Opinion ID: 1968753
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The February 20 Incident

Text: Just after midnight on February 20, 1991, as Harold Shelby was getting into his car four men approached him, two from the front of the car and two from the rear. The shorter of the two men at the front of the car, later identified as Fields, pointed a gun at Shelby and demanded his car keys. Shelby gave the keys to the taller man. Shelby was also robbed of several personal items. The taller man got into the driver's seat, while the men at the rear got into the back seat. Eventually, the gunman got into the front passenger seat and the car drove away. [1] Several hours later, at about 3:00 a.m., Shelby's car was stopped by the police for a routine traffic violation. At that time Fields was driving the car, a taller man named Maurice Ryans was sitting in the front passenger seat, and a young woman was riding in the back seat. Fields was arrested for driving without a permit, and Ryans was arrested after a police officer saw him kick something in the floorboard under the front passenger seat. Under the seat the police discovered a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 caliber handgun. About an hour later, at a police showup in a parking lot, Shelby identified Fields as the gunman and Ryans as the taller accomplice who drove his car. Additionally, some of Shelby's stolen property was discovered where Fields had been sitting in the back seat of a police car. Shelby also made an in-court identification of Fields at trial, indicating that there was no doubt in [his] mind that Fields was the gunman. Fields testified in his own defense at trial with respect to the events of February 20. He indicated that he got Shelby's car from Ryans and believed that Ryans had rented it from a pipehead, a crack cocaine user who would rent his car for money to purchase drugs. He also indicated that he was unaware of the gun found under the passenger seat until after his arrest.