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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THEFOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, INAND FOR DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA.
CASE NO: 2012-CF-11572
DIVISION: CR-D
STATE OF FLORIDA
-vs-
MICHAEL DUNN,
Defendant.
STATE OF FLORIDA )
COUNTY OF DUVAL )
Trial before the Honorable Russell Healey, Judge
of the Circuit Court, Division CR-D, as cause in this
matter came to be heard on the 6th of February, 2014,
before Melanie D. Simpkins, Certified Realtime
Reporter, Registered Professional Reporter, Florida
Professional Reporter and a Notary Public in and for
the State of Florida at Large.
OFFICIAL REPORTERS, INC.201 EAST ADAMS STREETJACKSONVILLE, FL 32202
(904) 358-2090
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1251
APPEARANCES:
ANGELA COREY, Attorney at Law,
State Attorney,
Appearing on behalf of the State of Florida.
JOHN GUY, Esquire,
Assistant State Attorney,
Appearing on behalf of the State of Florida.
ERIN WOLFSON, Attorney at Law,
Assistant State Attorney,
Appearing on behalf of the State of Florida.
COREY STROLLA, Esquire,
Appearing on behalf of the Defendant.
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1252
I N D E X
PAGE
FEBRUARY 6, 2014.................................. 1254
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. GUY...................... 1270
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. STROLLA.................. 1286
ALIYAH HARRIS..................................... 1315
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. WOLFSON................. 1315
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. STROLLA.................. 1321
STEVEN SMITH...................................... 1326
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................... 1327
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. STROLLA.................. 1353
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................. 1371
ANDREW WILLIAMS................................... 1375
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................... 1375
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. STROLLA.................. 1393
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................. 1403
SHAWN ATKINS...................................... 1404
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................... 1404
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. STROLLA.................. 1427
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. COREY................. 1439
MARIAH GRIMES..................................... 1446
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. WOLFSON................. 1447
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1253
STATE'S EXHIBITS
NO. PAGE
167...............................................1314
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P R O C E E D I N G S
FEBRUARY 6, 2014
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla, Mr. Guy.
MR. STROLLA: Yes, sir.
MR. GUY: Sir.
THE COURT: I've lost the motion now, my copy
of it. Actually I think the clerk's got it. What
was it called, Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: I apologize, Your Honor?
THE COURT: The last motion that we're
arguing.
MR. STROLLA: If I may have a second to grab
it, Judge?
THE COURT: Okay. What was it called?
MR. STROLLA: The defendant's Motion in Limine
regarding comments, acts, inactions and or similar.
THE COURT: Basically related to testimony
that he left, went to the hotel, stayed there for
whatever period of time, did whatever they did and
then went to --
MR. GUY: Left the next morning.
THE COURT: Home the next day.
MR. STROLLA: Took the dog out to urinate.
THE COURT: Your Motion to -- in Limine to
exclude that is denied. I think it is something
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that goes to the weight of the evidence and can be
considered by the jury and there's some case law
that I can cite.
MR. GUY: And, Judge --
THE COURT: Which I'll cite perhaps later or
in a written order that I don't have at my
fingertips but I reviewed about it.
MR. GUY: Yes, sir. Judge, we've asked the
families to come in if that's okay if you're ready.
THE COURT: We just talking about the two
folks?
MR. GUY: I think so.
THE COURT: Okay.
THE BAILIFF: Judge, both sides?
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla, do you want them?
No. Just -- just really Mr. Davis and Ms. McBath,
I think.
MR. STROLLA: Your Honor, just for
housekeeping matters can I have boxes on the table?
THE COURT: Yes. Am I getting Mr. Davis and
Ms. McBath?
MS. COREY: Judge, we're in recess, right, or
you want us to be quiet?
THE COURT: Well, we're kind of in recess but
I'm going to have the Davises -- Mr. Davis and
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Ms. McBath come in.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: And then I'm going to leave and
they're going to bring everybody else in here.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir. Did you hold onto that
whole list of witnesses' names? Did you keep that?
THE COURT: Yes.
MS. COREY: I'm going to e-mail the court
reporter one just for spellings. I'll e-mail it to
her. If you had it there I was going to run and
have it copied. Judge, I've got it.
THE COURT: You got it?
MS. COREY: Yeah. I can e-mail it to her,
Judge.
THE COURT: Okay. I don't have it at my
fingertips. I'm not sure where it went.
MS. COREY: Judge, one other quick thing when
the witnesses take the stand you'll give them a
quick explanation about touching the screen and all
that or you want us to do that?
THE COURT: Yeah, I'll do it.
MS. COREY: You'll do it. Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Davis and Ms. McBath I need
them right now. Actually they -- have them come up
this way a little bit. Good morning, Ms. McBath
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and Mr. Davis. Just wanted to say good morning to
you, welcome you. You're good right there. And
need to tell you a couple of things because I know
you've been waiting a long time for this trial and
I know today may be a day that actually may be
rather emotional for you.
First thing I want to explain to you is we've
prepared a seating chart. Maybe you've seen it. I
don't know. To accommodate media and to
accommodate general public, to accommodate the
family of obviously your son and the other boys
that were in the vehicle and to accommodate
Mr. Dunn's family.
Because we want to make this as seamless a
process as possible we have you, I think, seated on
the second row just so there's -- in case there was
some sort of an emotional response I don't really
want it to be something that's seen by the jury, so
that's why I had you on the second row and I
apologize for that because I suspect probably you
would like to be on the first row but I think
you'll be able to see and hear fine.
I just want to make sure that we have a clean
trial and we don't have any issues, not that you
would create one deliberately obviously, so I tell
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you that so you know what the situation was with
that seating chart.
Secondly, obviously, you know, there may be
some things that are going to come out during the
course of the trial, I suspect there are, that
would be very, very emotional to you. I have seen
some of the evidence. I have an idea of what some
of the testimony may be but that being said -- and
I know how hard this is. It's easy for me to say
and not going to be easy for you to do it. I've
got to ask you to do the best you can to check your
emotions. If a tear comes to your eye I
understand. Hopefully you'll have a tissue or
something and just wipe your eye. If it gets to a
point where you're somewhat overcome you will
probably need to leave the courtroom, go outside,
you know, to get yourself recomposed.
My suggestion is and I understand that the
State Attorney's Office has got a room or two where
they have -- they're going to have -- whatever this
live feed is that we're going to have they'll have
it there, so you could go there and continue to
watch even though you were still in an emotional
state and then once you're composed and at our next
break you can come back in.
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What I'm trying to avoid because I expect the
courtroom is going to be full is people coming and
going, coming and going, coming and going. It's a
distraction to everybody including the jury and I
don't want them to be distracted from anything. If
for some reason, you know, all of a sudden we don't
have hardly anybody in here then getting up and
going out and coming back in might be an option.
Normally that's what happens in a case because
usually you don't have much of an audience, but I
don't suspect that's going to be the case today.
So if you'll indulge me there if that happens
you can just excuse yourself. The bailiffs will
get you outside and quickly get you to whatever
room the State Attorney's Office has set up so you
can continue to watch and then as I said when we
have our next break come on back in when you feel
that you can, okay?
MR. DAVIS: Okay.
THE COURT: Thank y'all very much.
THE WITNESS: Thank you, Judge. Thank you so
much, Judge Healey.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. What I need to
do is we need to bring all -- whoever's out there,
whatever media and audience and such, bring them on
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in and then once everybody's in place a bailiff
needs to come and get me -- tell me they're in
place. I'll tell the bailiff when they come back
around and they can tell you go live and then I'll
come out. We'll give them -- yeah. Just before --
okay. All right. Y'all ready to go?
MS. COREY: One more minute. Mr. Strolla
wants to see -- I enlarged like you told me. He
wants to look at it one more time, Judge, and then
we're ready.
(Recess.)
MS. COREY: And, Judge, for the record
Mr. Strolla did look at what you asked us to do
and, Mr. Strolla.
MR. STROLLA: Yeah, two -- Judge, the two
photos were redacted appropriately.
THE COURT: Okay. So with those redactions
other than other objections they're fine?
MR. STROLLA: That is correct.
THE COURT: And so that -- that disk if you
will will be stipulated into evidence as
photographs 1 through 60 -- 1 through 160?
MS. COREY: Yes, sir. And so we've got that
ready to go and then just three physical exhibits
that I'm going to go over with Mr. Strolla so that
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we don't have to stop and ask you to do it. We're
asking you to go ahead and admit state's 1 through
160. Those are the separated slides that you've
already seen with the changes Mr. Strolla requested
and, Judge, they're on one disk that goes to the
clerk and then we just play it, you know.
THE COURT: Okay.
MS. COREY: For the jury. We're good?
THE COURT: Yep.
(Recess.)
THE COURT: Good morning, everybody.
MS. COREY: Good morning.
MR. STROLLA: Good morning, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And welcome to everyone that's
here. We are here to commence the trial of the
State of Florida versus Michael David Dunn. Is the
state ready to proceed?
MR. GUY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Defense ready to proceed?
MR. STROLLA: So ready, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. And if we can bring
the jurors on in, please.
(Jury in at 12:25 p.m..)
THE COURT: Just remain standing and we're
going to have you administer another oath. Good
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morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back. Just
remain standing. If you would raise your right
hand. The clerk is going to administer the oath to
you as jurors in this case.
(Jury sworn by clerk.)
THE VENIREMEN: Yes.
THE COURT: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
You can have a seat. And good morning or actually
afternoon. Welcome back. Again I want to thank
you for your time and attention during the course
of the last three days in our jury selection and
ask you to obviously continue to pay close
attention to the matters that will ensue here this
afternoon.
You have -- you were selected actually
yesterday and now have been sworn as the jury to
try the case of the State of Florida versus Michael
David Dunn. As you know from jury selection this
is a criminal case, and the defendant, Michael
David Dunn, is charged with five separate offenses.
The first count was first degree murder.
There are three counts of attempted first degree
murder and the fifth count is shooting into an
occupied dwelling. The elements of those offenses
and the definitions that go along with it will be
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explained to you at the conclusion of the case.
You should know it's your solemn
responsibility to determine if the state has proven
its accusations beyond a reasonable doubt against
the defendant, Mr. Dunn. Your verdict must be
solely -- based solely on the evidence or lack of
evidence and on the law that I will instruct you on
at the close of the case.
The indictment that was talked about over the
last several days as you recall is a charging
document only. It is not evidence and it is not to
be considered by you as any proof of guilt.
It is my responsibility to decide which laws
apply to this case and to explain those laws to
you. It is your responsibility to decide what the
facts of the case may be and to apply the law that
I instruct you on to those facts in order to reach
a lawful verdict. Thus, the province of the jury
and the province of the Court are well-defined, and
they do not overlap. This is one of the
fundamental principles of our justice system.
Before we proceed I would like to give you a
little outline as to how the trial is conducted so
you'll have an understanding of what will come
during the course of the afternoon and over the
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next several days.
At the beginning of the trial the attorneys
will have an opportunity if they wish to make an
opening statement to you. The opening statement
gives them an opportunity and a chance to tell you
what evidence they believe will be presented during
the course of the trial. What the lawyers say,
however, is not evidence and you are not to
consider it as such.
Evidence will come to you in the form of
testimony from the witness stand, documents,
photographs, things of that nature.
Following the opening statements witnesses
will be called to the witness stand to testify
under oath. They will be examined and cross
examined by the attorneys. Documents as I said and
other exhibits, photographs, things of that nature
may also be produced into evidence.
After the evidence has been presented the
attorneys will then have an opportunity to make
their final arguments to you. Following the final
arguments of the attorneys then I will instruct you
on the law that applies to this particular case.
After those instructions are given to you you will
be allowed to go back into the jury room to
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deliberate your verdict.
As we've discussed on numerous occasions over
the last several days you should not form any
definite or fixed opinion on the merits of the case
until you have heard all of the evidence, the
arguments of the attorneys and the instructions on
the law that I will give you at the conclusion of
the case. Until that time you should not discuss
the case among yourselves.
We've also talked about during the course of
the trial we'll take breaks. You will have
bailiffs with you during those breaks because of
the sequestration issue, but during those breaks
you will be allowed to do some other things. You
should not discuss the case among yourselves or
allow anyone to discuss the case with you or in
your presence.
If someone were to do something such as that
obviously as we've discussed before you would
inform one of the bailiffs and they will tell me
and bring it to my attention and we can handle the
matter from there.
The reason for that is as again we've
discussed on numerous occasions is the case must be
tried by you only upon the evidence presented here
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in the courtroom during the trial in your presence,
my presence, the attorneys and the defendant,
Mr. Dunn.
You must not conduct any investigation on your
own as we've also discussed. This includes reading
newspapers, watching television or using a
computer, a cell phone, the internet, any
electronic device or any means at all to get
information related to this case or the people and
places involved in the case. This applies whether
you are in the courthouse or at the hotel during
your sequestration.
Obviously you must not visit any of the places
mentioned, and you should not look at the internet
to try and observe anything along those lines.
You must not have discussions of any sort with
any friends or family members about the case or the
people and places involved in the case, so even
during visitation with family members as we've
discussed you should not have any conversations
with them about the case itself or the facts and
circumstances surrounding it.
We've talked a lot about this electronic age
and the communication devices that are available to
anyone. I need to stress to you again that you
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must not talk about this case obviously face to
face with anyone nor through any electronic device.
You will not be able to use phones, computers or
other electronic devices to communicate unless it's
under certain supervision.
Do not send or accept any messages related to
this case or your jury service. Do not discuss
this case or ask for advice by any means at all
including posting information on the internet or
website or such as that.
You should also know and we've discussed this
somewhat over the last couple of days that in every
criminal proceeding a defendant has the absolute
right to remain silent. At no time is it the duty
of a defendant to prove his innocence.
From the exercise of a defendant's right to
remain silent a jury is not permitted to draw any
inference of guilt, and the fact that a defendant
did not take the witness stand must not influence
your verdict in any manner whatsoever.
The attorneys are trained in the rules of
evidence and procedure. It is their duty to make
all objections that they feel are necessary and
proper. When an objection is made you should not
speculate on the reason why it is made nor should
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you speculate on what the answer to the question
would have been had I allowed the question to be
answered.
The pads and paper in front of you you'll see
there are for your ability to take notes if you
wish. If you'd like to take notes during the
course of the trial you may do so. On the other
hand, you do not have to. You're not required to.
It's just there for your individual use if you so
desire.
Any notes that you take will be as I said for
your personal use. You should not take them with
you from the courtroom when we are on breaks. We
will gather them up and watch over them for you and
the same thing in the evenings.
When you have finished -- when the case is
finished and you go back for deliberations you'll
be allowed to take the notes back there with you
for you to review again for your own personal use.
You should not share your notes with any of the
other jurors and you should just use them for your
use to help your own recollection of the testimony
and the evidence.
Also let me caution you about getting too
involved with note taking itself. Different people
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take notes in different ways. The -- some people
take notes almost verbatim. Others are shorter
about it. Do not let the note taking distract you
from what's going on. When the witnesses are
called to the witness stand the attorneys will be
asking questions. When they ask a question and get
an answer they're not looking over to see if you
have finished taking notes. They're going to
continue on in this process, so be careful about
that.
Sometimes you're writing something down
because you believe it to be very important. You
may miss the next question and or the next answer.
It may not have been particularly important but it
may have been, so just I caution you about that and
ask you to be careful when you're taking the notes.
Whether or not you take notes you should rely
ultimately on your memory of the evidence, the
testimony that has come before you. You should not
be unduly influenced by the notes of any other
juror. Again the notes are for your particular
use, so if you were to get into the jury room and
collectively as a group decide somebody was the
greatest note taker you've ever seen you cannot
rely on their notes as a group. The notes are just
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for yourself, and as I said your greatest tool is
your memory of the evidence but you can use the
notes to help you with that.
So with that said, we're ready to begin with
the opening statements. We'll hear first from Mr.
Guy on behalf of the state. Mr. Guy.
MR. GUY: Thank you, Your Honor. May it
please the Court?
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
MR. GUY: Counsel. Good afternoon.
THE VENIREMEN: Good afternoon.
MR. GUY: As they had been so many times
before the two best friends were side by side.
Jordan Davis and Leland Brunson sitting in the back
seat of a friend's SUV in the middle of a holiday
weekend of mall hopping and girl shopping, but this
moment was unlike any other the two best friends
had ever spent.
Bullets, nine of them, had come crashing
through the glass and metal surrounding them. Some
of the bullets had whizzed by their heads and the
heads of two other teenagers who were in the car.
Some of the bullets had been stopped by the metal
in the doors but some of the bullets were
unaccounted for, and so four terrified teenagers
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began an ominous roll call.
