Transcript Staff Writer

Opening comments in a trial for a man charged with the robbery of a Norman convenience store last July are expected today in the courtroom of District Judge Tom Lucas.

Travis Yates, 19, Norman, is charged with robbing the Classen Convenience Store at 2760 S. Classen Blvd. around 11:30 p.m. July 20. According to a court affidavit, the store clerk was robbed by a man wearing a mask and brandishing a firearm.

A woman driving past the store reportedly saw a man running from the store and entering a white car. When the suspect vehicle passed the witness's vehicle, she got the tag number and notified police. Police arrested three people at a Noble convenience store where the vehicle had stopped. Yates is accused of driving the car while a juvenile suspect robbed the Norman store, according to court records.

Testimony in the trial is expected to begin today. The case is being prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Mike Tupper and Alissa Hutter. Yates is being represented by defense attorney Tyson Stanek.

In an unrelated case, Special Judge Jequita Napoli began presiding over a domestic abuse case Monday. The trial was being conducted in the courtroom of District Judge Bill Hetherington.

A robbery trial is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the courtroom of District Judge Lori Walkley.

Brian Messina, 29, Norman, is accused of entering an apartment last July 20, striking and robbing a man of several items.

Aaron Rains Prado, 23, Shawnee, is scheduled to go on trial next Monday in Hetherington's court. Prado is charged in the shooting death of Andrew "Drew" Supernaw, 27, Anadarko.

A jury trial for Russell James Sifert, 26, Norman, was circumvented Monday when Sifert accepted a plea negotiation. Sifert will be sentenced later. Sifert is charged with shooting with intent to kill, in the Oct. 29, 2007, shooting of Oscar Perez at a Halloween party in the 700 block of Tiffin Avenue.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com