A federal armed-robbery trial in Washington took an extraordinary turn when jurors examining clothing during deliberations discovered suspected drugs and Chinese currency that police, prosecutors and defense attorneys apparently had overlooked.

Shamell Naquan Joyner was standing trial on 28 charges stemming from a series of convenience-store robberies, gas-station holdups and armed carjackings across Washington, Maryland and Northern Virginia in the spring of 2023.

The trial lasted about a month and included 10 days of testimony. But it was during the jury’s second day of deliberations that the previously unknown items were discovered.

Jurors were examining a jacket and sweatshirt that had been admitted as evidence when one juror reached into the breast pocket of the jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper containing a white powdery substance.

The jury foreperson later told the court that some of the substance spilled before the juror returned it to the pocket and placed the jacket back inside its evidence bag.

Another juror then searched a pocket in the sweatshirt and discovered a crumpled Chinese yuan banknote.

Neither item had previously been identified as evidence by investigators or attorneys involved in the case. Joyner had not been charged with possessing drugs.

The unexpected discovery immediately raised questions about whether jurors might be unfairly influenced by evidence that had never been introduced or tested during the trial.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras expressed disbelief that investigators had failed to discover the items before the clothing was sent into the jury room.

“The Court shares Mr. Joyner’s amazement at law enforcement’s failure to uncover the Chinese Yuan, note, and powdery substance in the physical evidence,” Contreras later wrote.

The judge also joked with one of Joyner’s attorneys, John Liolos, about police failing to find the money.

“Mr. Liolos, who I know is from New York, is probably astonished that any money got past the police department,” Contreras said in court.

The FBI declined to explain how the items went undetected. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington also did not directly answer questions about the apparent failure to search the clothing thoroughly.

Clothing Connected Joyner to Robberies

Prosecutors accused Joyner of robbing 10 convenience stores and gas stations during April and May 2023.

The robberies allegedly began several days apart but increased in frequency. By May 2, prosecutors said, Joyner was committing multiple robberies in a single day. He was also accused of carrying out armed carjackings connected to two of the crime sprees.

The jacket and sweatshirt were important parts of the government’s case. Prosecutors said the clothing had been worn by the robber during two May 2 holdups and was later found inside a stolen Toyota recovered by police.

Although the suspected drugs and foreign currency had not been formally introduced as evidence, both items potentially supported testimony the jury had already heard.

A witness from one of the robbed 7-Eleven stores testified that the robber stole his wallet, which contained a Chinese yuan banknote that he had kept following a college trip abroad.

Another witness who cooperated with prosecutors testified that Joyner had paid him with drugs on the same night that Joyner allegedly robbed a gas station.

The discovery therefore created a serious problem: Jurors had encountered items that appeared to corroborate prosecution witnesses, but the defense had never been given an opportunity to investigate, test or challenge them.

Judge Questions Jurors Individually

Following the discovery, Contreras brought each juror into the courtroom separately.

He informed them that neither the Chinese banknote nor the suspected drugs was part of the evidence they were permitted to consider. Each juror told the court that he or she could disregard the items and decide the case using only the properly admitted evidence.

The jury was then allowed to resume deliberations.

Three days later, however, jurors reported that they had reached verdicts on only 13 of the 28 charges.

They said they remained deadlocked on the other 15 counts, which involved five alleged armed robberies and one carjacking.

“Our differences are in the areas of what constitutes a reasonable doubt and in how to determine identity beyond a reasonable doubt,” the jury wrote in a note to the judge.

Jurors added that they could not resolve those charges without additional evidence or testimony.

Contreras ended the deliberations and accepted the partial verdict.

Joyner Convicted on 13 Charges

The jury found Joyner guilty of 13 charges connected to an armed robbery in downtown Washington in April 2023 and four additional robberies and a carjacking committed in Washington and Maryland on May 2.

No verdict was reached on the remaining 15 charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the convictions carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 31 years.

“The jury’s verdict ensures the defendant will face a 31-year mandatory minimum sentence, making the D.C. community safer with this serial robber off the streets,” a spokesperson said.

Joyner’s attorneys declined to comment while the case awaits final judgment. No appeal had been filed as of the conclusion of the trial.

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