Tommie, Tevin, Leland, Jordan. Everybody
responded to the sound of their name except Jordan
Davis who was lying in the back seat with his head
in Leland Brunson's lap. Unbeknownst to any of
them three of those bullets had found their target.
One of them had entered his right leg.
One of them had entered his left leg and one
of them had entered his right side, tore through
his liver, passed through both of his lungs and
shredded his aorta and then the blood that for
17 years had run so naturally through Jordan Davis'
veins and arteries was pouring out of them and so
the two best friends were side by side for the last
time.
Jordan Davis gasping for air was taking his
last breaths of life and Leland Brunson who was
cradling his dying friend was taking his last
breaths of innocence, and at that exact moment the
man who fueled by anger and intent had fired ten
times, ten, into a car of unarmed teenagers was
driving away as though nothing had happened.
Michael David Dunn pointed a semiautomatic
pistol at four unarmed kids from a distance much
closer than you and I and then drove off. He
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didn't call the police. He went to his hotel with
his girlfriend and he called a pizza delivery man
and ordered a pizza and took his little dog for a
walk outside the hotel, turned on a movie and made
himself a big tall rum and Coke, and not long after
an emergency doctor at Shands Hospital pronounced
Jordan Davis dead.
That defendant put his head on his hotel
pillow and went to sleep but, ladies and gentlemen,
as you are about to learn there are some things
that defendant will never, ever be able to run
from, the physical evidence, the bullet trajectory
through the car and through Jordan Davis's body
that will prove to you beyond any doubt that when
that defendant opened fire Jordan Davis was sitting
in his car seat with the door closed with nothing
in his hands and he was leaning over away from the
gunfire toward Leland Brunson.
Secondly, the words from that defendant's own
mouth at the time of the shooting, words of hate,
words of intent, words that he can't now take back,
and most importantly the memories, the retched,
indelible memories of the three boys who survived
and the host of witnesses at a gas station
including his own girlfriend who he made witnesses
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to a homicide.
The date was November 23rd, 2012, the day
after Thanksgiving. Everybody knows it now as
Black Friday, and 17-year-old Jordan Davis got
together with his best friend, 17-year-old Leland
Brunson, both of them students at Wolfson High
School, and as teenage boys want to do they called
two other friends to go to the mall to look for
girls, so they called 17-year-old Tevin Thompson, a
student at Atlantic Coast High, and 19-year-old
Tommie Stornes, and the four teenagers jumped into
Tommie Stornes' red Dodge Durango and went to the
Town Center and struck out. The only person of
note they ran into was Jordan Davis's on-again,
off-again girlfriend, Aliyah Harris.
And then they climbed back into the car and
head for another mall, the Avenues Mall, but they
stopped. They stopped at a Gate Gas Station at the
intersection of Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows
Road, and Tommie Stornes pulled in to a parking
space right in front of the door facing the store.
Tommie Stornes got out to go inside to get some
cigarettes for himself and some gum for the other
boys, and Tevin Thompson and Leland Brunson and
Jordan Davis sat in the car listening to music,
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their music, loud music, rap music.
And then into their lives and into the parking
space right beside them pulled the defendant, and
after his girlfriend got into the store he turned
his attention to the boys, but before his
girlfriend got out of the car he turned to her and
said I hate that thug music that was rattling his
rearview mirror, and his girlfriend just looked at
him and said, I know, and went in the store.
And rather than go into the store himself or
move his car the defendant chose to roll down his
window. He was right next to Tevin Thompson.
Tevin Thompson is in the front passenger seat. The
defendant was in the driver's seat of his car, and
he looked at him and he said, hey, can you turn
that down? I can't hear myself think, so Tevin
Thompson turned the music down.
But Jordan Davis who was sitting behind Tevin
Thompson in the rear passenger seat didn't want to
be told what to listen to or at what volume to
listen to it at, so he said F him, turn it up, and
he didn't say that. He said the word and he didn't
say him. He said the N word. He said turn it up.
So Tevin Thompson turned the music back up, and
then Jordan Davis and the defendant started jawing
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at each other.
Jordan Davis is 5 foot 11 inches tall,
145 pounds. The defendant is six four and well
over 200 but they exchanged F-bombs back and forth,
and at about the time Tommie Stornes got back in
the car the defendant rolled down his window again
and said are you talking to me? And Jordan Davis
looked at him and said, yeah, I'm talking to you,
and then the defendant said you're not going to
talk to me like that, and in the same motion he
reached in his glove box and grabbed his pistol and
he pulled the slide back to chamber a live round,
and with two hands he pointed out his window back
at Jordan Davis' door and pulled the trigger three
times. Every one of those shots in a nice tight
little circle went through the door and into Jordan
Davis' body.
Tommie Stornes, the driver, as you can imagine
was terrified and put the car in reverse and backed
up. The defendant didn't stop. He kept focused
and aiming on the car and he pulled the trigger
four more times, and you'll see the bullet holes in
Tevin Thompson's door, one after the other, three.
The fourth shot missed.
And then Tommie Stornes backed all the way up
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and pulled off as fast as he could into an adjacent
parking lot, but the defendant didn't stop.
Instead he opened his driver's door and put his
legs out and took aim again and pulled the trigger
three more times. Every one of those shots hit the
car, two of them in the back where the taillight
is, one of them in the rear window that
crisscrossed the car passing between all four of
their heads and came in the back right window and
ended up in that little sun visor above Tommie
Stornes' head.
Tommie Stornes got out of the parking lot and
stopped the car to see what was wrong, to see who
and what had been hit and they started that roll
call that Jordan Davis couldn't respond to, and
Tevin Thompson and Tommie Stornes got out and they
opened the back doors and they saw Jordan Davis and
they saw Leland Brunson and they realized what had
happened, and they jumped back in the car and they
didn't park or turn it around. Tommie Stornes put
it in reverse, straight back to the Gate Gas
Station where there was lighting and people and
help, and people did come.
The defendant had already pulled off with his
girlfriend and the four teens were back in the Gate
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parking lot, and people did come and pull Jordan
Davis out of the car and put him on the ground and
tried in vain to perform C.P.R., and rescue came
and put him in the back of an ambulance where he
was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Ladies and gentlemen, this case, the evidence
in this case is going to take you back, back to
November 23rd, 2012 at about 7:38 p.m. when those
gunshots rang out, and you will be witnesses then
and you'll hear from each of the three boys who
lived in the car.
Leland Brunson, a wisp of a kid, maybe, maybe
150 pounds, maybe and Tevin Thompson, big guy,
round face, smiles a lot, and they'll tell you
about the interaction between Jordan Davis and the
defendant, that Jordan Davis was upset, no doubt.
He was cussing, no doubt. He raised his voice, but
he never threatened the defendant. He disrespected
the defendant, and Tommie Stornes, the driver, who
came back to the car and saw the defendant pull his
gun.
And you'll learn that Jordan Davis the only
thing he had on his person was a cell phone and a
pocketknife, and both of those things were in his
pockets when he was shot and killed, and when they
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cut his clothes off him his little pocketknife and
his cell phone were in his pocket.
But you won't just have the people in the car.
This happened at a gas station before 8:00 p.m. on
Black Friday on the southside.
You'll hear from people like Steven Smith, a
contractor, who stopped there to get something to
drink and who walked out the front door of the
store. The defendant's car was the first spot next
to the door and he was stopped by what he heard the
defendant say. You're not going to talk to me like
that, and he looked maybe ten feet to his right and
saw the defendant pull that gun and aim it out the
door at point-blank range at the car next to him
and pull the trigger and saw the red Dodge Durango
back up and the defendant keep firing and saw the
Dodge Durango pull off and the defendant keep
firing.
You'll hear from people like Andrew Williams
who was on the street, and when he heard the shots
he pulled into the gas station and he pulled Jordan
Davis out of the car because he had a medical
background, and he put his hands into Jordan Davis'
chest in vain.
You'll hear from people like Shawn Atkins who
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had the wherewithal to remember the tag number of
the defendant's car before it pulled off. That was
given to the police.
People like Samantha Eichas who pulled in just
before the boys pulled back in and saw the holes in
the car and saw the panic on their faces and called
911.
You'll hear from people like Christopher and
Alyssa LeBlanc, a brother and sister, who had
dinner at the Loop Restaurant which is in the next
plaza. They were walking back to their car when
they heard the gunshots and they saw the red Dodge
Durango coming towards them and stop suddenly and
they saw two black males, Tommie Stornes and Tevin
Thompson, get out of the car and look in the back.
They didn't know what they were looking at, that it
was Jordan Davis. They just saw them get out of
the car.
They didn't see him leave the car, the area of
the car. They didn't put anything in the car.
They didn't take anything out of the car. They
just looked in the back and then they got back in
and put it in reverse and the LeBlanc's got in
their car and they called 911.
But you won't just have witness testimony.
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You will have forensic evidence, a bone-chilling
audiotape because the Gate Store has surveillance,
video surveillance, on the inside of the store only
and so you'll see Tommie Stornes, tall guy, real
skinny, got dredlocks maybe down to his shoulders
go in and buy a pack of cigarettes and some gum and
you'll see the defendant's girlfriend, Rhonda
Rouer, put a bottle of wine on the counter and a
bag of potato chips and then all of a sudden out of
nowhere three remarkably loud bangs, the shots that
killed Jordan Davis, and then pause, four more
shots and then the long pause when the boys pulled
off and he opened his door, three more shots, all
of which hit the car.
And you will have the car itself, the red
Dodge Durango, that was at the scene of course and
it was secured and you'll see through the
photographs that when the bullet went through
Jordan Davis' closed door it blew pieces of the
inside of the door into the car, big pieces of
plastic and rubber into the car because the door
was closed.
And they searched the car. There was a
basketball in the back. There were basketball
shoes. There were clothes. There were the big
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12-inch speakers. There were cups on the floor.
There were no weapons, no guns, no bats, no tire
irons. There was a camera tripod stuffed under one
of the seats.
And they took that car down and they put dowel
rods in each of the nine holes in the car so you
could see exactly the angle that they came in at
and you'll see the three through Jordan Davis' door
and the three into Tevin Thompson's door and the
three in the back and the long dowel rod that goes
from the back of the car to the front right through
Tommie Stornes' sun visor.
And, ladies and gentlemen, you won't just have
what happened in the Durango. You're going to have
what happened in his car because when his
girlfriend, Rhonda Rouer, heard the gunshots like
everyone else she was shocked and she stepped
outside, and the defendant yelled to her get in the
car, and she just stood there and he yelled at her
again get in the car, and she did and they pulled
off.
North on Southside Boulevard, maybe three
miles to the Sheraton Hotel. They had cell phones.
The defendant didn't call 911, didn't drive to a
police substation. He drove to the parking lot.
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He put his gun back in the glove box and he walked
inside.
Didn't tell anybody at the front desk. He
just went upstairs, and he called a Pizza Hut
delivery service to get a pizza and got his little
dog and he went down and he took him for a walk and
then turned on the movie and poured a big tall
drink of rum and Coke and then he went to sleep.
But in the morning Rhonda Rouer turned on the
news and there was a story of a shooting from the
night before at a gas station on the southside and
a 17-year-old boy had been killed, and she told the
defendant about the news story and then they packed
their bags and went home to Brevard County
two-and-a-half hours away, and you'll learn that
they had been at a wedding before stopping at the
store, the defendant's son's wedding, and they
skipped their plans for Saturday night in St.
Augustine and drove back to Brevard County and
unpacked their bags and went inside.
But through the night while the defendant was
sleeping the detectives were working. Remember the
guy who wrote down the tag number, Shawn Atkins?
They ran the tag. It came back to the defendant,
and in the middle of the night they put together
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photospreads with the defendant's picture and
showed them to the three boys.
Tevin Thompson who was right next to the
defendant recognized, identified the defendant.
That's the guy who shot at us, and he signed his
name, and they got an arrest warrant and they went
to Brevard County the next morning and arrested the
defendant who had not a mark, not a scratch on him,
and they seized his car and in the glove box was a
Taurus nine-millimeter pistol with ten rounds
missing and a magazine underneath it, another full
magazine, and they searched that car.
There was a shell casing on the front
floorboard right by the defendant's right foot.
There were four shell casings in that little trough
between the windshield and the hood that the
expelled casings had been caught in that matched
the five casings at the scene.
And you will hear from a ballistics expert,
Maria Pagan, with the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, and she will tell you exactly how the
defendant's gun operates, what the trigger pull is,
fancy term. It's just the amount of force it takes
to pull the trigger, and she'll tell you that to
expel a single bullet you have to pull the trigger
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one time. To fire ten times a person has to pull
it ten times, and she'll show you how the gun
works.
But, ladies and gentlemen, you're also going
to learn in this trial as Ms. Corey discussed with
you yesterday real trials are not like T.V. and the
witnesses are not well-spoken actors and actresses.
For example, Shawn Atkins, the guy who was
standing there who had the insight to write down
the tag number, he's in prison now. Since November
of 2012 he's been arrested and prosecuted,
sentenced to prison.
Tommie Stornes, the 19-year-old driver of the
car, was on probation at the time, felony
probation, and he had a curfew. He was supposed to
be home at 7:00 p.m.. He was violating his curfew
when the gunshots went off at 7:38, and when you
listen to the witnesses' testimony you'll hear
inconsistencies, real life inconsistencies, the way
it happens in everyday life.
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, you will
hear from Dr. Stacey Simons, the medical examiner
who performed the autopsy on Jordan Davis' body,
critical testimony, and she will take you through
and show you the path of each bullet, how two
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bullets entered the backs of his legs around his
groin, one of which lodged in his left hip and
you'll see an x-ray of the projectile and you'll
see the projectile itself, and the third bullet
that went into his right side about midway up and
passed through his liver and his lungs and his
aorta, and you'll see that the path of the bullet
is like this because Jordan Davis was like this
when he was shot and killed leaning away from the
defendant, and you will see an x-ray of that bullet
lodged in his chest.
And, ladies and gentlemen, at the end of this
trial Judge Healey will read to you the law, the
law that applies to all of us, the laws that apply
to each of us, and we are confident that after you
hear the evidence and all of it, all of it, that
you will know beyond any doubt in your head, in
your heart, in your gut that when that defendant
pointed that pistol at the car full of unarmed
teenagers and started and continued to pull the
trigger he was guilty of shooting into an occupied
vehicle, guilty of three counts of attempted murder
and guilty of the first degree murder of Jordan
Davis. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir.
THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Guy. Mr. Strolla.
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MR. STROLLA: Thank you, Your Honor. May it
please the Court?
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
MR. STROLLA: Opposing counsels.
Members of the jury, what did we talk about in
jury selection? You can't use sympathy. You can't
use anger. Can't use bias or prejudice, and no
matter how soft Mr. Guy wants to talk and how slow
he wants to tell you that's not the evidence. What
he says is not evidence. What you hear from this
witness stand, what you see with your own eyes with
the state's witnesses is evidence, and as Mr. Guy
put it real inconsistencies is real life every day.
Well, every day people aren't on trial for
crimes they didn't commit, and we talked about you
can look at something and see two separate things
looking at the same picture, and Mr. Guy told you
his version. Mr. Guy told you what he believes the
evidence is going to show, and again he could say
it as slowly and softly as he wants but the Judge
is going to instruct you the law is you can't use
sympathy, empathy, anger, bias or prejudice.
Now what did you hear Mr. Guy say? The first
person to get upset and the evidence is going to
show that the only person that cursed was Jordan
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Davis, and his words to Michael Dunn were I'm going
to fucking kill you. I should kill you right now.
See, that's what Mr. Guy didn't tell you the facts
were going to come out prior to any gunshots being
fired, all because Michael Dunn asked for common
courtesy.
And the gentlemen in that car will admit to
you on that stand under oath that the music was so
loud it was rattling the windows, the mirrors.
They couldn't even hear themselves talk sitting in
the same vehicle, but yet they want you to believe
that this man so angrily coming back from his son's
wedding said turn down the music, I can't hear
myself think, and Mr. Thompson, the gentleman in
the front passenger seat, we call shotgun, will
tell you he could only see Mr. Dunn mouth those
words, couldn't even hear him, and Tevin Thompson
lowered it.
And what you're going to hear is the next
thing my client says, Michael Dunn, was thank you,
and he puts his window back up, and then as Mr. Guy
says it the first words Jordan Davis says, fuck
that nigger, turn it back up. That didn't come
from Michael Dunn. Not a single remark, not a
single curse word came from Mr. Dunn.
