Thursday, August 4, 2005

The testimony

State's Witnesses:  

1.  Officer on patrol at 6:13 am the morning of the shooting.  He is calm and collected on the stand:  

States 'G-man' was found standing on the street, talking to a known prostitute in the area. 

States he questioned 'G-man', padded him down, and released him.  The officer continued his patrol.

This officer states 'G-man' was wearing a long black shirt and jeans. He found no weapons on him.  

 

2. The second officer arrived on scene around 7:20 am.  He has a cast on his left forearm and has been off duty for a month.  He seems rather arrogant  and matter-of-factly on the stand: 

He states he took statements from Mrs. Smith, Mr. Johnson, Kim, and Joe. 

He states Mrs. Smith said the shooter wore a black leather jacket and jeans.

He states Mr. Johnson could not recall what the shooter was wearing.

He states Kim said the shooter was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans.  Joe was not interviewed.  

3.  The forensics officer.  He appears solid: 

States he found three spent rounds. Two in the kitchen with one of those inside the burner pan of the stove.  The other was in the living room.  

He found 9 spent casings (The part of a bullet that holds the rounds.  They are ejected from the gun when it fires). 

All casings were in the kitchen.  

No weapons were found.

No fingerprints were found at the scene.  

 

4. 'Tiny' comes into the court wearing his prison garb, hand and leg cuffs.  He looks everywhere but the defendant's table, until asked to identify the man who shot Mr. Smith.  He pointed at 'G-man' and described what he was wearing in court.

He states he never owned a gun. 

States he did not know 'G-man' or Mr. and Mrs. Smith. 

He testifies he did know Mr. Johnson, Sally, Kim, and Joe very well. 

'Tiny' was arrested in June of 2004, at his brother's house in the same complex where Tammy lives, for the crime in this case. 

He states 'G-man' was the shooter and was wearing a black leather coat and jeans.

He states they were all smoking crack before he left.

He states he sold Mr. and Mrs. Smith $50 worth, and was setting a deal up to get more for them.

He testifies that he left the house after the shooting and did not return.  

 

5.  Sally comes to the witness stand looking pretty hostile.  Mr. Smith's family is present in the court room and are glaring at Sally.  She uses phrases like "To the best of my recollection" and "If I'mnot mistaken" frequently.

She testifies that 'G-man' ran to her house after the shooting, banging on the back door.

She states she opened the door and 'G-man' ran in telling her he had just shot someone.

She states he ran upstairs and washed his hands, and then left.

She testifies that he was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans when he came in.

She could not recall the answers to any of the defense attorney's cross exam questions.  

 

6.  Kim enters appearing very nervous.  She took her time, but seems to be honest in her statements and memories. 

She states it was she, Mr. Johnson, and Joe in the house when 'Tiny' came over.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith soon followed him inside.

She could not state who the shooter was because she was on the porch when the event occured and said that 2 people left the house running north, toward's Tammy's house.

She identifies 'Tiny' as being one of them.

She could not identify "G-man' as the shooter in photo arrays, or in court.

She states the shooter was wearing white shirt and jeans.

She admits to them all smoking crack and that there was a deal being set up to buy more.  

 

7.  Mr Johnson had undergone a heart procedure earlier on the date of the hearing.  His testimony was video taped from his hospital bed (while we, the jury, went shopping at Borders! ;) The video quality is good, but the audio isn't.  He keeps his hand over his mouth the entire time he is talking.

He states "Tiny' came in with Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

He states he did not know "Tiny'.

He confirms the presence of Kim and Joe also.

He states 'Tiny' made some calls and left, came back and left again.

He states when 'Tiny' arrived the 3rd time, 'G-man' was with him.

He did not see what happened in the kitchen. 

He attempted to go down the hallway, but more shots were fired, so he did not enter. He says 'Tiny' and 'G-man' ran past him in the hallway before exiting the front door.

He states 'G-man' was wearing a black shirt and jeans.

He testifies the gun had a light or white handle.

He states they were all smoking the $50 worth of crack and there was a deal for more being made.

