Strelnikov
4th Level Red Feather
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
- Messages
- 1,812
- Points
- 0
I was the alternate juror on a murder trial – sat through it as one of 13. Then at the end, the judge put all 13 names in a hat, picked mine, said that made me the alternate, and sent me home. I called the next day to get the verdict. The other 12 came to the same conclusion I did, and I think justice was done.
Here are the particulars as they were presented in court – pretend that you’re Mickey Spillane and see if you can solve the case.
***
First degree murder. Victim was B/M/23, prior record of drug and theft charges. Defendant was B/M/17 at time of murder, 19 now, no prior record. They were related, cousins of some sort.
Police got a 911 call from the ‘hood on a Monday morning in Oct 2002 that reported a dead body. Residential neighborhood.
Police evidence tech testified that the body was in an area not visible from the street, probably not visible from back windows of nearest houses, grown up with weeds, trash on ground, had to go pretty far in to visually identify it as a body. From the crime scene diagram, I noted that diagonal lines from the corners of the block would have met about where the body was found, i. e. it was as far from anything as it could be on that block, possibly indicating that the murderer and/or victim had local knowledge. Victim was dead of multiple gunshot wounds. The body was found fully clothed except for shoes which were next to his feet. He was on his belly, left upper arm at his side, lower left arm at right angle and under the body, right arm at side, head turned to the right. Grass on clothing indicated he was on left side at some point, and either rolled, or was rolled, onto his front. No signs of heavy bleeding. Also found at site near the body was a hospital-type plastic wristband with victim’s name on it – not from hospital, but used to ID prisoners in the county jail. Victim was identified by police from mug shot and fingerprints, confirmed by victim’s sister.
Coroner testified that the time of death was around midnight Saturday. The victim’s blood alcohol was consistent with a few beers over several hours. Also found cocaine and metabolites indicating that he was coming down off a high when he died. Three bullet wounds found. One in face, just to the left of the nose, traveled across the inside of the skull at about 45 deg angle toward the right and slightly upward. Another above right ear, traveled straight across inside skull at a 45 deg up angle. Another in lower back, fractured 2 vertebrae and cut spinal cord, bullet fragmented, fragments traveled upward at about a 45 deg angle on the body centerline. Any of the three would have been “rapidly fatal” consistent with lack of heavy bleeding. All three inflicted at range over 3 ft but less than 10 ft. No hair, fibers, skin etc. found on victim’s hands so the shooting was probably not subsequent to a fight. Bullets were .38 cal 158 grain plain lead, formerly the standard .38 Special bullet but not a common bullet design now. My speculation is that it was old ammo, in the gun for a long time, say a gun kept for home defense but seldom fired if ever. Consistent with .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver.
Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and found two witnesses.
Female citizen lives on the NE corner of the block, had a party on Saturday night. Victim was at her party. She didn’t know him or think he lived in the neighborhood but had seen him around. ID victim from his mug shot. Said about 9 PM Saturday, victim came to the party with the defendant. Defendant asked her whether he could bring his cousin (victim) to the party. Said that at the same time, defendant’s buddy showed up separately and all 3 went into the party together. ID defendant and buddy by name, said both had been neighbors for several years. Defendant lives on the next block north, 4 houses directly north of her house. Said that all 3 were there for a while but she wasn’t sure how long as there were about 20 people there. Didn’t recall seeing any of the three after midnight. Did not hear any shots, music was playing loud. First she heard of a murder was when the police arrived on Monday morning. Body language said she was telling truth as she saw it.
Male citizen lives directly across the street from the party on the east side of street. Said that around midnight Saturday, he was on his front porch drinking beer with his brothers. Heard 3 shots from the direction where the body was found. About 2-3 minutes later, saw defendant come out from between houses in the same direction. Defendant walked away from the crime scene, past witness’s house toward his own. Said defendant was walking fast, like he was trying to get out of sight. During cross-examination, demonstrated what he meant. My take: anybody walking that way, with that body language, might as well wear a sign that says “I did it.” There was some confusion, exploited by defense atty, over whether defendant was walking north (away from the scene) or south (toward the scene) when spotted. The witness had trouble with the crime scene diagram, didn’t seem very bright. However, from local landmarks witness described, I was convinced that defendant was coming from the scene and walking away, toward his own house. Witness did not see the victim or the buddy that night, nor did he investigate further or call police. First he heard of a murder was when the police arrived on Monday morning. Body language said he was telling truth as he saw it.
Detective brought the defendant and his buddy in separately for questioning. Defendant waived his Miranda rights and made a statement. Buddy made a statement that implicated the defendant. Defendant was arrested and charged. Detective returned to neighborhood to re-canvass, was there about 20-30 minutes. During that time, defendant’s father drove slowly around the block 3-4 times.