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As a matter of fact, the gentlemen in the car
will tell you that they never heard Michael Dunn
curse. He never raised his voice, and he never
yelled at them, and all three men in that car will
tell you that the music was so loud they don't even
know if Jordan Davis actually threatened Michael
Dunn, but what you're going to find out through the
evidence is law enforcement didn't care.
The State Attorney's Office didn't care
because the evidence is going to show that they
took those three men to the homicide office to take
their statement. They put them in a room, had
video, had audio but they didn't use it. The
homicide detectives are going to tell you that's
not protocol. I've got to go to my assistant chief
and my lieutenant. We don't video and audio people
who are allegedly a victim of a crime.
Okay. The homicide detectives are going to
tell you that they even have tape recorders. They
could use it. None of them did. As a matter of
fact, the lead homicide detective, Detective
Musser, was so unprepared he didn't even bring his
laptop to the crime scene when he was summoned to
go from his house. He couldn't even watch the
surveillance video. He didn't watch the
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surveillance video. He had his fellow officer go
get it, not even a homicide detective. He didn't
even know what was on it till days later.
You're going to find out that Detective Musser
asked another homicide detective, all right, you go
get the video. I've got other stuff to do. The
surveillance video of the shooting was so
unimportant to Detective Musser he gave it to
somebody else to delegate with no description of
what he wanted.
Now what you're going to find out about that
surveillance video is there's video and there's
audio. You can hear what's going on. You can see
what's going on, and the one thing Mr. Guy didn't
tell you the evidence is going to show that once
the crime scene was what they call secure all of
the witnesses from outside were brought into a
little area inside that Gate Gas Station right
underneath the cameras, right where there's video
and audio, and some witnesses depending on who the
state calls will tell you, yeah, people talked.
Some people said the officers told us not to. Some
of the witnesses said they didn't. Some said they
were standing inside. Some said the officers were
only outside.
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But if you want to get through those
inconsistencies all the detective had to do was
look at the video, realize it's got audio and just
ask the Gate Gas Station, hey, give me an extra
hour or so while my witnesses are in there. Let's
ensure that witnesses aren't talking to each other
and then don't for days.
And what you're going to find out is on the
video, in the surveillance video you're going to
see a witness, one of the Gate employees, start
immediately talking to the next customer in line
about what just happened and what she saw. You're
going to see her start talking to another Gate
employee about what just happened and what she saw,
and the video goes off ten minutes after it
happens.
Not because Michael Dunn said stop the video,
because the police didn't care enough to preserve
what the witnesses may have said on video, and we
have audio, and the way Mr. Guy presents his
evidence was nice and slow, methodical, almost
premeditated. None of the evidence presented will
show any of that, and like he said beyond any doubt
you'll see Tommie Stornes walk out. He was the
driver of the car. This is the man, his SUV
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pumping the music and that's okay but he had no
idea what happened.
He gets into his truck and he doesn't see
Mr. Dunn's person. He has to walk literally this
close to Michael Dunn because Michael Dunn is the
first car out the door, and guess where the red SUV
is? It's right next to Mr. Dunn's car, and the
state's witnesses will tell you that it was front
to front, window to window, so Mr. Thompson is
sitting right next to Mr. Dunn and Jordan Davis
would be behind him.
Mr. Stornes would have to walk right in front
of Mr. Dunn, right in front of the red SUV and
never claimed to have heard yelling, cursing,
anything by Mr. Dunn, not even a visible sign of
aggression or anger by Michael Dunn, but Mr. Guy
didn't tell you that in opening statement.
My next point is when you hear the witnesses
testify don't just keep an open mind on direct
examination. Listen for the cross examination. We
talked about it in jury selection. I'm going to
ask some real hard questions and there will be
inconsistencies and there will be some questions
they can't answer, but Mr. Guy tells you beyond all
doubt.
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You're going to find out that not only does
the SUV speed away, they drive over a hundred yards
into another plaza filled with cars. There's two
people allegedly 10, 15 feet away from them, Chris
LeBlanc and Alyssa LeBlanc. Mr. Stornes gets out
of the car, opens his back door. The 911 call even
says from Chris LeBlanc it looks like they're
stashing something. Those are his exact words.
Mr. Thompson gets out of his door, opens the
back door. So now you've got two men from the SUV
fumbling in the back looking like they're stashing
something, not doing a roll call, not screaming,
oh, my God, our friend's been shot, call 911. What
does Tommie Stornes do? Calls 911 and hangs up.
What does Tevin Thompson do? Nothing. What
does Leland Brunson do whose cradling his best
friend dying? Nothing. Chris and Alyssa LeBlanc,
the brother and sister, will tell you that nobody
was screaming, nobody was panicking and nobody was
yelling, and here's the key: They're going to tell
you that one of those men were on the cell phone
talking but none of the men will be able to tell
you who they recall talking to, yet Mr. Guy tells
you the evidence shows they go back for help at a
gas station with no medical personnel, with cell
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phones where they could call 911 in a lit plaza
with people and cars.
Now you're going to hear a statement that
Ms. Wolfson gives, and if they play you the audio
you'll hear Ms. Wolfson lead the entire time.
You'll see her lead the witnesses the entire time
of what answers she wants, and you're going to hear
from LeBlanc say, well, I didn't see them get rid
of anything, right? Because now they're trying to
stash a weapon. They're getting it out of the
vehicle. They could easily throw it underneath the
car.
They could be on the phone with their friend.
Man, you got to get up here. Just got shot at.
This is where it's at. Come get it. Click. That
call is more important than 911 to the men in the
car.
Chris LeBlanc will tell you, oh, yeah, I
didn't see them get rid of anything either.
Huh-uh. They really never left the truck, but see
if he can tell you or Ms. LeBlanc can tell you that
once they get out of the vehicle and the front
doors are open and the back doors are open you lose
sight of them. They have no idea what Tommie
Stornes and Tevin Thompson are doing in the back of
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1294
that car because now at least Mr. Thompson's
completely out of sight.
They then reverse back. They still don't call
911. They pull into a parking spot, and Mr. Guy
said Samantha Eichas, a very important witness,
after a shoot-out they're panicked. Their friend
is cradled taking his last breath. You would think
that car would fly back in, pull into a spot. No.
Ms. Eichas will tell you the red SUV pulled up
right next to her calmly, slowly.
Nobody said anything from the red SUV. She
looked over and saw bullet holes, and Ms. Eichas
asked is everything okay? She'll tell you I've
never seen anything like that. I didn't know what
to do. I was in shock because she wasn't there for
the shooting. She pulled in after.
The red SUV was gone for so long over a
hundred yards away in another parking lot that
people could pull into the plaza, talk on the
phone, go to get gas and had no idea a shooting
just occurred, and that is when one of the boys in
the car says could you call 911 for the first time,
and not one witness will tell you where Tommie
Stornes went when he got out of the truck. Not one
witness can tell you where Tevin Thompson went when
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1295
he got out of the truck. The only person we know
that stayed in the truck was Leland.
Now they tell you a witness showed up who had
medical training who gave C.P.R.. You're going to
hear that there's officers standing at the red SUV
and they let a civilian help pull Jordan Davis out
of the car and administer C.P.R..
He was a lifeguard at 16 years old and had
never done C.P.R. in his life, and that's who the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office allowed to work on
Jordan Davis and called it medical background
experience, a guy who was a lifeguard when he was a
kid.
Now I don't fault that gentleman for trying,
but if you look at the evidence and what the
Sheriff's Office did and did not do it's
unmistakable. They're not everyday
inconsistencies. They don't take sworn statements
from the gentlemen in the car. They don't even put
him on video. They don't record him, but you know
who they did record that night? Shawn Atkins. In
the same room Tommie Stornes, Leland Brunson and
Tevin Thompson were they record a statement from a
guy who saw nothing, and he'll admit he doesn't
know why it happened. He never heard anything.
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As a matter of fact, he says that my client
pulled up before the red Durango which nobody will
say, but they want you to believe he's so reliable
you got to listen to him, the one who's now a
ten-time convicted felon, and what Mr. Guy didn't
tell you is that he even asked the state if he
could get time off his sentence for testifying on
behalf of the State of Florida, if he could stay in
Jacksonville just a little bit longer and not go
back to prison that would be great.
The evidence will show that there was motive,
bias on the part of the men in the vehicle. As a
matter of fact, what Mr. Guy didn't tell you is
Leland Brunson admitted that Jordan Davis tried to
get out of the car. Leland Brunson even said
Jordan Davis grabbed that rear handle of the
Durango to get out, but you know what happened
after that? Four days later, four days later the
Sheriff's Office goes and checks the Durango.
Why would they check the Durango? Because
four days later every man in that car said, oh, the
child safety locks were on. Jordan Davis couldn't
get out, and if you don't know what the child lock
is you pop it on. It's a little lever and you
cannot open the car from the inside.
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1297
Now why would they all say that? Leland
Brunson had been in that truck one other time.
Jordan Davis had been in that truck one other time.
They knew Tommie Stornes for less than 30 days and
were driving around town and as Mr. Guy said the
best friends driving around in the back of the SUV.
Well, not Mr. Stornes' SUV. They didn't even
know him. They just met him. So how would they
know the child safety locks were on unless they
talked to each other and tried to get their stories
together.
And Mr. Ron Davis, the father of Jordan Davis,
will even tell you that within a day or two after
this they were at his house and that they were
still so off on their stories he believed they were
still in shock because none of the three men's
stories made sense or were accurate.
Now what do you think the evidence technicians
found when they went to that SUV and looked at the
back door? Where do you think those child locks
were? They were off, off, meaning when Leland
Brunson actually admitted that Jordan Davis tried
to get out of the car he was trying to protect his
dead friend from the truth, that Jordan Davis
threatened Michael Dunn. You're dead, Bitch. This
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1298
is going down now.
With a shotgun barrel sticking out of the
window or a lead pipe, whatever it was is a deadly
weapon, and you'll hear the law from Judge Healey
and you'll rule on that law, and you'll see the
evidence. They can try to show you the forensics
but what they can't do is match the trajectory of
Jordan Davis getting out of the car.
And it wasn't as Mr. Guy said Mr. Davis was
leaning over. You know why? You know why we know
that's not true and you'll find out? Because
Leland Brunson will testify that as they saw
Mr. Dunn reach for the gun everybody in the vehicle
ducked.
Tommie Stornes ducked. Tevin Thompson ducked.
Leland Brunson ducked. You know who didn't duck?
Jordan Davis. You know why he didn't duck?
Because he was getting out of the car with a weapon
after telling Michael Dunn you're dead, Bitch.
This is going down now.
You have four men against one, but you know
what Jordan Davis didn't realize? The other man
was armed, and there's an expression, God made all
men equal or God didn't make all men equal, Colt
did and Colt is a firearm and that's what happened,
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1299
and it's tragic.
We're not here to change the laws. We're not
here to say anybody deserved to lose their life but
under the law it's justified, and Michael Dunn
after the facts of this case and the law had every
right under the law to not be a victim, to be
judged by 12 rather than carried by 6. That's law,
and that's justified in the great State of Florida,
and you're going to see the inconsistencies.
You're going to hear it for yourself.
Listen to cross examination. Listen to what
comes out, that the music is so loud the men can't
even hear Jordan Davis yelling at Michael Dunn, but
the officers didn't want to put that in their
reports because it wouldn't look good. They didn't
want to record the men in the truck because if they
had to change their answers like, oh, the child
locks were on we'd have it. Right? A video lie --
doesn't lie. An audio doesn't lie on that video.
So, of course, why would they ask up the ranks to
record these men's statements? Because then they
can't change them just like they did to his fiance,
Rhonda Rouer.
They took her sworn testimony, put it on video
and audio. Why? She can't change it. Not that
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1300
she will. The homicide detectives talked to these
young men multiple times and never recorded it, not
once, and they had the ability to and you get to
ask yourself why.
Every gentleman in that car is going to say he
didn't have a weapon, but we know that he did, and
Mr. Guy calls it a pocketknife but when you see it
it's a tactical knife. It's not a Swiss Army knife
with a toothpick and a scissor. It's not like when
you were a kid the little brown ones you can
whittle with wood to make little tips on sticks.
It's a four-inch blade with black grooves to put
your fingers on when it's open. It is a knife
specifically made for self-defense, and not one
person in the car either knew that Jordan Davis had
that weapon or they lied to the police about it and
didn't want to tell them he had that weapon.
There was ample time to get rid of a firearm
or pipe or anything of a deadly weapon because
they're a hundred yards away in a dark parking lot
and with that wait till you hear when the police
went to check. They talked to Mr. Dunn the next
day, heard what he had to say the day after, next
day, next morning.
Four days, four days not an officer checks the
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1301
parking lot. They don't check the dumpsters. They
don't check the roofs. They don't check the
bushes, not even the knife, and what you're going
to find out is that entire parking lot was exposed
to the public. They know that the SUV left the
scene because Officer Fortuno was across the street
arresting somebody for a DUI. He's the one that
called it out and saw the high-profile Durango
fleeing the scene, and even though Officer Fortuno,
the first officer on scene, knew the SUV left,
called it out on everyone's microphone not one
officer checked the parking lot, checked the
bushes, checked the roofs, checked the dumpsters,
checked the lakes, nothing.
That parking lot wasn't even secured. And how
do we know that? Because news channels were
already parked there. Tommie Stornes' uncle and
mother or aunt who's now his guardian was in that
parking lot. The boys made phone calls and people
came to that parking lot where they left to.
There's opportunity to hide that weapon, so
keep your mind open and your ears open. Again what
I say and what Mr. Guy say are not evidence, but
you notice much of what I'm saying didn't come out
of Mr. Guy's opening statement.
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1302
Now Mr. Guy also says that all of these men
are now in shock, and his exact words in opening
like everyone else they were in shock. But why
does that standard of fairness not apply to Michael
Dunn? He just had somebody threaten his life,
display a weapon, try to exit a vehicle and say
this shit's going down now, Bitch, and for the
first time in his life he has to use a firearm to
defend himself.
And you'll find out he was trained. You'll
find out he had a carry concealed weapons permit
and you'll find out he owned that firearm for years
and never in his life had to use it until that
night, and yet it's okay for the state's witnesses
to be in shock but not Michael Dunn and not Rhonda
Rouer.
And you're going to hear from Rhonda Rouer.
She's the one that asked for the pizza. She was
nervous. She was meeting Mr. Dunn's family for the
first time. She didn't eat much at the wedding.
She had just been through what everyone will agree
to is a traumatic, tragic experience. No one will
dispute that.
She got the information for the pizza. She
wanted to try to put food in her stomach. She's
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1303
the one that watched the movie to put herself to
sleep, and you're going to hear from her take that
stand and you're going to hear that this evening
was so traumatic for her that she sought mental
health counseling and is now on prescription
medication, and you're going to hear her tell you
that they did make a drink back at the hotel room,
that they were shaking, that she had never seen
Michael so upset, not angry, not violent, not
abusive.
In fact, Rhonda Rouer is going to tell you
that he was so attentive to make sure she was okay
she had to step outside the room to get air because
he wouldn't stop touching her, talking to her,
making sure she's okay, and she said I've never
seen him in that state before. She's never been in
that state before.
And they didn't go walk their dog. They had a
small puppy that they brought to the hotel. The
only reason they stayed at that hotel was it was
pet friendly. As a matter of fact, Michael Dunn
left his son's wedding early so they could go get
the puppy so that it could pee or poop or go
outside.
Mr. Dunn didn't put the dog on a leash. He
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1304
didn't walk it around the neighborhood. There's a
spot right downstairs from the elevator that's
actually on cement, and Ms. Rouer is going to tell
you you go right around the corner to the back of
the hotel. The dogs go. You pick it up and you go
right back up, and that's what Michael Dunn did.
But further the reason they left Jacksonville
Rhonda Rouer will tell you as she told the
detectives just the next day and a couple days
after that she was the one that panicked so much
that she begged Michael we have to go home right
now. We have to go back to Satellite Beach right
now.
And Ms. Rhonda is not really familiar with
guns. She didn't know the law of self-defense.
She thought you fire a gun, somebody dies, you go
to jail, and Ms. Rouer was petrified, and she told
the homicide detectives it wasn't Michael. It was
me. I made him take me home. I wanted to situate
my things, get the dog together because she
believed she was going to jail.
And if the state plays you her video you'll
even hear her say that to Detective Musser and he
even says, no, no, you're okay. Even well after
the incident she was still back panicked and yet
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1305
Mr. Guy didn't bring that up on opening statement.
So listen to that witness stand. Don't just
listen to one side. Listen to both. You make that
decision. You're the instant replay in this case,
and for Michael Dunn you're all he has because
nobody in law enforcement cared what he had to say.
