Prosecutor Steve Neff told a federal court jury on Wednesday morning that Rejon Taylor masterminded the carjcking and kidnapping of Atlanta restaurant owner Guy Luck, then fatally shot him in the mouth.
Defense attorney Bill Ortwein told the panel in the courtroom of Judge Curtis Collier that the government's two star witnesses - co-defendants Joey Marshall and Sir Jack Matthews - have told multiple stories about what happened on Aug. 6, 2003.
The jury was selected after two days in the first death penalty case in the history of the Eastern District of Federal Court.
Judge Collier said there will be court four days a week in the case, which is expected to last up to six weeks. The jurors are not sequestered.
There are 12 jurors and six alternates.
Taylor, who was 19 when the incident happened, faces charges of murder, carjacking and kidnapping. He is also charged with being involved in a failed escape attempt at the Hamilton County Jail in which some guards were attacked, but that case will be tried later.
Prosecutor Neff said Taylor in 2001 began targeting mail boxes of wealthy residents of the Buckhead section of Atlanta, looking for personal information so he could steal their identities.
He said the next year he graduated to grand larceny, taking high-value items, and then began breaking into several Buckhead homes - including some multiple times.
The prosecutor said one of those targeted was Guy Luck, who had come from France and started a highly successful French restaurant in Atlanta. He had changed his name and pronounced it Gee Luke.
Prosecutor Neff said he had a home in Buckhead, but was also building a new one closer to his restaurant.
He said by the spring of 2003 that Rejon Taylor was stalking Guy Luck, including following him around and one time eating in his restaurant.
He told the jury that on Aug. 6, 2003, that Taylor went with Marshall and Matthews to the Luck home and saw his white van there. He said Taylor initially stayed in the car and the other two - armed with handguns - went up the residence. However, Marshall decided to come back to the car.
However, he said Matthews then hid under the van and the restaurant owner was kidnapped.
Prosecutor Neff said a neighbor involved in a watch program spotted the burgundy Chevrolet Impala driven by Taylor that day and took down the tag number. It was his mother's vehicle.
He said Taylor began driving the van with Matthews guarding the restaurant owner. Marshall was driving the Impala behind the van.
Taylor began to drive north on I-75, stopping once for gas. He eventually pulled off at the Collegedale exit and drove some back roads. He was on Spaulding Road when Guy Luck decided to try to get away. He lunged at Matthews, who fired a shot at him. He pulled the trigger again, but the gun did not go off. Then the restaurant operator was able to knock the gun from Matthews.
He said at this point Taylor turned and fired a shot that wounded both Guy Luck and Marshall. The restaurant operator then lunged toward Taylor, who shot him in the mouth.
The pair then left in the Impala with Marshall. They split up $600 taken from the hostage on their way back to Atlanta.
Guy Luck was flown by LifeForce helicopter to Erlanger Hospital, where he died after doctors tried several hours to save him.
The prosecutor said officers found a partial fingerprint in blood on the van that matches to Taylor.
Attorney Ortwein said the plan had been for a robbery, not a murder.
He told the jury it was Guy Luck who had "started the fight" in the car.
The veteran defense attorney and former state senator, who said he is trying his last case, emphsized the young age of Taylor said both Marshall and Matthews were high school dropouts. He said Marshall had made a living selling drugs and Matthews had been a "bully" when he was in school.
He said Marshall was not only involved in the jailbreak attempt at the Hamilton County Jail, but had been violent at the Bradley County Jail later.
The government plans to call about 25 witnesses.
The first was county Det. Chris Chambers, who said items scattered in the van "were covered in a massive amount of blood."
Det. Chambers said in the van were found a 9-mm. Ruger pistol and a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. He said the pistol had a spent casing jammed in it so that it would not fire. He said the revolver had two live rounds still in it and three had been fired.
He said he found identifying papers on the victim and called the Atlanta restaurant. He said he spoke with the chef, then a co-owner, who then drove to Chattanooga.
He said officers began looking for a burgundy Impala with two black males seen speeding from the murder scene.
He said a break came in the case came when a Luck neighbor that morning was arriving home when she saw two black males in a burgundy Impala turning around in her driveway. She followed the vehicle and got the tag number.
The detective said the tag traced back to Taylor's mother, who said her son and Marshall were using it.
The vehicle was later found in a park, where it had been partially stripped. Det. Chambers said there were some blood stains in the vehicle. He also found a receipt from a travel center in Cartersville, Ga., where the pair had apparently stopped on the way to Chattanooga.
He said Matthews was dropped off at Grady Hospital in Atlanta for treatment of his wounds.
Prosecutor Poole said the bullet was removed from Matthews and it matched the bullet that killed the murder victim.