Maybe being hit in the head too.
It was interesting to me that they found it with the safety on… I would think it would be off.
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Okay, I’m home and have my notes now. Walking through from when I logged in (I was a touch late) to finish.
Prosecution:
The officer was asked to describe what happened starting as he was coming up to the scene.
He pulled up into the drive way. Pulled his gun and preceded to approach from behind MB’s silver truck. Before he could see the scene he hear calls for “help”. As he came on the scene he saw LK on her back bleeding and to her right (2-3 ft away) he saw two males (later id’ed as RG and MB) with one on top of the other (RG on top, MB on bottom). MB’s left hand was underneath his torso. RG was ordered to get up and moved toward the side and back of the officer. When he got up the gun was located on the ground near his left hand. The slot was back and locked, magazine not loaded. He was handcuffed with hands behind his back. Blood was on his face and he had a laceration on his forehead. Other officers arrived and Hensley took MB to the middle of the parking area at first, then moved him to a truck and utility trailer on the opposite side of the parking area from the house. He heard the statement “I had a good life” stated 2-3 times, verbatim quote while being attended by medical. MB had a blank stare and then left by ambulance.
This officer did not go to hospital. I’m going to break here because of the questions….but I heard differently then Eggbutt about the positions of RG/MB. I think I heard that RG had one hand pinning MB’s right hand pulled behind MB’s back and one hand pulling MB up by the shoulder.
Defense cross exam: (questions are paraphrased some)
When/what was the call
—call at 2:15 pm active shooter
Did you recognize the person calling for help (before you could see the situation) from responding to the 911 calls? Was it the person on top or bottom?
—No.
Was LK conscious?
-Unsure
Did you see RG hit/beat MB upon/after your arrival?
-No
There was some dickering about the exact question used, and the officer was handed his notes to try to refresh his memory, about how the officer asked who the shooter was on the scene.
- RG said “here” Officer asked again. RG repeated “here” and shook MB. MB made no response to the question.
Where did you find the three?
—right by the stairs…on a cement area.
Did you take your guard off of RG?
—No.
Was there a dog?
-a small dog bit my leg and boots. It was pretty aggressive.
Was RG concerned about harm to the dog?
-He said “Don’t hurt my dog.”
Don’t remember exact question….
—RG grabbed the dog and went into the house.
Was he searched?
—Objection and sustained. Reason, it was a Miranda hearing not an evidentiary hearing.
Did you recall any deformity to MB’s arm?
—No
Did MB cry out in pain (while being handcuffed)?
—No.
(Circled back around) Asked where the gun was after RG indicated the shooter.
—a lot of back and forth about exact words and what was in the report but essentially answered “RG said it was underneath MB.”
Revisited the condition the gun was found in.
—picked up in locked position, gun was empty, the officer separated the gun and magazine, no bullets in the magazine.
Asked if he knew how many bullets were in the magazine
—No
Asked if the officer noticed the injuries about MB’s head and eyes.
—No recall
Showed pictures to the officer and noted injuries to both eyes, ears, and head.
Asked officer about his comments on MB’s affect.
—Officer described MB as incoherent in the report and not talking.
Asked if his statements “I had a good life” as MB talking to himself
—yes, talking to himself
Asked if RG said the shooting was on video
—Yes, at one point
Did you notice blood on MB’s face? Did you determine you had blood on you.
—-Yes, a little, both MB and LK’s blood
You described the dog as small. Isn’t it 50-60 lbs?
—remember it as small (different from Eggbutt’s), but I wasn’t very afraid of it.
Prosecution redirect: None
Judge asked question of the officer about the basis for his use of the description that MB was incoherent.
—His blank stare, wasn’t aggressive/upset, he was “just there”.
Defenses closing arguments was a bit of a clash with the judge.
—asked the judge to consider the whole of the situation. The obvious injuries and beating he had received. That he was described as partially unconscious, dazed, and incoherent. His statement at the hospital were made after applications of major pain medicines.
-Judge interrupted and argued that his notes said the statements happened before the meds. Defense re-read the officer report and meds were given before each statement. Then judge argued that he can’t know that certain meds can cause confusion and in what time frame as that would require a medical expert witness.
No decision made today.
Dec 8th will be an in person evidence review between prosecution and defense. More motions may come from that.
Judge has 8 trials with 5 being jail case. Penciled in March 21st for jury selection with arguments starting March 28th. Expected 3 full weeks of argument.
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I don’t know anything about Rugers. Is being in the “locked position” the same as the safety being on?
Oh, one other thing Heymer said was RG had no blood on him at all.
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Did they say if RG was accompanied by an officer when he went into the house or did he go in alone?
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There was only the one officer on the scene.
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Thank you
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Yes, pretty much like my notes. One final note I made is a conference call on 1/24 between the judge, prosecutor and defense about the trial.
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Further comment. When the next officer arrived they immediately got the medical bag and attended to LK.
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He went alone
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Come on, not today. No matter what you may think of her this had to have been a hard day for her.
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Thank you everyone who watched the hearing today and sharing what you learned with us.
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Heymer did say when he turned right into the drive, he encountered an “older man on the phone” who walked away as he arrived. Nothing more was said about that man.
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That is when I got connected in so I didn’t hear enough to make sense of that comment. Maybe that’s the “ear witness”.
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Without being really snarky, I can promise you it has been a difficult day for several involved in this.
For months we’ve been told there are tapes, then no tapes and today we learn RG told the police there was a tape showing it all. Then we learn he went into the house for some reason. I fully expect more will definitely come out that won’t be easy for anyone.
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Ya know, I’m not sure how the officer meant it. I’ve always heard locked meant as safety on, but he could have meant something else.
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If Heymer said RG did not have any blood on him it makes the shirtless situation more confusing. I would have guessed it could have been pulled off in a struggle or something.
I wonder if the officer’s observation was before RG went into house.
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That’s true, but for only one of us in this thread, to my knowledge at least, today concerned a life changing traumatic event so I think it would be best not to antagonize that party. Since there’s been debate over whats “antagonizing” and what is not, maybe just don’t respond to her altogether just to be safe.
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Best line of the day:
Bilinkas: “You can Google it your Honor.”
Taylor: “No, this court doesn’t rely on ‘Google,” for evidence. Presenting Medical evidence is your job.”
#micdrop
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Doesn’t matter. It would be a huge problem in evidence collection for a bloody outfit to not have been examined and then collected with a proper chain of custody.
I think another big question here, is did the crime scene extend to the interior of the house or was it limited the porch/patio/parking area?
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Would it make a difference if it was before or after? I just don’t know. Today raised more questions for sure.
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