Nobody in law enforcement wanted to hear what he
had to say. They just wanted to give you their own
version of what happened.
And you're going to hear that on the night
this happened Ms. Wolfson was present. You're
going to hear from the homicide detectives that
Ms. Wolfson has the ultimate authority to record
witnesses, that Ms. Wolfson and the State
Attorney's Office trumped their procedure, their
policy, their assistant chief, and you're going to
see Ms. Wolfson take one sworn statement that
night, one video, Shawn Atkins, a convicted felon
who wanted benefit for his testimony who saw
nothing, and on the night he talked to police he
even said it looked like Michael Dunn was shooting
at the ground to scare the car off.
Now my final points on opening with the
evidence. You're going to hear from their experts,
their experts, people that work with law
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1306
enforcement including the Medical Examiner, and
listen very closely. Listen to what she testifies
to because her testimony has got to be consistent
with the evidence, not just the organs that she
worked on. She's a doctor. She's a medical doctor
that works her autopsies for the State Attorney's
Office when it comes to homicides.
You're going to find out that this was a
second career for her. She was a graphic designer
and then at some point in her life decided I'm
interested in forensics. I'm going to go to a
medical school to specifically become a medical
examiner, and based on what Mr. Guy said this
doctor with her expert opinion is going to tell you
that Mr. Davis was sitting down and now leaning,
and that's why the trajectory was the way that it
was.
Doesn't make sense. Why? Because Leland
Brunson already testified before she formed her
opinion that everybody ducked except Jordan Davis.
He even tried to grab Jordan Davis and pull him
down, and Leland Brunson is going to testify that
Mr. Davis was allegedly sitting down, feet forward,
left arm up on the back chair, right arm up making
hand gestures yelling at Michael Dunn when the
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1307
shots went off and that everybody ducked but him.
Now if the entrance came from the side and
went straight through we already know Mr. Dunn's on
a vertical angle. Mr. Dunn is not next to the back
passenger door. Mr. Dunn is at a lower Volkswagen
car to a high-profile SUV, so unless the state can
prove the JFK magic bullet theory Dr. Simons'
testimony won't match up to their own witnesses,
and three bullets did go through.
You're going to hear the audio. It wasn't
slow and methodical. There was no premeditated
design. You're going to hear bang, bang, bang,
bang, bang, bang, bang, that quick, and that's as
Mr. Davis was getting out of the car to try to kill
or hurt with a deadly weapon Michael Dunn.
They backed out behind him, right behind
Mr. Dunn's car. Mr. Dunn puts his gun out the
window with his door open and as they drive away
doesn't want fire back because now they've got a
perfect shot at the back of Mr. Dunn's head and he
puts two bullets low into the car, and as you can
see the bullets go up and you'll hear it bang,
bang, bang, quick, no long pause.
And the evidence will not show that Mr. Dunn
went after that vehicle, tried to chase them down,
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1308
tried to follow them to shoot them. He had extra
rounds in the gun. When they found the gun the
evidence technicians in Brevard County are going to
tell you it's a 15-round clip. Ten shots were
fired. Five are still in the gun. Well, what does
that tell you if you know about weapons? A bullet
was never chambered in Michael Dunn's gun. He had
to actually pull the slide to fire the first round.
So Mr. Dunn wasn't lying in wait waiting to
shoot somebody listening to thug music. He didn't
have a bullet in the chamber ready to shoot someone
at a moment's notice. It was a safely loaded
firearm two steps away from the vehicle in a
holster in a glove box, and he never reached for
it, not even when my client first sees the weapon.
It's not until after Jordan Davis gets out of the
car with that weapon and says you're dead, Bitch.
This is going down now. That's when he reaches for
the gun.
You're also going to find out that there was
an extra clip in his glove box, so not only did
Michael Dunn have five more bullets ready to be
fired at a moment's notice and doesn't, he doesn't
unload the clip in the men in the car. He doesn't
chase them down. He grabs his fiance and gets back
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1309
to the safety of his hotel and in a panic for the
first time in his life has no idea what to do.
Rhonda Rouer has no idea what to do, but he
still had the extra clip, the extra 15 rounds in
the glove box that he never reaches for. He never
even tries to take it out of the car. If this was
a premeditated design and murder, a premeditated
design attempt murder where Mr. Dunn fled Duval
County because he knew he murdered someone with the
intent and maliciousness to convict someone of that
charge he goes home. He doesn't go to an airport,
and you're going to find out he has the ability to
fly a plane. He had a pilot's license. He had a
reservation at another hotel in St. Augustine. He
could have gone somewhere to hide but he went home.
He could have never answered his cell phone or
talked to the homicide detectives on the phone. He
could have hung up and said we got to get out of
here. They know it's us, and they don't. Do you
know where Michael Dunn goes? When they get home
because it takes two-and-a-half hours to get home
he goes to his neighbor's house who is a federal
law enforcement officer up north, spends time down
here in the same neighborhood as Michael.
Mr. Dunn goes there and says to him, hey, I
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1310
need to talk to the police. Would you mind going
with me and walk me in there? His friend, Ken,
gets on the phone with 911 to talk to Brevard
County. Why? Because Michael Dunn is now safely
at home with law enforcement he knows and trusts
and is ready to go talk to them, and while this
happens he gets the phone call to come outside.
Does he run? Does he flee? Does he come out
firing? No. He cooperates. He walks outside with
his hands up, gets on the ground with AR-15's
pointed at him nonetheless and then proceeds to
fully cooperate with homicide detectives from the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Not only does he fully cooperate, Detective
Oliver, one of the homicide detectives, who's in
the recorded room with Mr. Dunn even will testify
no signs of deception, and he's been trained.
Detective Oliver has training if someone's trying
to deceive them or lie to them and Detective Oliver
will tell you Mr. Dunn showed no signs of deception
when telling them what happened the night before,
why he shot the gun, why he went to the hotel and
why he came to Jacksonville.
And Mr. Dunn is extremely confident that if
you do keep an open mind, do not let sympathy or
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1311
anger or bias creep into that decision, be bound by
your duty as a juror and bound the jurors next to
you to do the same, the facts of this case with the
law there is only one just and lawful verdict and
that verdict will be not guilty. Thank you.
THE COURT: Thank you very much, Mr. Strolla.
The state can call their first witness.
MS. COREY: Your Honor, while they're doing
that, may I please offer into evidence photographs
1 through 160 and counsel has seen this. We also
will be using state's 170 in evidence that
Mr. Strolla has seen and agrees to and state's 168
for now.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla.
MR. STROLLA: If I can just look real quick,
Your Honor?
THE COURT: Sure. While you're doing that the
state's witness.
MS. WOLFSON: Your Honor, the state calls
Aliyah Harris.
THE COURT: Aliyah Harris?
MS. WOLFSON: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Aliyah Harris, please.
MS. WOLFSON: May I move the podium?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am. Have you had a chance
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1312
to look through them, Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Any objection to receiving those?
It's -- how many were there, Ms. Corey?
MS. COREY: On the photographs, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Well, I know there's one disk so
it's state's exhibit --
MS. COREY: Well, it's -- the exhibits are on
the disk so it's state's exhibit 1 --
THE COURT: 1 through 160?
MS. COREY: -- through 160 consecutively.
THE COURT: Okay. And then the second disk.
MR. GUY: The second disk is state's -- I'd
have to look at it. Whatever the number is on
there, Judge.
THE COURT: Is it 170?
MR. GUY: Could be. I've got my list.
THE COURT: 168.
MR. GUY: Yes, sir. 168.
THE COURT: All right. Then without objection
the state's 1 --
MR. STROLLA: If I can just approach briefly
on a housekeeping matter regarding that, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: Sure. You need the court
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1313
reporter?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, sir.
(Sidebar discussion with reporter present.)
MR. STROLLA: Obviously the prior objections I
raised I didn't want to put that in front of the
jury but I want to make sure it was on the record
because the whole thing --
THE COURT: So that will be received as
state's 1 through 160 subject to your prior
objections.
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Judge, and the second
clarification is the 911 calls we did have a
stipulation that all of them would be admissible
into evidence. I just want to make sure because I
want it clear on the record.
MS. COREY: They are and before we start with
that witness just to keep things rolling I am going
to offer state's -- have to put my glasses on. 167
it now has all of the 911 calls so that either side
can play either call -- any of the calls.
THE COURT: And that's without objection?
MR. STROLLA: Correct.
MS. COREY: There are five calls on one disk
so 167 is a composite of five 911 calls.
THE COURT: Okay.
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MS. COREY: And one last piece that will get
us through the break to make things easier is the
Gate Gas Station receipt, state's 169. These are
all the things that we -- Mr. Strolla --
MR. STROLLA: That was Ms. Rouer.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. STROLLA: No.
MS. COREY: You want me to add these two.
(Sidebar discussion concluded.)
THE COURT: All right. So we have in evidence
state's 1 through 160.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Then, Mr. Strolla, we also have
state's 169. Any objection to that?
MR. STROLLA: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And state's 167 I believe it was.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir, and it's a composite of
five 911 calls, Your Honor.
THE COURT: That's a composite exhibit of five
911 calls. Any objection to that, Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: No, sir, Your Honor, none.
THE COURT: So that will be received as
state's 167, I believe.
(The item last-above referred to was received
into evidence as State's Exhibit No. 167.)
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1315
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Sorry about that, ma'am. If
you'll raise your right hand the clerk will
administer the oath to you.
ALIYAH HARRIS,
having been produced and first duly sworn as a witness
on behalf of the State, testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right. Ma'am, if you'll come
right around this way for me the bailiff will help
you in your seat there and just speak directly into
that microphone and keep your voice up so everybody
can hear you, all right?
THE WITNESS: Okay.
MS. WOLFSON: May I inquire, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. WOLFSON:
Q Please state your name for the jury.
A Aliyah Harris.
Q How old are you, Ms. Harris?
A 19 years old.
Q And where do you currently live?
A Boca Raton.
Q Are you in school down there?
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1316
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And where do you go to school?
A Florida Atlantic University.
Q What year are you at Florida Atlantic
University?
A My freshman year.
Q Where did you graduate from high school?
A Wolfson High School.
Q And could you tell the jury what year you
graduated?
A 2013, June.
Q Now, Ms. Harris, do you know someone by the
name of Jordan Davis?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q When did you first meet Jordan Davis?
A August, 2012.
Q Where did you meet him?
A At school.
Q Could you tell the jury what your
relationship was like with Jordan Davis?
A We had a good, friendly relationship at first
and then we started dating.
Q Now during this time, Ms. Harris, how often
would you see -- would you see him?
A Every day.
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1317
Q Now during this time, and that's the fall of
2012, were you also working?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And where were you working?
A Urban Outfitters at the Town Center.
Q And, Ms. Harris, how often would you work?
MS. COREY: Excuse me. Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
MS. COREY: Can you address the jurors? I
believe there's an issue with the microphone.
THE COURT: Can you -- all right. Can you
move that a little closer and, sir, let's see if
that works and if you need the little hearing aids
we can use that as well so just let me know. Have
you been all right so far?
THE VENIREMAN: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Okay. All right, ma'am, just be
sure and speak right into that microphone, okay?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: We may be -- maybe we can up that
volume a little bit. Go ahead.
BY MS. WOLFSON:
Q Ms. Harris, how often would you work during
this time?
A Maybe a couple times a week.
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1318
Q Now, Ms. Harris, I'd like to turn your
attention to November 23rd of 2012. That's the Friday
after Thanksgiving.
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Were you working that day?
A Yes, I was.
Q And was that at Urban Outfitters?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Do you remember what time you got to work?
A About 5:00 p.m..
Q And what time were you working until?
A About 2:00 a.m..
Q Do you remember what time the store actually
closed?
A 11:00 p.m..
Q Okay. While you were working at Urban
Outfitters, did you ever see Jordan Davis?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And where were you when you saw him?
A At work.
Q Did Jordan Davis come in the store?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Was he by himself when he came into the
store?
A No, ma'am.
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1319
Q Who else was with him?
A Two other friends, Tevin and Leland.
Q Now had you ever met Leland before?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q When had you first met Leland?
A At school.
Q Was that also in Wolfson High School?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now had you ever met Tevin before?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q When had you met Tevin?
A At high school.
Q Now do you remember whether or not anyone
else was with them that day?
A No, ma'am.
Q When Jordan Davis came into the store, what
was his demeanor like?
A He was in good spirits. He was happy.
Q Did you know he was coming into the store?
A No, ma'am.
Q Was it a surprise?
A Yes.
Q Ms. Harris, did you get to talk to Jordan
Davis when he came into the store?
A Yes, ma'am, briefly.
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Q Did you all have any sort of fight or
argument at that point in time?
A No, ma'am.
Q And how long did you get to speak with him
for?
A A couple of minutes.
Q When he left, were you all on good terms?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What time did he leave the store?
A I'm not sure exactly what time but I know it
was dark outside.
Q And after he left the store, Ms. Harris, did
you ever speak with Jordan Davis again?
A Not ever.
Q Now, Ms. Harris, I believe if you look on
your screen I'm showing you what's previously been
stipulated and entered into evidence as state's
exhibit 24.
A Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: It's there.
BY MS. WOLFSON:
Q Ms. Harris, is that a photograph of Jordan
Davis?
A Yes, ma'am.
MS. WOLFSON: Your Honor, I have no further
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1321
questions.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla, cross examination.
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor. Judge, I have
a portable mic on. Can I do it here with my notes?
THE COURT: Sure.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you, Judge.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Ms. Harris, how are you doing today?
A I'm fine, thank you.
Q And you actually left Wolfson High School and
came back, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. You were there as a freshman but came
back that senior year?
A As a senior.
Q And that was in September of 2012?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And you didn't know Jordan Davis prior
to your senior year, is that correct?
A No, sir. I did not know Jordan Davis.
Q Okay. So when you started school in
September of 2012 you had just met him after you
started school?
A Yes, sir.
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1322
Q Okay. And that's -- you said you were
friends for a little bit, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And then you started dating?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Did you start dating in October,
November? When did you start dating?
A At the end of September.
Q Okay. So you dated him for about 60 days
until he unfortunately had passed?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Were you dating him the entire time?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And you'd characterize your
relationship with Mr. Davis as a solid relationship,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q You guys talked every day?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Exclusively dating each other?
A Yes, sir.
Q And he came to see you that night because you
are his steady girlfriend, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you only did briefly talk to him, right?
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1323
A Yes, sir.
Q And that was because with all due respect
you're working in a retail store on Black Friday,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Things a little crazy?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And you said you knew it was dark out
when he left but that's because at that mall it's
outside?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you could see through the front store?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And this was in November of 2012,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And it gets dark about 5:00, 5:30 at night?
A Yes, sir.
Q And sometimes in Jacksonville with the rain
and clouds sometimes a little bit earlier?
A Yes, sir, but it was not raining that day.
Q Okay. Now isn't it true that you've never
seen Jordan Davis with a weapon?
A Yes, sir.
Q Does that even include a tactical or assault
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1324
knife or tactical knife or pocketknife, anything like
that?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. So the two months you were with him he
never had a weapon at all, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Do you know he was carrying a tactical knife
that night in his pocket?
A No, sir.
Q Would he have ever told you why he carried a
knife or you wouldn't have even known?
A No, sir.
Q And you actually realized that Leland and
Mr. Davis were friends, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you said you talked to Jordan Davis every
day?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And you even had -- did you hang out
with him every day?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And you told me that you guys would
hang out, meaning you and Jordan Davis and Leland,
about three times a week as a group, correct?
A Yes, sir.
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1325
Q Okay. Did he tell you where he was going
after he left the store?
A No, sir. He did not.
Q Did you know where he was going?
A No, sir.
Q And you said you didn't even know he was
coming up there to see you?
A No, sir.
Q When you got off of work, what time did you
get off of work?
A About 2:00 a.m..
Q Okay.
A The next morning.
Q And that was the next morning following
Jordan Davis being shot, correct?
A That was the night he got shot.
Q 2:00 o'clock in the morning would be just
after, correct?
A Yes. Yes, sir.
Q Okay. When you got off work, did you ever
call Jordan Davis?
A No, sir.
Q Did you ever text him?
A No, sir.
Q Okay. When you woke up, did you call him?
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1326
A No, sir.
MR. STROLLA: No further questions, Judge.
THE COURT: Anything else, Ms. Wolfson?
MS. WOLFSON: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: May she be excused?
MS. WOLFSON: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, sir, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am.
You're excused.
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: State's next witness.
MS. COREY: The state calls Steven Smith,
Steven Smith.
