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Jury ready to deliberate in robbery trial

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XENIA — The third day of the trial for a man accused of robbing a Circle K in Fairborn concluded testimony for both the state and the defense April 12.

The morning began with the continued testimony of the 27-year-old Dayton woman who was found with Bryan Goney, 38, around 1:45 a.m., Nov. 13, 2016 at the Circle K in Xenia. Goney allegedly robbed the Circle K in Fairborn 20 minutes earlier.

According to her testimony, as she took the stand for the second time, he did just that. She confessed that she scoped out the Circle K in Fairborn for surveillance cameras and employees before she returned to the rented U-Haul van, reported back to Goney, and eventually watched him put a left glove on his hand, wrap a blue shirt around his face, zip up a black hooded sweatshirt, and grab a purse-style black bag before running inside.

Video surveillance shows a masked man hold a gun to the store manager’s body as she empties cash into his black bag. The man pictured appeared to have been wearing blue jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt, a glove on his left hand and athletic shoes.

According to the defense, though, the Dayton woman should not be trusted, and her testimony should be discarded.

As a result of giving the police her cousin’s name as her own, the woman is currently facing criminal charges of identity fraud and tampering with records. She accepted a plea deal with the prosecution in which she would testify in court and plead guilty to the two charges in exchange for the dropping of a third charge, complicity to robbery.

Defense Attorney Anthony Sullivan counted her lies aloud as he presented form after form, each signed with her falsified name, to the court.

“After all these lies, you think that your testimony — that Mr. Goney committed the robbery — you’re still standing by that testimony?” he asked her.

She responded, “Yes.”

Assistant Prosecutor David Hayes later rebutted this argument.

“The evidence makes sense most in the context of what [she] told us. Do not believe [her] because she took the stand. Do not believe her because the state put her on the witness stand. Believe her because the evidence in this case supports that version of what happened. The independent, raw evidence … corroborates what [she] said,” Hayes told the jury. “The day this [incident] happened, she told the police what happened and what she did.”

Detective Ryan Whittaker also took the stand, stating that inside the U-Haul van he found a black hooded sweatshirt, a blue T-shirt, a single left black glove, a black bag and a gun. He testified that at first sight he thought the gun was a real firearm, but upon inspection it turned out to be a BB gun. Along with these, he said he also found other articles of clothing and accessories in the van — including sunglasses, a wig, a mask and a winter hat.

After the state rested, the defense presented two witnesses, one whose testimony put Goney at a family home during the alleged robbery’s time frame and then put him in the van, barefoot, with a female passenger. In this version of the story, a third person, a male, is in the driver’s seat and then leaves before Goney gets in the van.

According to Sullivan, the athletic shoes — which Goney was allegedly wearing when the police picked him up at the Xenia Circle K, and were later found in the back of the police cruiser — are just one piece of evidence that proves Goney’s innocence. Allegedly, Goney wears a size 11 and the shoes were a size 10.

“[She’s] a liar and the shoes don’t fit,” Sullivan said during closing arguments.

Hayes asked the jury to find Goney guilty of robbery, kidnapping and abduction.

“Too many coincidences mean only one thing — that they are not coincidences at all,” he said.

The jury will receive instruction from Judge Michael Buckwalter Thursday, April 13 and will then be released for deliberation.

By Anna Bolton

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Reach Anna Bolton at 937-502-4498.