As Rock Hill man was signing his plea deal, jury said guilty; judge said life

John Perry waited. Plead guilty, or possibly get to go home.

But waiting to accept a plea deal cost Perry, on trial for shooting at a trainee Rock Hill cop, the rest of his life in prison.

Perry was on trial this week at the Moss Justice Center in York on charges of attempted murder in the 2016 shooting at Rock Hill Police Officer Dalton Taylor.

Perry did not accept a plea deal before a jury found him guilty, prosecutors said. Judge Paul Burch sentenced Perry, with a criminal record dating back three decades, to life in prison without parole.

Perry had a plea deal of 12 years in front of him in a holding cell as the jury deliberated.

But the jury reached a guilty verdict on the second day of deliberations, before Perry had formally pleaded guilty and a judge had a hearing on any potential plea agreement, said 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Chris Epting.

The prison plea offer was 15 years before the trial, but was dropped to 12 years as the jury deliberated, Epting said.

“There was an offer of 12 no-parole years, and while he was signing the paperwork in the holding cell, the jury sent out a note saying it had a verdict. That verdict was guilt on the attempted murder he was tried on,” Epting said.

Epting said he conferred with Kevin Brackett, 16th Circuit Solicitor. The prosecutors’ position is that the jury came back with the guilty verdict before the plea deal was done, so the verdict should stand.

Perry said in court after the verdict that he would appeal.

Perry’s lawyer, Bill Nowicki, made a motion in court that the deal was done, and that Perry should have been allowed to plead guilty even if the jury came back before the plea deal was formally accepted.

The judge denied Nowicki’s motion and upheld the life sentence and guilty verdict, saying he hadn’t had a chance to have a hearing on a plea.

“We had a deal before the jury verdict,” Nowicki said after court. He declined further comment.

Perry was pulled over by officers Taylor and Sean Bailey in June 2016 on Cherry Road in Rock Hill for what Epting and fellow prosecutor Jessica Holland said was a routine traffic stop. Taylor was a trainee officer at the time.

Perry fled on foot, and after reaching a fence, shot at Taylor who was in pursuit, Epting said. Taylor returned fire, hitting Perry in the torso.

Perry escaped and was caught days later near Columbia.

In a statement to police, Perry said he ran because he knew that he was wanted on outstanding warrants, but that he did not try to kill Taylor.

Perry was wanted on a felony child abuse charge. He had failed to show up for court at the time of the 2016 shooting, records show.

A witness, who saw the incident from a nearby window, testified that Perry’s version of what happened was not true, Epting said.

That witness “saw the defendant, John Perry, fire two shots behind his back directly at Dalton Taylor,” Epting said.

The jury’s verdict validates the testimony of Taylor and Bailey, that Perry shot at officers first, Epting said.

“Officer Taylor was a trainee at the time. He had to make a decision, in the blink of an eye, that was a life and death situation,” Epting said.

Capt. Mark Bollinger of the Rock Hill Police Department released a statement to The Herald about the outcome of the trial: “The Rock Hill Police Department is pleased with the outcome of the trial of John Perry; although, we feel this incident could have been avoided had Mr. Perry complied with officer’s commands. We are thankful Officer Taylor was not injured during the incident, and we are grateful to the York County Solicitor’s Office and their work prosecuting this case.”

Perry, a convicted felon, was barred from possessing a weapon, said Epting.

Taylor said in court he “is a human being” and was “just trying to do his job” protecting the public. He declined further comment after the ruling.

Prosecutors will continue to take “very seriously” any assaults or violence against officers, Epting said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 9:05 PM with the headline "As Rock Hill man was signing his plea deal, jury said guilty; judge said life."