THE COURT: Steven Smith, please. Mr. Smith,
if you'll come forward for me right up here to the
front, please. If you'll come straight forward and
raise your right hand the clerk will administer the
oath.
STEVEN SMITH,
having been produced and first duly sworn as a witness
on behalf of the State, testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: All right, sir. If you'll come
right around this way for me, please, and you can
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1327
have a seat there in the witness chair. Be sure
and speak loudly into that microphone, all right?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Yes, Ms. Corey. Go right ahead.
MS. COREY: Thank you, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q State your name for the record.
A Steven Duane Smith.
Q Can you spell your first and middle name,
please?
A Yes, ma'am. S-T-E-V-E-N, middle name Duane,
D-U-A-N-E.
Q All right, sir. Where do you reside, in
which city and county?
A Bryceville, Florida. It's in Nassau County.
Q Just north of Duval County?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What is your profession?
A I'm a general contractor.
Q How long have you been a general contractor?
A For 20 plus years.
Q And what is the specific nature of your
business?
A We are -- we build multifamily apartment
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1328
complexes. I'm a project manager for the general
contracting company.
Q Let me take your attention back to November
of 2012, specifically November 23rd, do you recall that
date?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And were you working in your capacity as a
general contractor at that time?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And which area of Northeast Florida were you
living at that time?
A I was living in Bryceville.
Q And in which area of Northeast Florida were
you working on that day?
A I was working in Deerwood complex which is
Duval County.
Q On that Friday evening of November 23rd let
me take your attention to approximately 7:30 or around
that time. Was this particular Friday the day after
Thanksgiving?
A Yes, ma'am. It was.
Q And had you worked that entire day?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And where did you work?
A At Deerwood.
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1329
Q What type of work were you doing in Deerwood?
A We were doing a house renovation.
Q Where is Deerwood in relation to the Gate Gas
Station at the corner of Southside and Baymeadows?
A It's just east of it towards 9-A.
Q And are both of those locations in
Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida?
A Yes, ma'am. They are.
Q Sir, I'm going to show you a photograph
marked into evidence as state's exhibit 3 and ask do
you see that on your screen?
A Yes, ma'am. I do.
Q Can you touch your screen and show the jurors
the area where Deerwood is, where you were working?
A Is that good enough or you want me to X it a
little more?
Q Just a little more.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q Okay. Very good. And that is a residential
area you said?
A Yes, ma'am, it is.
Q And what time did you finish your work inside
the Deerwood Estates?
A 7:15.
Q Were you alone that evening in your vehicle?
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1330
A Yes, ma'am. I was.
Q Were you in a work vehicle?
A I was in my company truck, yes, ma'am.
Q And did you leave the Deerwood area around
that time?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q Where did you go?
A I went down to the Gate Gas Station.
Q Which way did you take from Deerwood to the
Gate Gas Station?
A I turned onto I guess that would be
Baymeadows and made a right and came down towards
Southside and turned into the Gate complex from that
direction.
Q Can you do that on the photograph for the
jurors to see?
A Yes, ma'am. I can.
Q All right. Thank you. Sir, can you describe
your vehicle for the jury?
A I had a black Toyota Tundra.
Q Is that a truck?
A Yes, ma'am. It is. It's a pick-up truck.
Q Is it a big truck?
A It's a good size truck, yes, ma'am.
Q And are you familiar with the intersection of
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1331
Southside and Baymeadows?
A Yes, ma'am, I am.
Q Had you pulled into that Gate Gas Station
prior to the evening that we're talking about?
A Yes, ma'am. I had.
Q And why do you usually go to that Gate Gas
Station?
A I'll either get gas or get drinks or get
something for the guys, Gatorades, just for the guys.
Q Sir, on that particular evening for what
purpose did you pull into the Gate Gas Station?
A To get a fountain drink.
Q I'm going to show you, sir, now what's been
marked into evidence as state's exhibit 2 and ask you
to show the jurors on this particular aerial how you
pulled into the Gate Gas Station.
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. When you got to about that point
where you've drawn the arrow, did you notice a red
Dodge Durango?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q Can you tell the jurors on this photo
approximately where you saw that Durango?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now let me stop and ask you a few questions.
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1332
Was it nighttime by the time you pulled in?
A Yes, ma'am. It was.
Q Do you recall approximately what time this
was by the time you had left the area that night?
A 7:30 range, somewhere in that neighborhood.
Q And what were the weather conditions?
A It was clear and cool.
Q What is the lighting like at the Gate Gas
Station or what was it like on that evening?
A It was adequate. It was good.
Q Was -- do they have outdoor lights?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And do they have lights outdoor -- outside of
the store as well as over at the gas pumps?
A Yes, ma'am. They do.
Q And in the parking area?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What did you -- when you pulled in, where was
the red Dodge Durango parked?
A Where I indicated here on the -- away from
where I parked.
Q Okay. When you pulled up, was there an open
spot to the right of this red Dodge Durango?
A Yes, ma'am. There was.
Q And next to that open spot can you describe
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1333
what that area is? And we'll be showing you a
photograph in a moment, but can you go ahead and
describe it for the jury?
A Yes, ma'am. There's a grass area and then
there's a sidewalk that goes into the front of the Gate
Gas Station.
Q Tell these jurors why you didn't pull into
that empty spot next to the sidewalk.
A I heard loud music and didn't want to deal
with it.
Q Did you know from what source that loud music
was coming?
A It was coming from the red Durango.
Q Could you see the occupants of that red Dodge
Durango?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you notice who was inside?
A There were four gentlemen in there. There
appeared to be four gentlemen in there.
Q All right. And were your windows up or down?
A My windows were up.
Q Were their windows up or down?
A They were down. The passenger side was down
anyway.
Q Were there other parking spots available for
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1334
you to pull into?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What did you do?
A I pulled into the other parking spot.
Q Which one?
A The one indicated on the opposite side of the
entry in the bed -- plant bed.
Q Did you have to put it in reverse to back up
to that spot?
A Yes, ma'am. Usually I pull in the other one
because it's easier to make the turn because I didn't
-- the truck doesn't turn sharp turns.
Q Did -- I'm sorry?
A It doesn't turn sharp turns. I apologize.
I'm sorry.
Q Did you have any trouble finding another
parking spot?
A No, ma'am.
Q Were there even other parking spots that were
vacant that you could have chosen to park in?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q At the time that you made this decision to
reverse and park in a different spot did you see a
black Volkswagen Jetta anywhere in the parking lot?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
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1335
Q Did you park your car in that spot?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And was anyone in your car -- your truck, I'm
sorry, at that time?
A No, ma'am. There was not.
Q Did you exit your truck?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you go inside the store?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And for what purpose again?
A I went in to get a fountain drink.
Q Did you go anywhere other than to the
fountain section of the store?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you speak to any of the customers as you
went into the fountain area?
A Not that I recollect, no, ma'am.
Q How long would you say it took you to make a
fountain drink?
A A couple minutes.
Q During the time you were at the fountain were
you aware of anything going on in the parking lot?
A No, ma'am. You could still hear the music.
That's -- that was it.
Q And when you approached the clerk at the gas
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1336
station, did you say something to the clerk about that
music?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q Tell the jurors what you said.
A I asked her, I said I wish they'd turn it up.
It's my favorite song being a smart aleck.
Q Okay. And did the clerk say anything?
A Just kind of laughed. That was it.
Q Did you pay for your drink?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q What did you do then?
A I went back and got out -- went out of the
store going towards my truck.
Q Is there more than one set of doors to your
knowledge to go directly to your vehicle?
A Not that I'm aware of, no, ma'am.
Q Now I'm going to show you two photographs.
First we'll show you state's exhibit 5 and ask you, sir
-- there's no markings on your photo, right?
A No, ma'am. There's not.
MS. COREY: Do you see any, Judge?
THE COURT: No.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Okay. Let's start with state's photo 5 and
let me ask you, sir, can you please show the jurors on
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1337
this particular photograph where you ended up parking
and put a one on that spot.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q Okay. And then can you draw a circle around
the spot where you had first seen the red Dodge
Durango?
A (Marks photograph.)
Q And put an X on the spot that you said was
empty but that you backed away from.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q Now I want you to use -- I guess a plus sign
just so we can tell and show the jurors when you walked
out where you stood.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q All right. When you stood in that spot, had
a car pulled in to the empty spot that's designated by
the X?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Describe that car for this jury.
A It was a Volkswagen, a dark colored
Volkswagen.
Q Did you see anyone inside that car?
A There was a gentleman sitting in the driver's
seat.
Q Did you notice whether or not the red Dodge
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1338
Durango was still in its original spot?
A It was still there, yes, ma'am.
Q Did you hear the music still coming from that
Durango at that point?
A I -- no, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Okay. Did you hear anyone in the red Dodge
Durango say anything to anyone?
A No, ma'am.
Q How well could you see the occupant of the
black Jetta?
A Very clear.
Q Where was that person sitting?
A In the driver's seat.
Q Was there any vehicle or any object of any
kind between the black Jetta -- and I'm sorry, let me
back up. Let me strike that question. Were both cars
pulled in normally with the hoods at the edge of the
sidewalk?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And did you see any object or any
person standing in between those two cars?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
Q Did you see whether the doors of the red
Dodge Durango were open or closed?
A I didn't pay attention to them, no, ma'am.
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Q What were you about to do?
A I was about to make a turn and walk towards
my truck door.
Q And what stopped you?
A I heard someone yell or someone say something
very loud.
Q And what did you hear that person say?
A No, you're not going to talk to me that way.
Q All right. Can you use your voice to try to
convey to the jury the volume of that person's voice?
A You're not going to talk to me that way.
Q Was it a male voice or a female voice?
A Male.
Q And could you tell where that voice was
coming from?
A The direction it was coming from was the
parked Jetta.
Q And the windows I believe you said on the red
Dodge Durango were down?
A On the passenger side they were, yes, ma'am.
Q Did you hear any voices projected towards you
over the Jetta?
A No, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Let me take you now, sir, to state's photo
number 6 and ask you that's just a slightly different
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view, but can you show the jurors on that little -- you
know, the little plant area next to the sidewalk, was
there anything obstructing your hearing or your view of
the black Jetta as it was parked in that very first
spot?
A No, ma'am.
Q Okay. And can you circle on that picture
again where you were standing to show the jurors your
vantage point?
A (Marks photograph.)
Q All right. And realizing, of course, these
photos were taken well after you had seen everything
you're describing to the jury, is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And if you'll go now to state's
exhibit 10 in evidence, please, and let me ask you is
this a full-on view of the two parking spots that
you've already described?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And again if you can write a J in the parking
spot where the Jetta was.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q It's not the greatest writing tool.
A I apologize. Yes, ma'am.
Q Thank you, sir. And if you could write a D
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in the spot where the Durango was.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q From your vantage point on the sidewalk just
past those bushes did you notice whether either car was
-- was much forward of the other one or anything of
that nature?
A They appeared to be pulled in equally.
Q When you heard what you believe to be the
occupant of the Jetta say those words, did you ever
hear anyone in the red car say anything back to him?
A No, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Okay. Did you ever see anyone in the red
Dodge Durango brandish any sort of weapon?
A No, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Any stick?
A No, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Any cylindrical object?
A No, ma'am. I didn't.
Q Any knife?
A No, ma'am.
Q Please tell the jurors what happened next.
A When I heard someone yell I immediately
turned around and I saw a pistol in the front seat
between the steering wheel, glove compartment area that
was a big silver, chrome either a nine-millimeter or a
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.45. It was a large caliber pistol.
Q Tell the jurors how you could see that.
A I turned around and it was right here. He
had a pistol.
Q And were you -- what portion of the black
Jetta were you looking through to be able to observe
what you just described?
A The passenger's window.
Q Okay. And was there anyone that you noticed
in the passenger seat or in the back seat of the black
Jetta?
A No, ma'am.
Q What happened then?
A The gun was pulled around and shots were
fired at the red Durango.
Q Okay. Was there someone firing those shots?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Who did you notice that to be?
A The driver.
Q Okay. And what happened when the first shots
were fired at the Durango?
A Shots were fired at the Durango. The Durango
backed out and took off towards Southside Boulevard.
Q All right. And I may not be using the
appropriate term. I always call it a two-point turn.
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1343
Did the Durango back up completely and then pull
forward?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. So you never saw or did you ever
see the Durango just back completely up in one smooth
move?
A No, ma'am. It backed up, stopped and then
left in the opposite direction away from the front door
of the Gate.
Q Did you -- at that time could you tell if any
of the shots that had been fired thus far had hit the
Durango?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q How could you tell at that time?
A The side of the Durango had -- they had --
they sold stickers that had a little metal thing, looks
like a bullet hole. That's exactly what it looked on
the side of the car or the Durango.
Q And again was there anything obstructing your
view when you were watching all of this?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you see the driver of the Jetta fire any
more shots?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Tell the jurors what happened.
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A Once the Durango pulled down approximately
four or five further spaces than where they were it
shot two to three more times.
Q And where was the driver at the time that
next volley of shots that you described was fired?
A I'm not sure if he was in the car or out of
the car.
Q All right. Did you then see anyone exit the
store and get into that Jetta?
A His -- a lady came outside. He said get in
the car and she kind of asked what was -- you know,
what's going on? He said get in the car. She got in
the passenger seat. They backed out and the car left.
The Jetta left.
Q Let me show you state's exhibit 125 in
evidence, sir, and ask you does that appear to be the
black Jetta realizing, of course, that this is in a
different location at the time?
A Yes, ma'am. It appears to be.
MS. COREY: Now, Judge, may I have your
permission to ask the witness to step down and may
I use a chair to show the jurors something?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am. If we could get one
of the rolling chairs all right?
MS. COREY: Certainly, Judge.
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THE COURT: All right.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Smith, what I'm going to ask you to do
with Mr. Guy's assistance is I would like for you to
consider that the front counsel table where Ms. Wolfson
is is the red Durango.
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And I'd like you to put that chair in where
the driver of the Jetta would have been and if you can
approximate the distance that would be great.
MS. COREY: Mr. Guy, I need you.
BY MS. COREY:
Q If you'll go -- and then I would like you to
put Mr. Guy at your vantage point as you were coming
out. The Gate doors would be sort of where -- sort of
where the end of the jury box is, so if you'll put
Mr. Guy where you came out of the Gate Station.
A She'd have to be the Jetta. There's a little
bit -- there's not quite enough room if she's the
Durango.
Q Right. She's -- the table is the Durango.
A Right. Mr. -- the driver of the Jetta was in
this area here. The width of the Jetta was probably
somewhere in here and I was --
Q Oh, there's not quite enough room?
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1346
A Not quite enough room, yes, ma'am.
Q Would you say you're standing where Mrs.
Simpkins, our court reporter, is?
A I was --
MS. COREY: May he go around, Judge? Would
that be too intrusive?
THE COURT: Sure. Sure.
THE WITNESS: That's -- yes, ma'am. I was
right in that -- that area may have -- may have
been slightly back maybe a foot behind where she's
at.
BY MS. COREY:
Q All right, sir. And would you now get in the
seat, the driver's seat?
MS. COREY: And, Mr. Guy, I guess it's okay
because I can't put you where he was.
BY MS. COREY:
Q But let me just ask you this: Was there
anything from the area where Mrs. Simpkins is where you
said you were standing to where you're sitting now as
the driver of the Jetta that obstructed your view of
what you're about to show the jury?
A No, ma'am.
Q Then I want you to show them the motions that
he made in retrieving the gun.
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A (Indicating.)
Q All right. And were you able to tell whether
or not he had to put a round in the chamber?
A I didn't -- once I saw the pistol that's all
I'm focused on. I didn't pay attention whether he
cocked it.
Q All right. And just show them to the best of
your ability how he fired the gun towards the Durango.
A (Indicating.)
Q Okay. Thank you, sir. And now, sir, if
you'll resume the stand.
We're about to publish state's 168 which is
video surveillance from inside of the Gate Gas Station,
and did you review that at our request?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And did you see yourself on that video?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And does that video aid in explaining to the
jury your timing of being in the Gate and walking
outside compared to when the shots were fired?
A Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: Your Honor, at this time we would
ask to publish state's 168 in evidence.
MR. STROLLA: Without objection, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Whoever's going to do
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that we can publish 168. Aren't computers grand?
In the old days you'd have a projector and you'd
hit a button and we'd be watching it.
MS. COREY: Until the projector broke.
THE COURT: Well, that's true. Those things
happen, too. I think we're getting there.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Smith, what I'll ask you to do is allow
it to play but at the point you see yourself in the
video just tell the jury which person is you.
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Thank you.
