Teh One Who Knocks
11-16-2011, 04:02 PM
Man defending himself against robbery charges gets unexpected — and unwanted — answer.
By Kevin Amerman - The Lehigh Valley Morning Call
http://i.imgur.com/XWDmB.jpg
A robbery victim startled his alleged gunman in court Tuesday and cracked up a Lehigh County jury by delivering a simple, but unexpected, answer.
Philome Cesar, representing himself in a case in which he's charged with robbing 25 area hotels, convenience stores and other businesses in a three-month period last year, asked Daryl Evans to describe what the robber sounded like.
"He sounded like you," said Evans, a night auditor who was robbed at gunpoint around 3 a.m. on June 30, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Express on Hamilton Boulevard in South Whitehall Township.
Cesar paused. Jury members looked at each other and broke into laughter.
Moments later, Cesar, 32, of Bethlehem, asked one of the 19 other witnesses who testified Tuesday to also describe what the robber's voice sounded like. After Charlotte Sine answered, "It sounded exactly like you," drawing more snickering, Cesar stopped cross-examining the robbery victims with that question.
Sine, who works the overnight shift at the A-Plus Sunoco on Hamilton Boulevard and was robbed there around 3:50 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2010, said she could see the robber's face through the "fishnet mask" he was wearing. She said after seeing and hearing Cesar on Tuesday she's "1,000-percent sure" he's the one who stole cigarettes and $43 in cash from her store at gunpoint.
"The minute I heard him talk I recognized his voice [as the robber's]," Sine told First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa. "I recognize the face and the voice."
A parade of robbery victims testified Tuesday to being robbed by a man dressed in mostly black, holding a silver handgun in his left hand — police say Cesar is left-handed — and telling victims to give him money within 10 seconds. The victims said they were forced to lie on the ground while Cesar fled the early-morning robberies.
Authorities say the robbery spree lasted from June 2 to Sept. 5, 2010, and targeted 14 hotels, nine convenience stores, a pharmacy and a pizza shop, and stretched from Quakertown to Hanover Township, Northampton County. Allentown businesses were hit the most, but businesses in Bethlehem and South Whitehall and Upper Macungie townships also were targets.
Police eventually set up a surveillance team and arrested Cesar following a Sept. 5, 2010, robbery at a 7-Eleven in south Allentown. Authorities say Cesar was caught fleeing the scene and the gun described in the robberies was found in his car. A search of Cesar's car and apartment yielded some of the stolen goods and his disguise, police said.
Cesar told the jury Tuesday he's right-handed and claimed he was charged because police searching for a black male simply happened upon him after one of the robberies while he was driving to his girlfriend's house in Bethlehem.
"The focus was on a black male," Cesar said, holding a pen in his right hand. "I guess any black male will do."
Many of the robbery victims told authorities the robber is black because he "sounded black." But Cesar disputed that, saying it's impossible to ascertain race based on somebody's voice.
David Miller, who was robbed at the 7-Eleven on W. Broad Street in Bethlehem around 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2010, disagreed.
Miller — who also had the jury roaring with laughter when he took a drink directly from a large water carafe instead of pouring some into the smaller cups at the witness stand and replied, "Sorry, I'm thirsty" — insisted you can sometimes distinguish a black person's voice from people of other races.
"African-Americans have that particular accent — the way they talk," he said. "I'm not trying to stereotype."
Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning before Judge Maria L. Dantos.
Cesar is charged with 25 counts of robbery. Each one carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
By Kevin Amerman - The Lehigh Valley Morning Call
http://i.imgur.com/XWDmB.jpg
A robbery victim startled his alleged gunman in court Tuesday and cracked up a Lehigh County jury by delivering a simple, but unexpected, answer.
Philome Cesar, representing himself in a case in which he's charged with robbing 25 area hotels, convenience stores and other businesses in a three-month period last year, asked Daryl Evans to describe what the robber sounded like.
"He sounded like you," said Evans, a night auditor who was robbed at gunpoint around 3 a.m. on June 30, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Express on Hamilton Boulevard in South Whitehall Township.
Cesar paused. Jury members looked at each other and broke into laughter.
Moments later, Cesar, 32, of Bethlehem, asked one of the 19 other witnesses who testified Tuesday to also describe what the robber's voice sounded like. After Charlotte Sine answered, "It sounded exactly like you," drawing more snickering, Cesar stopped cross-examining the robbery victims with that question.
Sine, who works the overnight shift at the A-Plus Sunoco on Hamilton Boulevard and was robbed there around 3:50 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2010, said she could see the robber's face through the "fishnet mask" he was wearing. She said after seeing and hearing Cesar on Tuesday she's "1,000-percent sure" he's the one who stole cigarettes and $43 in cash from her store at gunpoint.
"The minute I heard him talk I recognized his voice [as the robber's]," Sine told First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa. "I recognize the face and the voice."
A parade of robbery victims testified Tuesday to being robbed by a man dressed in mostly black, holding a silver handgun in his left hand — police say Cesar is left-handed — and telling victims to give him money within 10 seconds. The victims said they were forced to lie on the ground while Cesar fled the early-morning robberies.
Authorities say the robbery spree lasted from June 2 to Sept. 5, 2010, and targeted 14 hotels, nine convenience stores, a pharmacy and a pizza shop, and stretched from Quakertown to Hanover Township, Northampton County. Allentown businesses were hit the most, but businesses in Bethlehem and South Whitehall and Upper Macungie townships also were targets.
Police eventually set up a surveillance team and arrested Cesar following a Sept. 5, 2010, robbery at a 7-Eleven in south Allentown. Authorities say Cesar was caught fleeing the scene and the gun described in the robberies was found in his car. A search of Cesar's car and apartment yielded some of the stolen goods and his disguise, police said.
Cesar told the jury Tuesday he's right-handed and claimed he was charged because police searching for a black male simply happened upon him after one of the robberies while he was driving to his girlfriend's house in Bethlehem.
"The focus was on a black male," Cesar said, holding a pen in his right hand. "I guess any black male will do."
Many of the robbery victims told authorities the robber is black because he "sounded black." But Cesar disputed that, saying it's impossible to ascertain race based on somebody's voice.
David Miller, who was robbed at the 7-Eleven on W. Broad Street in Bethlehem around 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2010, disagreed.
Miller — who also had the jury roaring with laughter when he took a drink directly from a large water carafe instead of pouring some into the smaller cups at the witness stand and replied, "Sorry, I'm thirsty" — insisted you can sometimes distinguish a black person's voice from people of other races.
"African-Americans have that particular accent — the way they talk," he said. "I'm not trying to stereotype."
Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning before Judge Maria L. Dantos.
Cesar is charged with 25 counts of robbery. Each one carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.