Five-Day Trial Over a Filched Bottle of Wine : The Verdict: Jurors took five days to find Jerry Lynn Leary not guilty of robbing a liquor store at toenail clipper-point, but guilty of petty theft.

The case was titled People vs. Leary. If convicted of a felony, the homeless man stood to get seven years in prison.

His crime? Stealing a $1.39 bottle of wine and threatening a Skid Row liquor store clerk with a pair of toenail clippers.

But when the five-day trial ended Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, jurors wondered aloud why the case of Jerry Lynn Leary was even in court.

Each day, Leary was brought into Judge Stephen Lachs’ court under guard and in handcuffs. He wore blue jail overalls and often argued with his attorney over the finer points of law.

It began with Leary’s arrest last Nov. 30 at the Blue Beard Market, 450 S. Main St.

That morning, Mohd Harunun Rashid, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was cashiering at the tiny liquor store wedged between an adult movie house and a fried chicken outlet--an area of downtown where wine is served up in paper bags on the streets.

Rashid testified that Leary asked for a couple of bottles of wine and he brought to the counter two bottles of Cisco--a quart bottle of the orange-tinted variety, and a 16-ounce bottle of the grape.

Rashid said that Leary grabbed the grape wine from his hands and, wielding a pair of toenail clippers, threatened to “cut my neck.” Leary left the store and commenced to drink half the bottle before Los Angeles police showed up and arrested him.

Rashid told the jury that he feared for his life.

Court-appointed defense attorney James Vitek argued that Leary actually had intended to pay for the wine, but Rashid “overreacted” because of past experiences with thefts.

The defense further argued that there were no fingerprints on the nail clippers and that they were sitting on the counter when police found them.

Leary was taken to jail and later charged with second-degree robbery with special circumstances, a felony which could have put him in prison for years if convicted. Leary had two previous convictions--one for drug possession and another for auto theft, prosecutors said.

Before going to trial this time, the district attorney tried to negotiate a plea bargain with the defendant, which would have resulted in jail time. But Leary stood fast, insisting he was not guilty.

After days filled with jury selection, testimony by witnesses, and examination of two wine bottles--one half consumed--and the nail clippers, the day came for the finale.

In an impassioned closing argument, Deputy Dist. Atty. David Campbell turned to the jurors.

“You may be saying right now, ‘Where is the murder, the armed kidnap, the rape? Isn’t this an inconsequential case for a felony conviction?’ But a half bottle of wine is gone. It’s history. It was the defendant’s intent to permanently deprive Mr. Rashid of his property. Property is property, no matter how slight.”

The jury retired Friday morning to sort it out. They had to determine if Leary was guilty of petty theft and simple battery, both misdemeanors, or second-degree robbery with a deadly weapon.

It took the jurors only five hours--hardly time for a fine old wine to breathe properly--to reach their verdict.

They found Leary not guilty of robbing Rashid at toenail clipper-point. However, they found him guilty of petty theft, for which he could serve further jail time.

“We wondered why we were even hearing this case,” said jury foreman Wilma Hairston. “It shouldn’t have gotten this far in the justice system.”

As for the toenail clippers, she said, “We didn’t know what to make of them.”