THE COURT: I'm not sure how large that is on
the jurors' screens. It's very small on mine. I
don't know if you can maximize that.
MS. COREY: It's not on their screens yet,
Judge. I think if you'll allow us to get that up
full screen and then if you hit publish. It's
large on our screens.
THE COURT: Is it large on there?
MS. COREY: It's not on here yet.
THE COURT: Oh.
MS. COREY: It's -- we can see it on our
monitors and it's as large as we can get it.
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1349
THE COURT: It's coming.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: And then we're good with publish
to all.
(Publishing video.)
MS. COREY: It's not on the jurors' screens
yet.
THE COURT: We're not seeing it on the jurors'
screens. Are you seeing it?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
MS. COREY: We need to back it up, please.
Thank you so much.
THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
can you see it now?
THE VENIREMEN: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. So let's go back.
THE WITNESS: That's me.
THE COURT: And start it from the beginning
again and then again I think the question was when
you see yourself, Mr. Smith, speak up but be sure
to speak loudly because obviously there's audio on
this video.
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
(Publishing video to jury panel. Cannot hear
audio to transcribe.)
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THE WITNESS: That's me.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Thank you. Tell the jurors where the doors
are that you entered and exited.
A To my right behind me.
Q Were you on the sidewalk by this time?
A Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Oh, my gosh, somebody's
shooting. Somebody's shooting out of their car.
(Stopped video.)
BY MS. COREY:
Q Sir, is that approximately the amount of time
from the time you exited the store until you heard the
first shot that you had the chance to observe these
things that you've described to the jury here today?
A Yes, ma'am. It is.
Q And were you as close as from where
Ms. Simpkins was to where you showed the two cars here
in the courtroom?
A Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: May I have just a moment with
co-counsel?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: Just a couple more questions then,
Your Honor.
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1351
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Smith, did you ever see the occupants of
the black Jetta again that evening?
A No, ma'am.
Q Okay. What about the red Dodge Durango?
A Yes, ma'am. They pulled back.
Q All right. Can you tell the jurors
approximately how long it was after you saw them take
off and the last shot was fired till when they
returned, approximate?
A A few minutes, three to five minutes. They
pulled back in. They pulled down a couple spaces past
where they were further away from the door entry.
Q And was your car still in the same location?
A Yes, ma'am. It was. I was still standing in
the same location.
Q And earlier we saw a white truck. Is that
car that had pulled in in the interim or do you know?
A Yes, ma'am. He pulled in after all this had
happened.
Q All right. Did you remain there and speak to
the police?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q Did you ever speak to any of the occupants of
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1352
the red Dodge Durango at that point?
A No, ma'am. At that point I did not.
Q And, sir, did you ever see any of those young
men exit the red Dodge Durango with any sort of weapon?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
Q Did you ever see any object being thrown out
of the car towards the roof?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
Q Towards a dumpster?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
Q Towards anything?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you have a chance later to speak to the
young men who had been in the red Dodge Durango?
A We -- we -- we said hey. That was about it.
Everyone was waiting in the Gate Gas Station.
Q Did you ever discuss the specific facts of
the case or any potential testimony with any of those
young men or with any other witness?
A No, ma'am. I did not.
Q Did you tell the police what you had seen
that night?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And did you give a deposition in this case to
Mr. Strolla?
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1353
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
MS. COREY: I have no further questions of
Mr. Smith. Thank you, sir.
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen,
since -- of the jury, I told you we would try and
break at the hour-and-a-half, two-hour mark. We've
almost been two hours. Mr. Strolla.
MR. STROLLA: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: How long do you think you're going
to be?
MR. STROLLA: I was only probably going to be
about five minutes, Judge, so I didn't know if you
want to wait for cross examination.
THE COURT: All right. Then we can do that.
We'll go ahead and do cross examination by
Mr. Strolla and then we'll take our break, okay?
MR. STROLLA: Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla, go right ahead.
MR. STROLLA: If it may please the Court?
THE COURT: Yes, sir. That's fine.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Mr. Smith, how you doing today?
A Doing good, sir.
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Q Now Ms. Corey asked you some questions about
did you see things thrown from the SUV, right?
A Yes, sir.
Q You said, no.
A Correct.
Q Tell me what the SUV did when it left your
sight.
A When it left the sight it pulled around the
corner and pulled out of sight.
Q All right. When it left your sight tell me
what the red SUV did.
A I don't know.
Q What did the occupants do?
A I do not know.
Q Did they take anything out of the car?
A I do not know.
Q Okay. Because they were out of your sight,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. When they came back, isn't it true
they parked all the way to the left of where you showed
on exhibit 5 and 6 of the state's evidence?
A They parked a few spaces down, yes, sir.
Q And that was to the left, right?
A Yes, sir.
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Q All right. And on that side the Gate Gas
Station ends, correct?
A There's a corner, yes, sir.
Q And there's no lights over there where the
bushes are, are there?
A It's not lit as well as the front entrance,
no, sir.
Q All right. Do you specifically know that
there's lights on that side by the bushes, is that what
you're saying?
A I don't specifically know that there are or
are not, no, sir.
Q You're just assuming?
A It doesn't -- it doesn't appear to be as
bright there as it is at the front entrance.
Q And we can rely that the photographs that you
just talked about and did the little teleprompter on
those are accurate from that night, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q So that lighting when you say adequate
lighting is accurate on those photos?
A It appears to be, yes, sir.
Q Okay. They weren't made darker by the
photographs or made brighter?
A It doesn't appear to be, no, sir.
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Q Okay. Now isn't it true that you were
walking to your car and weren't paying attention to
either Mr. Dunn's car or that red SUV, correct?
A Correct, yes, sir.
Q And, in fact, you said the music was so loud
when you pulled in you actually had to back up and go
to another spot?
A Correct.
Q Were your windows up or down?
A Up.
Q Okay. And was your music playing?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. So even over your music and windows up
you could hear that music?
A Yes, sir.
Q And those men, you said four men were in
there for some time, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Did they go in the store before or after you?
A I do not know, sir.
Q Don't recall?
A I don't recall, no, sir.
Q Okay. And as a matter of fact that little
parking area with the sidewalk is probably about ten
feet or more across, right?
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1357
A Probably eight to ten feet, yes, sir.
Q Okay.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, you mind if I use the
floor?
THE COURT: That's all right.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q So I'm going to kind of switch on you so you
don't have to come back down. So you've got the
Durango right here.
A Yes, sir.
Q You've got the Jetta right next to it, right?
A Yes, sir.
Q Space one and space two?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Now you've got about ten plus feet of
sidewalk, right?
A Yes, sir.
Q And then you've got some grass and mulch you
have to walk through, right?
A Yes, sir.
Q And then we have your car?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Now we see you walk out on video.
A Yes, sir.
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Q Was that accurate timing?
A Yes, sir.
Q Does it look like the video was altered at
all?
A No, sir, it does not.
Q Okay. And it takes probably how many seconds
for you to walk outside back to your truck?
A 20, 15, 20.
Q And in that 20 seconds you're saying you walk
outside the door and you're standing on the back
quarter panel of Mr. Dunn's car, correct?
A Between the back passenger door, yes, sir.
Q Okay. Well, the back quarter panel, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Do you recall taking a deposition in
this case?
A Yes, sir.
Q Do you recall telling me it was the back
quarter panel?
A It's in that back area of the car, yes, sir.
Q Okay. So now it takes you 20 seconds to walk
from the front door to the back quarter panel of the
Jetta, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Were you standing still or were you talking
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1359
on the phone, smoking a cigarette?
A I had my phone with me all the time. I may
have looked at my phone. I don't recall.
Q All right. And on the video if you weren't
on your phone you probably weren't on it walking out
the door?
A Right.
Q Okay. And if you were on your phone would
you admit that's a distraction where now you're
listening to somebody on the phone and talking at the
same time then?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And is that a possibility?
A No, sir. If I had been on the phone I would
have stayed on the phone while all this happened.
Q All right. So again you're now telling this
jury it takes you 20 seconds to walk from the front
door to the back quarter panel of the Volkswagen Jetta,
correct?
A Roughly.
Q Okay. Now can you tell me why when you come
out the front door do you not walk on the sidewalk
towards your car right here?
A I have direct access to my door if I go
across the plant area.
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Q All right. So again you walk down the
sidewalk to cut across the mulch or the plant area?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Now are you focusing at all on the
SUV?
A No, sir.
Q You even looking in that direction?
A No, sir.
Q Are you even looking at Mr. Dunn's direction?
A No, sir.
Q Okay. Let me ask you this: Do you remember
giving a statement to the police that night?
A Yes, sir, I do.
Q Do you recall them telling you just give me a
recap of what you saw and heard?
A Yes, sir.
Q Is that a fair --
A That's a fair assumption, yes, sir.
Q I'm not putting words in your mouth, am I?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And so they didn't want exactly what
happened, just give me a recap was their words?
A That's a fair assessment, yes, sir.
Q Okay. And did you tell them in your report
that you saw the gun first or heard the words first?
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A Heard the words first.
MS. COREY: I'm sorry, Judge, I would ask him
to rephrase. He said your report.
MR. STROLLA: The police report, what you gave
to the officers. I'm sorry.
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Okay. Now in your deposition you said today
that the Volkswagen and the Jetta was spot number one
and spot number two, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And do you recall taking the deposition
October 24th of 2013?
A I took one. I'm not sure if that's the day
or not.
Q Okay. I was at the State Attorney's Office?
A I did have one with you, yes, sir.
Q I asked you questions?
A Yes, sir.
Q Prosecutors were there?
A Yes, sir.
Q Court reporter?
A Yes, sir.
Q Court reporter gave you an oath?
A Yes, sir.
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1362
Q Okay. Isn't it true that in your deposition
you said --
MS. COREY: Excuse me, page and line?
THE COURT: Well, prior to even get that, how
about the original for the Court?
MR. STROLLA: Judge, with the budget with JAC
I was only given a copy, Your Honor. I can give
you my copy.
THE COURT: That will work.
MR. STROLLA: Okay. And if I could -- I'll go
to page right now, Judge, if I could before I give
you my copy if that's acceptable to Your Honor.
THE COURT: Sure.
MR. STROLLA: For the record it is page 17,
Judge, and it starts on line number 9 all the way
down to line 18, Your Honor. Well, actually 21. I
apologize or 23. We'll do the whole page, Judge.
We'll go to page 17, that whole page, if I could
approach, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Sure. Are you going to have
something to go by?
MR. STROLLA: I might have to ask for my depo
back, Judge, unless the state wants to give me
their copy. Unfortunately with --
THE COURT: I understand. I understand. So
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1363
line -- page 17, line --
MR. STROLLA: We can do that whole page,
Judge, line eight all the way down. I kind of ask
it two or three times.
THE COURT: Okay.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Now, Mr. Smith, in your deposition I asked
you where the Volkswagen was and where the Durango was
and in your deposition isn't it true you told me the
Volkswagen was in space one and that you believe that
SUV Durango was in space three with an empty space in
between?
A I believe so, yes, sir.
Q Okay. Now today you've testified to
something different. Can we agree on that?
A I showed the second space, yes, sir.
Q Okay. So when you gave your deposition under
oath it's different from what you're telling the jury
today, correct?
A He was in the second or third space. I do
not recall which space the Durango was in.
Q Well, it wasn't --
A But he was the next car to the Jetta.
Q Okay. But let me ask you this, and I don't
want to put words in your mouth: When Ms. Corey was
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1364
asking you questions and you just testified to the
jury, did you ever tell the jury it may be two or three
or did you mark that teleprompter the second spot?
A I marked the teleprompter second spot.
Q Okay. So now you're saying that it may be
the third, you just don't know?
A Correct.
Q Okay. Now again with that being said --
MR. STROLLA: Judge, you know, keep it for one
second, Judge.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Now you indicate on direct examination with
Ms. Corey that the SUV was gone for about three to five
minutes, correct?
A Yes.
Q Isn't it true in your deposition you told me
it was about five to ten minutes in your opinion?
A It was about five minutes. I do not recall
if it was five or ten that I said.
Q Okay.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, I can approach. Thank
you, sir.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Now when the Durango came back real briefly
it was on the far left of that parking area, correct?
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1365
A Yes.
Q And we saw there's bushes over there,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. When the driver got out, where did he
go?
A The driver came around the front of the car
and went towards the front door and wanted to know if
someone would call 911.
Q Okay. Did he have a cell phone in his hand?
A I did not notice, no, sir.
Q But he asked somebody else to call 911?
A He did, yes, sir.
Q Where did he go after that?
A I don't -- I don't recall. He was around the
front of the car, stayed around the front of the
Durango.
Q And again the front of that Durango is right
over by the bushes, correct?
A It's -- he's pointed towards the Gate Gas
Station.
Q Right. In the parking spot?
A In the parking spot, yes, sir. He was
slightly angled at that time. It wasn't directly in a
parking spot. It was slightly angled.
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1366
Q What do you mean it was slight -- the Durango
was slightly angled?
A It was slightly angled. It wasn't directly
square into one parking spot. He came in slightly
angled when he came back.
Q Okay. So the Durango was almost taking two
spots then?
A Wasn't full two but, yes, sir, he wasn't
squarely in one.
Q Okay. And again, and I don't want to put
words in your mouth, but is it fair to say that you
were not paying attention to Tommie Stornes, the driver
of the Durango, and what he was doing?
A Correct.
Q And it's fair to say he was out of your sight
because you're not focused on him?
A I did not pay attention to him, no, sir.
Q Same thing with the other occupants of the
vehicle, correct?
A Correct.
Q Okay. And you went inside the store as a
witness. They put you inside the store, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And isn't it true that people were using
their cell phones and talking while inside that store?
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1367
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And that's even when the police were
waiting to take people's statements, correct?
A Correct.
Q Y'all had to wait for about roughly an hour?
A It was a fair amount of time, yes, sir.
Q And that's a fair statement, about an hour,
give or take a few minutes?
A It may not have been quite an hour.
Q Okay. And this was only about six to eight
feet away from the employee counters, is that correct?
A Yes, sir, it was.
Q Now when -- you were there when Ms. Rouer,
the female, got into my client's car, correct?
A Yes, I was.
Q And isn't it true you could actually hear
panic in my client's voice?
A Yes, sir. Get in the car. Get in the car.
Q Did he sound angry or mad or was it panic
like you said?
A It was loud. It was loud.
Q Okay. Do you recall telling me in your
deposition that he sounded panicked?
A No, sir.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, one moment. Judge, I'm
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1368
going to refer to page 26. One second, Your Honor.
Hold on.
MS. COREY: Line three.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, it goes from 25 to 26.
THE COURT: You can go ahead and hold onto
that.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Now, Mr. Smith, I asked you would you be able
to tell that -- and again it would be your opinion, but
were you able to determine if he was in fear? Did he
seem like he was in a panic? Your answer was:
"A I, pause, he was in a panic for her
to get in the car, yes, sir."
A Yes, sir.
Q No aggression, no violence, nothing like
that?
A No, sir. Just get in the car.
Q And panicked?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now you gave a sworn statement to the State
Attorney's Office, correct?
A Yes, sir, I did.
Q It was actually Ms. Wolfson here today?
A Yes, sir.
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1369
Q And that was on November 30th, correct?
A I'm not sure the exact date but I did give
one to her, yes, sir.
Q Okay. So in that week after this happened
and you gave your recap to the homicide detectives that
night -- do you recall who you talked to that night by
the way?
A No, sir. I do not.
Q Okay. Now in that week did you watch any of
this on T.V.?
A I saw highlights of it on T.V.
Q Okay. And you saw the newscast?
A Newscast, yes, sir.
Q And you actually got to see and hear what the
news portrayed this as, is that correct?
A I -- I saw the newscast. I didn't pay much
attention to it but, yes, sir, I did see the newscast.
Q Okay. And in that week would you agree that
this case was highly televised and publicized daily?
A Yes, sir, it was.
Q And a week later you gave your sworn
statement and they tape-recorded it, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q They gave you an oath to tell the truth just
like today?
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1370
A Yes, sir.
Q Just like in your depo?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now if you weren't paying attention to your
surroundings walking to your car, is it possible that
Mr. Dunn said you're not going to kill me instead of
you're not going to talk to me?
A No, sir.
Q Okay. And again when you look over, are you
focused on the SUV or you focused on that gun?
A I turned over to the sound of the voice and I
saw the pistol. As soon as I saw the pistol my whole
focus stayed on that pistol.
Q And let me get this straight: You're on the
passenger side several feet away from Mr. Dunn's car?
A Yes, sir.
Q Back quarter panel side?
A Yes, sir.
Q His windows are up, correct?
A Yes, sir, they are.
