Two-week trial ends in Measure 11 conviction for Grange robber
Ryley Jeanne Morgan is likely headed to prison after receiving a guilty verdict in Josephine County Circuit Court Friday for her involvement in a robbery at the Grants Pass Grange Co-op.
Morgan entered the Grange on Oct. 21, 2011, with her infant child. She went into the dressing room, stuffed several articles of clothing into her diaper bag and hurriedly exited the store with Jerry Burt Thornton Jr., the infant’s father.
The pair ran to their vehicle in the parking lot and as store security approached Morgan she tossed her child into the car seat without buckling it. She then jumped into the passenger seat and Thornton drove away with the vehicle’s doors still open. As they were exiting the parking lot, the vehicle struck a member of store security causing non-life-threatening injuries.
Morgan was found guilty of second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery, reckless endangerment and second-degree theft. Second-degree robbery is a Measure 11 crime with a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and 10 months in prison unless the sentencing judge determines there are mitigating circumstances.
Posted on 9/8/12 3:28PM by Jared Dill