Defendant did not testify, but his recorded statement was played as evidence. He stated that he was at the party but had not seen his cousin in about a month, thought the guy was in jail. Said the first he heard of the murder was from someone he didn’t know, had never seen before or since, who said he saw the body from the street. Said that the victim did not live with him, but had stayed there on a few occasions for a few days at a time. When pressed, admitted that there were bad feelings between him and the victim. A month prior, victim broke into defendant’s house, thumped defendant on the head, stole defendant’s jewelry, some money and a .357 Magnum revolver that belonged to defendant’s father. Defendant said he reported theft to the police, but detective testified that he could not find the incident report. My take – maybe he did report it, their record keeping on minor burglaries is terrible. Defendant said that a few days later, he and his father tracked victim down and recovered some of the money and jewelry but not the pistol. Said that was the last he saw of the victim because right after that, the victim went to jail on another charge.
The buddy was the prosecution’s main witness. He was brought into court in jail scrubs and handcuffs, was in jail on an unrelated assault charge. He said that he had not been offered a deal in exchange for his testimony. He said that he gave a statement that implicated the defendant when he was first questioned because he didn’t want the murder to land on him. He said that he did not kill the victim. He admitted that he had been dodging a witness subpoena for about 8 months because he didn’t want to testify against his friend. He said he was at the party with the defendant and victim, and that he left about midnight. Body language said he was telling truth thus far.
Buddy then said that defendant approached him on Sunday afternoon, went walking around the block. Defendant admitted killing victim, pointed out the body from the street, asked for help moving the body. He neither agreed nor disagreed, matter was dropped. His body language said that he was lying.
Prosecution rested.
Defense brought one witness only, the defendant’s father. The man basically repeated what was in the defendant’s statement, then said his son couldn’t have done it. Said his son was a good boy and upstanding citizen, never been in trouble and was now working a full time job.
Defense rested.
In his summary, the DA speculated that the victim was shot in the back while running away, then executed when he was lying on the ground paralyzed. Also speculated that defendant had tried to move the body by himself, pulled off victim’s shoes so doing. Murder with premeditation QED.
In his summary, the defense atty emphasized that the State presented no witnesses to the actual shooting. Said witness testimony about needing help moving the body was bogus, victim only weighed 145 lbs. Said the murder weapon was never recovered, there was no physical evidence linking defendant to the murder, the police never got a search warrant for defendant’s house.
DA’s rebuttal, said there was no need for a warrant or other evidence because they had a second-hand confession from the buddy’s testimony.
Case went to jury deliberation at this point.
***
Question # 1: Did he do it?
Question # 2: If yes, did the State prove its case beyond reasonable doubt?
Question # 3: For extra credit, what really happened?
I'll post the answers in a few days.
Strelnikov
Here are the particulars as they were presented in court – pretend that you’re Mickey Spillane and see if you can solve the case.
***
First degree murder. Victim was B/M/23, prior record of drug and theft charges. Defendant was B/M/17 at time of murder, 19 now, no prior record. They were related, cousins of some sort.
Police got a 911 call from the ‘hood on a Monday morning in Oct 2002 that reported a dead body. Residential neighborhood.
Police evidence tech testified that the body was in an area not visible from the street, probably not visible from back windows of nearest houses, grown up with weeds, trash on ground, had to go pretty far in to visually identify it as a body. From the crime scene diagram, I noted that diagonal lines from the corners of the block would have met about where the body was found, i. e. it was as far from anything as it could be on that block, possibly indicating that the murderer and/or victim had local knowledge. Victim was dead of multiple gunshot wounds. The body was found fully clothed except for shoes which were next to his feet. He was on his belly, left upper arm at his side, lower left arm at right angle and under the body, right arm at side, head turned to the right. Grass on clothing indicated he was on left side at some point, and either rolled, or was rolled, onto his front. No signs of heavy bleeding. Also found at site near the body was a hospital-type plastic wristband with victim’s name on it – not from hospital, but used to ID prisoners in the county jail. Victim was identified by police from mug shot and fingerprints, confirmed by victim’s sister.
Coroner testified that the time of death was around midnight Saturday. The victim’s blood alcohol was consistent with a few beers over several hours. Also found cocaine and metabolites indicating that he was coming down off a high when he died. Three bullet wounds found. One in face, just to the left of the nose, traveled across the inside of the skull at about 45 deg angle toward the right and slightly upward. Another above right ear, traveled straight across inside skull at a 45 deg up angle. Another in lower back, fractured 2 vertebrae and cut spinal cord, bullet fragmented, fragments traveled upward at about a 45 deg angle on the body centerline. Any of the three would have been “rapidly fatal” consistent with lack of heavy bleeding. All three inflicted at range over 3 ft but less than 10 ft. No hair, fibers, skin etc. found on victim’s hands so the shooting was probably not subsequent to a fight. Bullets were .38 cal 158 grain plain lead, formerly the standard .38 Special bullet but not a common bullet design now. My speculation is that it was old ammo, in the gun for a long time, say a gun kept for home defense but seldom fired if ever. Consistent with .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver.
Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and found two witnesses.
Female citizen lives on the NE corner of the block, had a party on Saturday night. Victim was at her party. She didn’t know him or think he lived in the neighborhood but had seen him around. ID victim from his mug shot. Said about 9 PM Saturday, victim came to the party with the defendant. Defendant asked her whether he could bring his cousin (victim) to the party. Said that at the same time, defendant’s buddy showed up separately and all 3 went into the party together. ID defendant and buddy by name, said both had been neighbors for several years. Defendant lives on the next block north, 4 houses directly north of her house. Said that all 3 were there for a while but she wasn’t sure how long as there were about 20 people there. Didn’t recall seeing any of the three after midnight. Did not hear any shots, music was playing loud. First she heard of a murder was when the police arrived on Monday morning. Body language said she was telling truth as she saw it.
Male citizen lives directly across the street from the party on the east side of street. Said that around midnight Saturday, he was on his front porch drinking beer with his brothers. Heard 3 shots from the direction where the body was found. About 2-3 minutes later, saw defendant come out from between houses in the same direction. Defendant walked away from the crime scene, past witness’s house toward his own. Said defendant was walking fast, like he was trying to get out of sight. During cross-examination, demonstrated what he meant. My take: anybody walking that way, with that body language, might as well wear a sign that says “I did it.” There was some confusion, exploited by defense atty, over whether defendant was walking north (away from the scene) or south (toward the scene) when spotted. The witness had trouble with the crime scene diagram, didn’t seem very bright. However, from local landmarks witness described, I was convinced that defendant was coming from the scene and walking away, toward his own house. Witness did not see the victim or the buddy that night, nor did he investigate further or call police. First he heard of a murder was when the police arrived on Monday morning. Body language said he was telling truth as he saw it.
Detective brought the defendant and his buddy in separately for questioning. Defendant waived his Miranda rights and made a statement. Buddy made a statement that implicated the defendant. Defendant was arrested and charged. Detective returned to neighborhood to re-canvass, was there about 20-30 minutes. During that time, defendant’s father drove slowly around the block 3-4 times.
Defendant did not testify, but his recorded statement was played as evidence. He stated that he was at the party but had not seen his cousin in about a month, thought the guy was in jail. Said the first he heard of the murder was from someone he didn’t know, had never seen before or since, who said he saw the body from the street. Said that the victim did not live with him, but had stayed there on a few occasions for a few days at a time. When pressed, admitted that there were bad feelings between him and the victim. A month prior, victim broke into defendant’s house, thumped defendant on the head, stole defendant’s jewelry, some money and a .357 Magnum revolver that belonged to defendant’s father. Defendant said he reported theft to the police, but detective testified that he could not find the incident report. My take – maybe he did report it, their record keeping on minor burglaries is terrible. Defendant said that a few days later, he and his father tracked victim down and recovered some of the money and jewelry but not the pistol. Said that was the last he saw of the victim because right after that, the victim went to jail on another charge.
The buddy was the prosecution’s main witness. He was brought into court in jail scrubs and handcuffs, was in jail on an unrelated assault charge. He said that he had not been offered a deal in exchange for his testimony. He said that he gave a statement that implicated the defendant when he was first questioned because he didn’t want the murder to land on him. He said that he did not kill the victim. He admitted that he had been dodging a witness subpoena for about 8 months because he didn’t want to testify against his friend. He said he was at the party with the defendant and victim, and that he left about midnight. Body language said he was telling truth thus far.
Buddy then said that defendant approached him on Sunday afternoon, went walking around the block. Defendant admitted killing victim, pointed out the body from the street, asked for help moving the body. He neither agreed nor disagreed, matter was dropped. His body language said that he was lying.
Prosecution rested.
Defense brought one witness only, the defendant’s father. The man basically repeated what was in the defendant’s statement, then said his son couldn’t have done it. Said his son was a good boy and upstanding citizen, never been in trouble and was now working a full time job.
Defense rested.
In his summary, the DA speculated that the victim was shot in the back while running away, then executed when he was lying on the ground paralyzed. Also speculated that defendant had tried to move the body by himself, pulled off victim’s shoes so doing. Murder with premeditation QED.
In his summary, the defense atty emphasized that the State presented no witnesses to the actual shooting. Said witness testimony about needing help moving the body was bogus, victim only weighed 145 lbs. Said the murder weapon was never recovered, there was no physical evidence linking defendant to the murder, the police never got a search warrant for defendant’s house.
DA’s rebuttal, said there was no need for a warrant or other evidence because they had a second-hand confession from the buddy’s testimony.
Case went to jury deliberation at this point.
***
Question # 1: Did he do it?
Question # 2: If yes, did the State prove its case beyond reasonable doubt?
Question # 3: For extra credit, what really happened?
I'll post the answers in a few days.
Strelnikov