Q Okay. And he would be facing away from you,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q All right. And the red SUV would have their
window down?
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1371
A Yes, sir.
Q And they'd be facing towards you?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you're saying that you could hear someone
talking towards the opposite direction, you could hear
what he said?
A Yes, sir.
Q And is it possible you actually heard that
from the Durango?
A I don't -- no, sir.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, I have nothing further.
Thank you.
THE COURT: Ms. Corey.
MS. COREY: Very briefly.
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Smith, did Mr. Strolla ever show you any
photographs when he was asking you about the parking
spaces?
A None that I recall, no, ma'am.
Q And did these photographs accurately depict
the parking spots as you described them to the jury
today?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1372
Q And is it your memory from the photographs
and your own testimony that the cars were where you
described them on the photograph?
MR. STROLLA: Your Honor, I'm going to object
to -- I'm going to object to leading, Your Honor.
MS. COREY: I'll rephrase.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MS. COREY:
Q What is your recollection at this time having
seen the photographs in court today as to where those
vehicles were parked?
A The Jetta was in the first space. The
Durango was in the second space.
MS. COREY: Thank you, sir. No further
questions.
THE COURT: May he be excused?
MS. COREY: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla.
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you, sir. You're excused.
Have a nice day.
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take a
break till five minutes of 3:00. You can just
leave your notes there at your seats and we'll
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1373
watch over them for you. If you'd like leave them
in your chair. Remember please do not talk among
yourselves about the case. You're going to hear me
say that a lot of times over the next few days.
Don't let anybody talk to you or in your presence
about the case while you're on your break. We'll
see you back in about 20 minutes. Court will be in
recess.
(Recess.)
MS. COREY: I just wanted to explain to you,
Judge, that surveillance video which we're going to
play again you cannot load it and have it ready.
It's a very unique format so the 911 calls, the
photos, everything can be loaded but not that.
THE COURT: Not a problem.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir. The last revised copy
is in your possession. Remember we revised the
questionnaire? It's in your possession, the last
revised blank copy.
THE COURT: Yes.
MS. COREY: So we -- we need to make sure this
is that last copy.
THE COURT: I was thinking this might be an
extra one. Let me see it.
MR. STROLLA: This looks like it was because
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the last question, Judge, was the high-profile
question, I think the last revision, and this one
actually doesn't have the date on it.
THE COURT: Yeah, that's the last one.
MR. STROLLA: There's no compelling objection
to it, Judge.
THE COURT: All right.
MS. COREY: One minute. And, Judge, I haven't
read through your instructions on the front page.
THE COURT: I'm not -- I'm just doing this.
MS. COREY: Just the questionnaire. Just the
questionnaire.
(Sidebar discussion without reporter present.)
THE COURT: All right. You can be seated.
Thank you very much. And are we -- Mr. Smith,
we're back? Mr. Smith, we're back?
MR SMITH: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Okay. We ready to resume?
MS. COREY: State is ready, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Bring the ladies and
gentlemen of the jury back out, please.
(Jury in at 3:07 p.m..)
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, ladies and
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1375
gentlemen. You can be seated and we're ready to
resume. Ms. Corey, your next witness.
MS. COREY: Thank you, Your Honor. The state
calls Andrew Williams.
THE COURT: Andrew Williams, please. Good
afternoon, Mr. Williams. If you'll come all the
way to the front here for me, please, sir, and if
you'll raise your right hand the clerk will
administer the oath to you.
ANDREW WILLIAMS,
having been produced and first duly sworn as a witness
on behalf of the State, testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: All right, sir. If you'll come
right around here and have a seat for me and be
sure to kind of speak directly into that microphone
nice and loud so everybody can hear you, all right?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Thank you very much. Ms. Corey.
MS. COREY: Yes, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q State your name for the record.
A Andrew Williams.
Q In which city and county do you reside?
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1376
A Jacksonville, Duval County.
Q In November of 2012 where did you reside?
A Jacksonville in Duval County.
Q What was your occupation at that time?
A I was a cabinet installer.
Q I'm sorry?
A A cabinet installer.
Q Yes, sir. Were you married at that time?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What is your wife's name?
A Melissa Williams.
Q And what specific area, not an address, but
in what specific area of town did you live?
A Baymeadows.
Q And with whom were you living?
A My wife.
Q And anyone else?
A No, ma'am.
Q Let me take your attention to Thanksgiving
weekend of 2012. Were you in town for that
Thanksgiving weekend?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And on the Friday after Thanksgiving were you
off that day?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1377
Q And do you recall in the evening hours
starting around -- let's start around 7:00 o'clock.
What were your plans for that evening?
A To take two teenagers that went to our church
to a -- their first date, the movie and dinner.
Q Were you and your wife the chaperons for
those teenagers?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And where did you intend to go to dinner?
A I want to say I think we were going to go to
the Avenues Mall, I believe, to eat dinner.
Q And which way would you normally drive from
your home to the Avenues Mall?
A Baymeadows to Southside Boulevard down
Southside Boulevard.
Q And were you and Mrs. Williams in the car at
that time?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you have the three teenagers with you?
A Two.
Q Two. I'm sorry. Where were they sitting?
A Back seat.
Q And was it your intention to head directly to
dinner?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1378
Q Were you going to make any stops at that
time?
A No, ma'am.
Q And then where would the movies have been
after that?
A Tinseltown.
Q So you would have been -- would you have been
coming back up Southside Boulevard heading north?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Prior to the time when you got to the
intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside
Boulevard, have you been through that intersection
before?
A Several times.
Q Are you very familiar with that intersection?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Are you familiar with the Gate Gas Station
which sits on the northeast corner?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And have you pulled into that Gate Gas
Station before?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. At approximately 7:30 or several
minutes thereafter were you near that intersection?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1379
Q And in which direction were you traveling on
Baymeadows Road from your home?
A I think it's west.
Q Okay. And so when you got to the Gate Gas
Station, did you hear or see anything unusual right at
that time?
A Yes.
Q All right. No. I'm talking about when you
first pulled up.
A Oh, no.
Q All right. Which lane were you in to turn to
go to the restaurant?
A The second or the firsthand left turn lane.
Q You would have been heading south then on
Southside Boulevard?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And describe your vehicle.
A Blue Honda CR-V.
Q Where were you sitting?
A Driver's seat.
Q Where was your wife sitting?
A Passenger seat.
Q Where were the teenagers?
A In the back seat.
Q Were your windows up or down?
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1380
A Up.
Q Describe the weather conditions.
A Dark and I believe it was a bit chilly.
Q Okay. Was it raining at all?
A Not that I remember.
Q Was there any thunder or any other weather
noise to obstruct your hearing?
A Not that I remember, no, ma'am.
Q Describe the flow of traffic at that
intersection. Have you been through that intersection
at various times?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And does the traffic flow vary with different
times of the day?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q On this particular holiday or this particular
afternoon on Friday evening what was it like?
A Dead, nothing going on.
Q Outside of normal traffic noise was there any
other loud noise such as a car alarm, store alarm or
anything else while you were at that intersection?
A No, ma'am.
Q Were you the first car waiting to turn left
on that inside lane?
A Yes, ma'am.
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Q What was the noise level inside of your own
car?
A Talking, just conversation between me and the
teenagers.
Q What did you hear while you were at that red
light?
A Noises, sounded like -- one of the teenagers
actually said is that fireworks and I was like, no,
that's gunfire.
Q You called it gunfire?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you recognize it at such -- as such when
you heard it?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q How many shots did you hear fire?
A Several, more than five, less than ten.
Q Okay. And what did you do when you heard
those shots?
A Turned around.
Q And how did you make that turn?
A Made a left-hand turn like as if I was going
to be going towards the Avenues Mall and made a U-turn
to go back up Southside Boulevard.
Q On your monitor the state will show you
state's exhibit 3 in evidence and I want to ask you,
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1382
sir, is that a picture that you can use to show the
jurors where you were?
A Yeah.
Q All right. If you touch that screen a mark
should come up and can you just show them approximately
where you were at the intersection?
A Right there.
Q Okay. And go ahead and draw the U-turn that
you did.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q And then what did you do after that to get
into the Gate Gas Station?
A Draw it?
Q You can draw it, yes.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q How did you know the shots had come from that
direction?
A Just heard it. It sounded like it come from
that direction.
Q Why did you go back to the Gate Gas Station?
A I don't know. Something inside me told me to
go.
Q Were you going to try to help if you were
needed?
A Yes.
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1383
Q Where did you pull in at the Gate Gas
Station?
A I pulled into the first gas pump to the left
in the gas station.
Q All right. Just show the jurors. Just touch
that photo as to where you first pulled in.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q Was it dark outside? Was it nighttime?
A Yes.
Q Were the Gate Gas Station lights on?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Was it fairly well lit?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And when you pulled in, where did you
specifically park your car?
A Right there where that dot is there's a pump
right under it. I don't remember what pump it was or
anything.
Q Sir, did you see anything obvious that could
be connected to the shooting when you stopped your car?
A When I was pulling in a car was pulling out
pretty quickly.
Q Describe that car.
A It was a small car. I don't know exactly the
make and model or color. I wasn't really paying
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1384
attention to it. Just kind of pulled out very quickly
and I pulled in.
Q All right. Did you ever see that car again
that evening?
A No, ma'am.
Q All right. Then after that what took your
attention to anything else going on at the Gate Gas
Station?
A There was a red vehicle, SUV, backing up from
the vicinity of the other shops, pulled into a spot in
front of the gas station and there was a young man that
got out and was very upset.
Q All right. First let me ask you to show the
jurors what you mean by the vicinity of the other
shops. Point to that and then draw an arrow.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q Okay. And in which direction did the car --
you say it was in reverse backing up?
A Uh-huh.
Q Okay. And where did it back to?
A (Marks photograph.) Parking spot right
there.
Q And were you out of your vehicle at this
time?
A No. I was in my vehicle. I just put it into
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park and I saw it backing out.
Q What did you see next?
A I pulled in forward into the parking spot. A
young man got out very upset.
Q Do you recall which side of the car the young
man got out?
A I believe it was the driver.
Q Did you see any type of weapon in that young
man's hands at all?
A No.
Q Did you see any weapons coming out of that
vehicle being thrown anywhere?
A No.
Q Did you have a clear view of the driver when
he got out of the red vehicle?
A His side, no. I mean I saw the door open and
I saw his head but I was on the opposite side of the
vehicle.
Q Did you see him make any throwing noise --
noises -- throwing gestures towards the bushes near his
vehicle?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you hear or see any other occupants of
the vehicle at that particular time?
A I heard them.
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Q What did you hear?
A Upsetness. One of the young men was yelling
he's not moving.
Q I'm sorry. You're going to need to speak up.
I don't know if it's the microphone. I'm having a hard
time. Just -- go ahead. What did you hear him say
next or what did you hear the young man say?
A One of the young men was saying he's not
moving.
Q He's not moving?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you know at that point in time to whom
they were referring?
A No.
Q What did you do then?
A Walked up to the car to see what was going
on.
Q All right. Did you have any concerns at all
that someone inside that car was going to hurt you?
A No.
Q What happened?
A I pulled up to the car. There was a young
man that had been hit. I checked for a pulse. There
was another young man that was crying saying he wasn't
moving and --
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Q Can you describe in a little more detail how
the young man who you said wasn't moving, where was he
in relation to the other young man and in which seat in
the car were they?
A I believe it was the passenger side or the
driver's side rear and the young man was holding him
and just saying he's not moving.
Q Rear seat?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And on the driver's side. Did you know the
young man that was sitting there?
A No, ma'am.
Q And where was the other young man in relation
to that young man?
A The passenger side.
Q Okay. Was he sitting upright?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q The person on the passenger side?
A They were kind of stuck together. I mean I
don't know if he was straight up.
Q Humped together?
A Yeah.
Q And what did you do at that point?
A I checked for a pulse. I didn't feel one. I
looked over my shoulder and there was an officer that
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had pulled up.
Q Okay. Were you coming in through the
driver's side of the vehicle to try to give aid?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What was your training that made you believe
you could give at least some aid initially?
A I was a junior lifeguard growing up and just
done different things. I was actually at the time
looking into doing E.M.T..
Q Short of basic C.P.R. did you know any other
lifesaving techniques?
A Other than, you know, put pressure on it, no,
ma'am.
Q Okay. Now did you help try to render any
further aid to the young man that was not moving?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And how did you do that?
A I went up to the officer that had pulled on
to the scene. I asked for gloves so I could assess the
situation. I walked over. I again felt for a pulse.
Didn't feel one. Asked the officer to come over and
help me pull him out to where we could get him on the
ground to start C.P.R. or start trying to put pressure
on the wounds until the paramedics got there.
Q All right. So the paramedics were not there
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yet, is that correct?
A No, ma'am.
Q And did that officer assist you?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you attempt some sort of lifesaving
efforts while that young man was on the ground?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you know that young man?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you know any of the young man in that --
in that red vehicle, any of the young men in that red
vehicle?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you know the officer who pulled up?
A No, ma'am.
Q And at what point did Jax Fire and Rescue
arrive?
A After we pulled him out probably about maybe
five minutes.
Q Is that your estimate of the time?
A Yes, ma'am. I'm not positive the exact time.
Q Did you ever see any signs of life in the
young man that you had pulled out of that red car?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you ever hear him utter anything?
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A No, ma'am.
Q Could you tell whether or not he was even
breathing when you pulled -- you and the officer pulled
him out of the car?
A He had no pulse and he was not -- and it did
not look like he was breathing.
Q And the other young man who was in the back
seat with him, did you know his name?
A No, ma'am.
Q And what did he do when you all pulled the
gentleman out of the car? What did that other young
man do?
A Just kind of stood to the side and watched.
Q What was his demeanor at that time?
A Very shook up.
Q I'm sorry?
A Very shook up.
Q Did you see any tears on any of those young
men?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q On how many of them?
A All of them.
Q Okay. Did you ever hear them express any
anger towards anyone, much less the person who had shot
their friend?
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1391
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you ever hear them use any curse words
towards anyone?
A Not that I recall.
Q Did you hear any curse words towards the
shooter?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you ever even know who the shooter was at
that time?
A No, ma'am.
Q We're going to show you one last picture
which is in evidence as state's exhibit 8, and I would
just like for you to show the jurors -- just ignore the
tagging. That's a composite exhibit for later, but
does this picture sort of depict where the car was when
you walked up to it?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Do you recall if the driver's doors were open
or closed?
A As I said I think when the driver door opened
when he got out.
Q All right. Can you show the jurors the area
where you and the officer laid this young man on the
ground?
A (Marks photograph.)
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1392
Q All right. Did you leave anything of your
own there at the scene?
A No, ma'am.
Q And then once rescue arrived, did you back
away and let them and law enforcement take over the
scene?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you stay at the Gate Gas Station to tell
police just what you knew of what happened?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now, sir, there is a sidewalk with what
appears to be some hedges right behind the yellow post.
Do you see that area?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Do you recall seeing any weapons anywhere in
that area?
A No, ma'am.
Q And at any point when you looked into the car
or reached into the red car did you ever see or feel
anything that you felt could be a weapon?
A No, ma'am.
MS. COREY: May I have just a moment with
co-counsel?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: That's all I have for this
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1393
witness, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
Mr. Strolla, cross.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Mr. Williams, while you were giving C.P.R. to
Jordan Davis, what was Tommie Stornes doing?
A Walking around with his hands on his head.
Q Well, how could you be watching Tommie
Stornes if your mouth is on Jordan Davis's mouth and
your hands are on Jordan Davis's chest?
MS. COREY: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Did you give Jordan Davis C.P.R.?
A Yes, but it wasn't mouth-to-mouth C.P.R..
Q All right. What did you do?
A I put my hands on his chest trying to produce
a heartbeat.
Q Okay. And let me ask you this: You were a
junior lifeguard at 16 years old, correct?
A Yes.
Q How old are you today?
A 22.
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1394
Q And how old were you in 2012 when this
happened?
A 21.
Q Okay. So from 16 to 21 any other C.P.R.,
lifesaving, any type of medical training at all other
than at 16 to be a junior lifeguard?
A No. No, sir.
Q Okay. And when you're giving C.P.R. to
Mr. Jordan Davis, are you focused on what you're doing?
A Pretty much.
Q You would agree that this was a very
traumatic event for you because this is the first time
you ever gave C.P.R., correct?
A Yes.
Q Okay. But you're telling this jury that as
you're giving Jordan Davis C.P.R. you're watching what
other people are doing around you?
A I can pay attention, yeah.
Q Okay. And again you have no medical
training, correct?
A No, sir.
