news-record.com

HIGH POINT (MCT) — A man serving prison time for his role in an attempted armed robbery of a fast-food restaurant six years ago will stay behind bars after a court ruling affirmed the judgments against him.

The N.C. Court of Appeals said this week that Shaynio Marcus Thomas got a fair trial free of mistakes. He was convicted last year of attempted armed robbery, five counts of second-degree kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with an August 2003 incident at KFC on North Main Street.

It was the third time Thomas, 45, went to trial on the charges. He was convicted in June 2004, but the appeals court determined that a procedural error had occurred in his case and granted him a new trial. The second time the case went to court, a mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked in its attempts to reach a verdict.

Prosecutors said Thomas was one of two armed men with their faces covered who entered the KFC around 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2003, and ordered three customers and two employees into the kitchen area. The men tried in vain to open the restaurant's cash registers and get access to the safe before they gave up and ran out the back door.

Moments later, a High Point police officer responding to an armed-robbery call spotted Thomas walking on Long Street behind the restaurant. Thomas ran from the officer, but police caught him a short time later hiding under a car. He was sentenced to at least 22 years in prison.

Thomas argued on appeal that the judge in his April 2008 trial erred in calculating his prior record level in relation to three felonies for which he was convicted in New York. He also claimed the trial court should have suppressed evidence gathered against him because he was detained by the officer without probable cause. These and other arguments he made were rejected by the appeals court.