, according to prosecutors. They also said that Rhodes told other gang members that he had unloaded his clip and knew he had hit Mays, which “could be considered by the jury as an admission of Rhodes’ ‘secrets’ and why he kills and hurts the innocent.”

Prosecutors said because of the “substantial amount of other evidence” against Rhodes, it was “highly unlikely that this single Facebook post contributed to the verdict.”

As for defense attorney Wheeler, prosecutors said the evidence was “intrinsic to Rhodes’ charged offenses,” as he and another gang member were mad at Jackson for telling police that they were at the crime scene.

“In essence, they planned to kill him in an effort to conceal their own wrongdoings,” the prosecutors said.

The day Mays was murdered

On Oct. 27, 2015, three cars crashed in front of Mays’ mother’s house, in which some members of the Crips gang were involved, injured and in need of medical attention. One of them had a gun and drugs in a bookbag and did not want police to catch him with it, so he instructed another member to hide it in some nearby bushes, according to court testimony. The gun was hidden in one of the bushes at Mays’ house.

Mays and his mother were unaware that the gang member’s gun was hidden in their bushes. In the gang world, retrieving the gun that was left behind was a big deal because of the possibility the gun was used in other crimes, according to prosecutors and testimony heard in court.

A relative of an injured passenger retrieved the gun sometime later in the day, unbeknownst to Jackson, Rhodes and other members wanting to find it. Jackson had confronted Mays’ mother on whether she had the gun, and she said no. Not satisfied with her answer, Jackson, Rhodes and others returned to the residence later in the day armed, according to testimony.

Mays opened the door Mays’ mother heard bits and pieces of their conversation, according to her testimony in court, but it consisted of Jackson inquiring about the gun, to which Mays had replied that he did not have it. Rhodes shot Mays in his thigh, and by the time police arrived, the victim had bled out and died, according to prosecutors.

While Rhodes and the others ran to the car after the shooting, Jackson stayed in the area when law enforcement arrived.

On the day of the sentencing, after he was found guilty of Mays’ murder by a jury, Rhodes said he would always believe he was innocent, that he did not shoot and that he was expecting God to have his back at the trial.

“True enough, I was in a gang,” said Rhodes. “I had a gun before, guess what, and that ain’t a crime, me or Curtis Jackson committed no crime.”

“This community is bleeding to death,” said Circuit Judge Howard Z. Simms, who oversaw the trial and sentenced both Rhodes and Jackson. “And it’s bleeding to death because of people like the two of you.”

Rhodes and Jackson were sentenced to life for their roles in Mays’ murder. Jackson’s sentence does not include parole.

Jackson also had requested a new trial and appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which both affirmed the court’s decision on his life sentence for his role in the murder.