Opinion ID: 223154
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Wainwright’s Testimony

Text: 4 After the government rested its case, Wainwright made a Rule 29 motion for acquittal on the basis of insufficiency of the evidence. The district court denied his motion. 18 Next, Wainwright testified in his own defense. Wainwright was friends with both Smith and Richitelli. Wainwright talked to Smith for twenty-one minutes on August 12, 2009 about Smith’s desire to “come down” to purchase marijuana and other drugs. On August 18, 2009, Smith and Wainwright met at Richitelli’s thrift store so Smith could obtain growing lights from Wainwright. Prior to that day, none of Smith and Wainwright’s phone conversations involved committing a robbery. While at Richitelli’s store, Smith found out that he could obtain marijuana through Richitelli. Smith and Wainwright did not discuss any robbery at Richitelli’s store. Wainwright was not involved in any surveillance activities on August 21, 2009. Instead, on the 20th , Richitelli called and asked Wainwright to come to his thrift shop to speak with Richitelli’s brother Scott about a paint job. On August 21, 2009, Richitelli asked Wainwright to give Smith a ride to a woman’s house on Pembroke Road. Wainwright picked Smith up from Richitelli’s house around 7:00 a.m. and took him to a residential area near the Pembroke station (the last pick-up station). Wainwright drove Smith to the woman’s house in a Volkswagen Passat registered to Wainwright’s cousin Phil Hunt. When Smith and Wainwright arrived, however, Smith told Wainwright that they needed to wait because the woman’s significant other was still at home. 19 Wainwright anticipated that they would wait only a few minutes, but the wait lasted two hours. During the wait, Wainwright spoke to Richitelli several times via cell phone. Wainwright eventually dropped Smith off and left to meet Richitelli at the Sunoco (the University station) so that they could go together to the potential paint job. Richitelli eventually cancelled the meeting altogether and told Wainwright that the meeting would take place early the next week. The next Monday, August 24, 2009, Richitelli repeatedly called Wainwright to schedule the meeting for Tuesday, August 25, 2009. Up through the evening of August 24, 2009, Wainwright had no discussions about any robbery with either Richitelli or Smith. The morning of August 25, 2009, Richitelli and Smith called Wainwright repeatedly. Wainwright’s plan that morning was to pick Smith up at Richitelli’s house, drop Smith off at Smith’s girlfriend’s house, and go to meet Richitelli about the prospective paint job. When he took Smith to the woman’s apartment, Smith told him to keep going, as the woman’s significant other was once again there. Smith was wearing all black that morning, but Wainwright did not ask him why. They left the area of the woman’s apartment and went to the DMV, but returned when Richitelli called about the paint job. Smith again refused to leave 20 the car, so Wainwright went to a bakery to get some coffee and then to a Valero gas station. Richitelli called and instructed Wainwright to drop Smith off and to come meet Richitelli to do the paint job. After Wainwright drove around the block, Smith got out his gloves and began to put them on. When Smith refused to answer Wainwright’s questions about the gloves, Wainwright pulled to the side of the road. Richitelli called and told Wainwright not to worry about Smith’s gloves, and to come meet Richitelli about the paint job. Smith, however, refused to get out of Wainwright’s car. Wainwright then proceeded toward the Sunoco at Taft and University, beginning the sequence of events that led to Detective Soubasis pulling him over. After Detective Soubasis instructed them to keep their hands up and Smith failed to comply, Wainwright asked Smith what he was doing. Smith replied that he was hiding the gloves. Wainwright had seen the firearm found in the car before, at Richitelli’s house, but he had not previously seen the white towel. Wainwright did not put the firearm in the towel under the front seat. Wainwright told the arresting officer that he was going to a paint job. Wainwright also told Soubasis he was giving Smith a ride to Smith’s girlfriend’s house so that Smith could spend time with her and collect some belongings. At the end of his direct 21 examination, Wainwright reiterated that he was not involved in the planning of the robbery, and that he did not plan to participate in the robbery.