Rossville pharmacy theft case centers on 'open till' argument

LAFAYETTE, Ga. - For about two weeks, Judy Grimmett said, she watched her husband's pharmacy through the eyes of their new, $3,000 security cameras.

In late 2009 or early 2010 - the precise timeline isn't exactly clear - an employee of Longley's Pharmacy in Rossville came to Grimmett's husband, Jerry, to complain about their cashier. The employee had seen the cashier, Sharon Gregg, stuff some bills into her pockets. And she hadn't just seen it once.

"We couldn't believe it," Grimmett said. "We didn't want to believe it."

Nevertheless, she and her husband bought the expensive security cameras: one to the right of the cash register, one in the ceiling directly above it. At first, their amateur investigation hit some snags. For example, they didn't know the security footage would record over itself if they didn't download the tapes.

But eventually, they captured videos of Gregg at work. Grimmett brought the tapes home and studied them, watching Gregg and the other cashier - for comparison's sake.

"I would watch it over and over," she said, "making sure I didn't make any mistakes."

And sure enough, she said, Gregg was taking cash, taking some extra dollars here and there when people paid for their medications. Also, cash register records showed Gregg pushed a button to input the transactions as "no sale," making it impossible to see how much each of those total purchases were.

Her husband contacted Rossville police. An officer saw the same things they did on the security footage, and the department charged Gregg with theft by taking, a felony.

As far as criminal investigations go, the facts appeared pretty basic. And yet, the case has lingered, as defense attorney McCracken Poston poked away at the evidence. Finally, the jury trial began this week, seven years after the alleged crime.

Poston, who successfully asked judges to push the case back several times over the years, framed Gregg's defense around Grimmett's habits as her husband's bookkeeper. He argued that she ran the cash register at Longley's Pharmacy as an "open till," basically making it impossible to know who was taking what from the pharmacy.

Poston has argued the employees teamed up and testified against Gregg because she was leaving for another job, and her absence would hurt the funding for the company pension.

On Tuesday, as he cross examined Grimmett in Walker County Superior Court, he argued that Grimmett gave Gregg the green light to take money from the register before her arrest. Sometimes, she used the cash to buy holiday decorations for the store or lunch for employees.

Grimmett testified that she gave Gregg a raise of an extra $50 every two weeks. And rather than just adding the money to her paychecks, Grimmett gave it to her as cash so she wouldn't have to pay tax on it. She said she also gave Gregg permission to take the money from the cash register herself.

"But she didn't have to sneak around," Grimmett said. "You don't have to hide it and sneak it out so nobody sees. Maybe I'm saying things I shouldn't be saying."

In 2015, after a two-year legal fight, the Georgia Court of Appeals told Poston he could subpoena the pharmacy's 1099 forms, which are tax documents showing cash payments to workers. He said the subpoena revealed the pharmacy did not have any such documents, even though they hired "off the books" employees. Gregg's daughter, for example, testified during a pretrial hearing that she worked at the pharmacy one or two days a week over four years. She said she received payment in cash, but there is no 1099 for her.

When employees used money out of the cash register to pay for supplies and lunches, Grimmett said they returned with receipts. But Poston said he never got copies of those receipts or paperwork showing reconciliation of the cash register funds, even though he asked for that information.

"We didn't run our business to cheat the government," she said. "Maybe we didn't do everything we were supposed to. I did the best I could."

photo Johnnavious Marsh, charged with aggravated sodomy, attempted to run away from Walker County Superior Court before his trial began Tuesday.

An escape plan, halted

Across the street Tuesday, Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. declared a mistrial against Johnnavious Marsh after Marsh hopped up from his seat and tried to run away. Even though he wore a leg brace to restrict his ability to flee, Marsh sprinted to the back of the courtroom and slammed into the door.

The door halted his escape. It opens inward, and he pushed out with force. His effort caused a slight crack in the door, but he couldn't get out of the room in time.

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said the runaway plan occurred during voir dire, when attorneys vetted potential jurors for Marsh's trial on a charge of aggravated sodomy. He didn't yell or threaten anyone, but "there was a lot" of commotion while the deputies tried to slap handcuffs back on him.

Wilson said the sheriff's office will charge him today with criminal attempt to escape.

Contact Staff Writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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