He states he did see Mrs. Smith behind her husband in the kitchen, trying to hold him up.  

 

8.  The forensic scientist appeared calm, but his hands were shaking badly.  He was demonstrating how a bullet comes apart after the firing pin hits the rim of the bullet on an oversized plastic replica.

He analyzed the gun, a .22 caliber Ruger, that is all black.

There were no fingerprints found on the gun or the casings and rounds recovered.

All the bullets were fired from this gun.

He could not state how the spent round landed in the living room. (We believed it was caught in the victim's clothing and fell out when the paramedics were working on him.  They had moved him into the living room for more space.)  

 

9.  Mr. Jones enters the witness stand very calm and matter of factly stated what he knew.

He states he took his trash out Thursday morning to be picked up.  He keeps it wired to his fence normally so it does not get knocked over or ran over in the alley.  He also has to roll the bin to the other side of the alley to be picked up by the city.  He re-wired it to his fence that evening.

He states he went to clean his garage the following morning because it was the first warm day of the season.  He went to untie his trash bin, and saw the gun behind it, under some old leaves and such. He called 911 and reported it.

He states he did not touch the weapon at all.  

 

10.  The crime lab officer was confident on the stand.

He states he went to Mr. Jones' house and retrieved the weapon.

He states the serial number was intact.

He states the gun was empty.  

 

11. Detective Mike Kent has been in the courtroom during this entire trial, sitting with the Prosecuter, of course.  He is calm, gets a little arrogant sometimes on cross examination.  But also contradicts himself on the stand once when recalling information from a witness on a previous statement.

He states he first heard 'G-man's' name from the officer who testified previously, who had found him talking to the prostitute. (a juror question)

He states he did not know that name was involved with this crime, until 'Sally' contacted him and mentioned it, some days later. 

He has been a detective for 14 years.  

 

Mrs. Smith comes onto the witness stand looking confused.  She glares over to the defense table, scowling at 'G-man' often.  She appears to be high or strung out to the jury.  She stops mid sentence and looks like she is falling asleep. 

She states she is not uner the influence at the moment, and that she does not do that anymore.

She states she and her husband went to Mr. Johnson's house to buy crack.

She states her husband asked her to go to the kitchen with him when the transaction occured. 

She states her husband and 'G-man' were haggling over the price.

She states her husband said "What are you trying to do, rob me?"

She states she never saw the gun before the shooting.

She states once she saw the gun, she grabbed 'G-man's' arm while he was shooting.

She states her hands were on the shooter's arm the entire time it was being fired.

She states she struggled with 'G-man' and he pushed her where she fell on the table in the kitchen.

She states 'G-man' and 'Tiny' ran out of the house after the shooting.

She states 'Tiny' came back into the kitchen as went through her husband's pockets.

She states her husband's money was still on his body after the shooting.  

 

The Defense only recalls one witness, Tammy. 

She was becoming upset with the defense attorney asking her the same questions.  She repeatedly said "I told you that already".  And would exhale loudly and roll her eyes. 

She did not say this time, that 'G-man' came into her house to wash his hands.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

At this point did the prosecutor rest his case?
Sam

Anonymous said...

k, I don't see Tammy's testimony....did both Sally and Tammy say that G-man came to their house to wash his hands?

also, it says Kim was on the porch...was the porch on the front or back?  and if it was on the front, how did she hear the altercation and 'are you trying to rob me?'

The 2 men ran out the front?  but he ran to the back door of Sally's?  but they ran north towards Tammy's.

...hmmmm.
xoxo~Bernie

Anonymous said...

Are you still looking for 13 jurors?  I'm not sure what verdict to make.  I have questions.  I'm wanting to talk to the other jurors-Lol!  Hugs,
Lisa

Anonymous said...

I don't get how anyone can not remember what color shirt he was wearing, black or white?  Most said white, but didn't you also mention a black leather jacket?  I could see if the shirt was another color, perhaps orangish, or bluish, how people would not remember the exact color, but seeing as they are all crack heads, I'm surprised they didn't see tie-dyed shirts.