Q No law enforcement training?
A No, sir.
Q No first responder training?
A No, sir.
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1395
Q The only thing you testified today is you
were thinking about a career at that time, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Have you pursued that career? Are you an
E.M.T. right now?
A Nope.
Q Have you taken any type of medical training
or law enforcement as of today?
A No.
Q Okay. Isn't it true you used to own a
firearm?
A Yes.
Q And you got rid of that firearm --
MS. COREY: Objection. Outside the scope.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Mr. Williams, it took you about a
minute-and-a-half to two minutes before that light
turned green, made a U-turn, went all the way down the
street, another U-turn and pulled in, correct?
A How long did you say, sir?
Q About a minute-and-a-half, two minutes, is
that fair?
A Probably.
Q Well, I don't want to put words in your
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1396
mouth. Do you think that's a fair representation of
your time?
A I didn't have a stop clock on me. I don't
know. It's just a minute -- probably about a minute to
turn around and everything. The light was green.
Q Okay. And at that point you waited a minute
for it to turn green, correct?
A No. It had turned green when we heard the
gunshots and that's when I made the U-turn.
Q All right. And then you went all the way
down and made another U-turn and came in?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. You testified that you saw a car
leaving the parking lot, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. But you have no idea whose car that
is, correct?
A No, sir.
Q Is it a possibility that could have been
somebody else also leaving the gas station after shots
were fired?
A Yeah.
Q Okay. So you're not here to testify that
that was Mr. Dunn's vehicle, correct?
A I don't know whose vehicle it was.
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1397
Q All right. So the relevance is almost
nothing because you're not sure who it is, correct?
A I don't know whose vehicle it was, yeah.
Q Now you're on scene for about another minute
before that SUV backs up, correct?
A No. It was backing up as I was pulling into
my parking spot.
Q Okay. And can you tell me what the people
did in the SUV when it was in the other parking lot?
A Nothing. They were backing up.
Q Well, you didn't even see it stop, correct?
A It was in backing up motion.
Q Right. So when you saw it it was already
backing up, correct?
A Correct.
Q And how close to the Gate parking lot was it
when you saw it?
A I mean probably 40 to 60 feet.
Q Okay. And that's from the parking lot,
correct?
A Uh-huh.
Q You have to say it out loud.
A Yes, sir.
Q All right. Now the picture you just saw with
the state's evidence, you're talking about 40 to
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60 feet from where that red Durango parked, correct?
A Correct.
Q Okay. How many first responders, meaning law
enforcement officers, were on scene when you got there?
A When I got there I believe one police officer
was pulling in.
Q Okay. So you pull in the same time as law
enforcement, correct?
A No. I'm sorry. I was sitting -- when I was
sitting there and saw the car pull in an officer had
pulled up.
Q And -- because you keep saying the word car
lot. Are you talking about when the red Durango pulls
in there's no law enforcement on scene, correct?
A Correct. It pulled in. I looked around.
Law enforcement officer was pulling on scene.
Q Okay. And you saw -- I believe you said you
saw the back window shot out, is that correct?
A I believe the back was shot, yeah.
Q Okay. And that's just based on your
recollection today?
A If I remember, yeah.
Q Okay. And would you agree was this a very
traumatic experience for you? Have you ever been
involved in anything like this before?
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1399
A Not to this degree, no.
Q Okay. And you have no training to deal with
anything like this, is that correct?
A No.
Q Now -- and I don't want to put words in your
mouth. Did I hear you asked law enforcement first
responders for a pair of gloves?
A I asked the officer for gloves, yes.
Q Okay. And -- well, would you agree that
officers are first responders and trained in first
response techniques?
A I would guess that they have C.P.R. training,
yeah.
Q Okay.
A I don't -- like I don't know that. I mean I
would guess. I would assume it.
Q Okay. And by the time you asked for those
gloves how many officers were on scene?
A One.
Q Just the one?
A (Nods head affirmatively.)
Q Okay. And is that the -- let me ask you
this: When you checked for his pulse, do you have any
type of medical training to check for a pulse?
A C.P.R..
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1400
Q And that's when you were 16?
A Uh-huh.
Q Okay. And at that point you then asked the
officer to help you get Mr. Davis out of the vehicle?
A Yes.
Q Still only one officer on scene?
A At that time other officers had come on
scene.
Q All right. And you --
A I don't remember how many.
Q Okay. And at that point you asked them, is
that correct?
A There was one officer on scene when I asked
for gloves.
Q Yes.
A When I got gloves I went over and checked for
a pulse again. I went back to an officer and said,
hey, there's no pulse. He's not moving. We probably
need to go ahead and pull him out and try to see if
he's okay.
Q Now did you tell these officers the only
medical training I have is when I was 16 as a junior
lifeguard?
A No.
Q Did they ask you?
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1401
A No.
Q They just handed you a pair of gloves and
said, okay, go ahead and do it?
A I said I'd like to check on the young man in
there and they said, okay.
Q All right. And then when you asked them to
help you pull them out, at that point did they ask for
any type of medical training you had?
A No.
Q They just agreed, okay, we'll help you pull
him out?
A Yes.
Q Now since this has happened, have you seen
anything about this on T.V.?
A Not really. I do my best to kind of not do
much attention to it.
Q Even when it first happened?
A I remember my wife telling me that something
had come on.
Q And do you recall going on Facebook to seek
out the Davis family?
A Yes.
Q Okay. And you did that, correct?
A Yes.
Q Okay. And as a matter of fact when you went
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1402
to the memorial you sought out Tevin Thompson and
Leland Brunson, correct?
A Yes.
Q And I believe if I recall you said Tommie
Stornes was not there?
A I don't remember if he was or not. I don't
remember. I didn't personally see him like I didn't
personally talk to him or interact with him that I
recall.
Q Would you have recognized him if you did see
him?
A I would have recognized him if I -- like I
mean I don't know if he could have been somewhere else.
Q Okay. And again when you're asking for
gloves, checking a pulse, pulling Mr. Davis out of the
car and administering C.P.R., are you telling this jury
that you were still cognizant of where everybody was
outside of that Gate Gas Station?
A I had a pretty decent idea. I was kind of
looking around because I was hoping that rescue would
show up soon.
Q And you said rescue took about five minutes?
A Right about that, yeah.
MR. STROLLA: Nothing further, Judge.
THE COURT: Ms. Corey.
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1403
MS. COREY: Very briefly.
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Williams, is it particularly complicated
to feel for someone's pulse?
A No, ma'am.
Q And did you do that through the young man's
wrist?
A No, ma'am. I did it through his neck.
Q Through his neck.
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you ever feel for a pulse on his neck? I
mean did you ever find any evidence of a pulse on his
neck?
A No.
Q And were you there just to help?
A Yes.
MS. COREY: No further questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: May he be excused?
MS. COREY: He may.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you very much, sir.
Appreciate you being here.
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1404
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: State's next witness.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir. Shawn Atkins.
THE COURT: Shawn Atkins, please. Mr. Atkins,
if you'll come right here before the clerk and do
-- as best you can raise your right hand for her to
administer the oath.
SHAWN ATKINS,
having been produced and first duly sworn as a witness
on behalf of the State, testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Atkins, if you'll
come right around this way the bailiff will help
you into the witness chair. And if you can just
scoot up as close as you can to that microphone.
Just speak loudly into the microphone so everybody
can hear you, all right?
THE WITNESS: All right.
THE COURT: Thank you, sir. Ms. Corey, go
right ahead.
MS. COREY: Yes, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q State and spell your name for the record.
A Shawn Lee Atkins, S-H-A-W-N, L-E-E,
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1405
A-T-K-I-N-S.
Q Are you currently incarcerated in the Florida
State Prison?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Tell these jurors the circumstances of your
incarceration.
A On March and April of 2013 not only did I
steal gold from a family member of mine and sold it, I
also broke into a house with a lady friend of my
grandmother's, stole gold from there, too.
Q Tell them why you did that.
A I was homeless. I was trying to get to
Illinois to a place where I could live. I have a house
and get a job.
Q Did you admit to those crimes?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q And did you get convicted as a felon of those
crimes?
A Unfortunately, yes.
Q By whose office were you prosecuted?
A Clay County and your office.
Q How many felonies did you plead to?
A 25.
Q Were they all connected to those same
instances that you just described to the jury?
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1406
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Were they different counts but all involving
the same instances?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. And were you sentenced by a Clay
County Judge?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q To what term of prison?
A Seven years.
Q Okay. All of this occurred after November of
2012, is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. Prior to your incarceration -- I
guess we'll go with the arrest. When were you first
arrested for the crimes that led to your incarceration?
A May 4th, 2013.
Q Okay. Prior to that time, where were you
living?
A At my grandmother's house.
Q Where is that located? Not -- not a specific
address, just a county.
A Orange Park, Clay County.
Q And did you ever live part of the time in
Duval County?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1407
Q Let me take your attention back to November
of 2012. Did you have an occupation at that time?
A No, ma'am.
Q Were you earning any money whatsoever at that
time?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you have a girlfriend at that time?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q Was she a serious girlfriend?
A Yes.
Q Did she have any employment towards the end
of November of 2012?
A Yes. She just got a job a couple days prior.
Q Did she have a place to live?
A No, ma'am.
Q On that Thanksgiving weekend of November of
2012 where were you and your girlfriend living?
A In my '88 Dodge Dakota on the streets of
Orange Park -- not Orange Park, Jacksonville.
Q You were literally living in your car?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And she was living in your car with you?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q How would you bathe?
A I had friends that would help us out.
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Bathing if it really came down to it I went to a
bathroom at a gas station or a store and washed in the
sink.
Q What was your girlfriend's name?
A Lauren Alderman.
Q Have you seen her since your incarceration?
A One time in June but not since.
Q Let me take your attention to the Friday
evening after Thanksgiving which was November 23rd of
2012, around 7:00 o'clock that evening. Do you recall
that evening?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And do you recall events that occurred at a
Gate Gas Station near where you were living out of your
car?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right. Let's go back to the 7:00 o'clock
hour. Where were you and your girlfriend specifically
parked in your vehicle?
A At -- before we went to the Gate we were
parked at the Winn-Dixie on the right-hand side of it
and she had to use the restroom so we had went to the
Gate and then we parked on the furthest left spot.
Q Hold on just a little bit because I do want
to clarify a couple things for the jury. What would
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1409
you do in your vehicle? Say from 7:00 till about 7:30
what were you and Ms. Alderman doing?
A Listening to music on the radio, talking,
reading books. That's about it.
Q Okay. We're going to show you a photograph
marked into evidence as state's exhibit 3, and while
this does not depict the Winn-Dixie can you show them
the general area of where you were that evening?
A May I touch the screen?
Q Yes. Please touch the screen.
A (Marks photograph.) That way. Well --
Q That way a little more?
A Yeah, it was a little bit more.
Q What were the traffic conditions that evening
at Southside and Baymeadows? Was it heavy traffic?
A It was Jacksonville traffic, not very heavy,
not too heavy that late.
Q All right. And describe again the vehicle
that you two were in.
A A brown '88 Dodge Dakota with a long bench
seat.
Q All right. And had you been familiar with
that intersection prior to that night of kind of living
at the Winn-Dixie?
A Yes, ma'am. One time I lived close by there.
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1410
Q Why did you leave the Winn-Dixie to go to the
Gate Gas Station?
A Lauren had to use the restroom.
Q What time approximately if you can recall did
you pull out of the Winn-Dixie?
A About 7:20, if that, maybe a little bit
earlier.
Q And can you show the jurors on that
photograph by drawing the route you took to go into the
Gate Gas Station?
A Yes, ma'am. (Marks photograph.)
Q When you entered, were there sufficient
parking spaces available for you and Ms. Alderman to
pull into?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And at what end of the station did you
pull in?
A The left side.
Q From the driveway when you turned, which way
--
A I went to the right after entering the
driveway.
Q Okay. And then you pulled in immediately to
your left?
A Yes, ma'am.
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1411
Q Let me show you state's exhibit 8 and ask
you, sir, in relation to this photograph, this
obviously was not what appeared when you pulled in, is
that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q But just show the jurors approximately where
you pulled in and parked.
A (Marks photograph.)
Q At that time when you pulled in and parked,
was there anyone other than you and Ms. Alderman in
your car?
A No. Just me and Lauren.
Q And at the minute you pulled in -- did you
pull in frontwards?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q You know, just normal? And was there anyone
to your right in the parking space immediately to your
right?
A Not anyone to my right, no.
Q Okay. How about two parking spaces over?
A No.
Q And then three parking spaces over from where
you were?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What color car?
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1412
A A red Durango.
Q Did you notice that car when you pulled in?
A Not when I pulled in, no.
Q Were your windows up or down?
A Down.
Q And did Ms. Alderman open her passenger door
to get out?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q When she opened her passenger door or through
your windows which were down, did you hear any
unnecessarily loud music?
A No, ma'am.
Q Would you have noticed loud music?
A Honestly, no. I've lived in the city so long
I just ignore it and drown it out.
Q All right. Did Ms. Alderman close the door
after she got out?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Why didn't you go inside?
A I was watching my truck to make sure no one
stole any of our stuff out of it.
Q Were your -- are your physical -- I'm sorry,
your personal items were actually in your truck where
you were living?
A They were in the bed of my truck in a little
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1413
like Sterilite tote case.
Q All right. What were the weather conditions
that you recall that evening?
A Clear, a little humid.
Q How long do you think Ms. Alderman was inside
the Gate Gas Station?
A Five minutes, a little bit more.
Q Could you see into the red Dodge Durango?
A No, ma'am.
Q And could you hear anyone saying anything
from the red Dodge Durango?
A No, ma'am.
Q Were -- what were you doing yourself while
you were waiting for Ms. Alderman?
A Just observing, I guess, is the easiest way
to put it.
Q And while you were there waiting for
Ms. Alderman to come out of the Gate Gas Station, did
you observe and hear something very unusual?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Tell these jurors what happened.
A I heard two gunshots, sounded like
firecrackers going off to my right.
Q And is that what drew your attention to your
right?
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1414
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. So if you were -- if I am in your
driver's spot right here then you're saying you heard
sounds to your right?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And then approximately how far from
where I am to where our bailiff is, where our police
officer is would you say you saw the red Dodge Durango?
Tell us where in the courtroom that would have been if
I'm you in your vehicle.
A Probably five, six feet before her.
Q Okay.
MS. COREY: Could you walk this way towards
me?
BY MS. COREY:
Q I would like for you to tell our officer when
to stop when you think that's where --
A Right about there.
Q Right about there. And did you notice any
vehicle on the other side of the red Dodge Durango?
A Not until it backed out.
Q Okay. So at this point -- thank you so much.
At this point then what did you see right there from
here to there? Was there anything obstructing your
view?
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1415
A Just the Durango.
Q Okay. And how many shots did you hear?
A I heard two before it backed out and sped
off.
Q Before what backed out and sped off?
A The Durango.
Q Okay. When you say backed out and sped off,
can you exactly describe the motion of the car? In
other words, did it back straight out or did it do a
turn and then head out?
A I believe it backed straight out. A little
bit foggy on that one, but it backed straight out and
drove off right behind me.
Q Okay. And when you say it drove off, did you
notice which direction that vehicle traveled?
A My left toward north.
Q Are you familiar -- I'm sorry.
A I'm sorry.
Q No. I talked over you. Start over. Did you
notice in which direction that vehicle traveled?
A North, northbound. They were trying to go to
-- looked like they were on Southside Boulevard.
Q But could you see it after that point?
A No, ma'am. As soon as it left the parking
lot I lost view of it.
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1416
Q What drew your attention back over into the
area where the Durango had just been? Were there more
shots fired?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q How many more?
A About four to five, more maybe, more than
that.
Q And was the red Durango still there when
those -- that second set of shots was fired?
A No, ma'am.
Q Was it driving?
A Yeah. They were driving off.
Q Okay. Now did you see who was shooting?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q I want you to describe for this jury who was
doing the shooting.
A An older gentleman with white hair, and
honestly if I saw him on the streets he looked like a
businessman kind of thing. He was dressed nice, had a
nice car and everything.
Q Okay. Did you see how he fired the gun?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q All right.
MS. COREY: Judge, may he stand up and
demonstrate for the jury?
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1417
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
BY MS. COREY:
Q All right, sir, I realize you have shackles
on. Are you able to do it from there? Okay. Stay by
-- I'm sorry. They can't see you. I need you to come
towards our bailiff and just show the jurors the stance
you saw that person take.
A Just crouched down like that shooting the
gun.
Q How did you describe that stance?
A A police stance.
Q You better get back on the microphone. Why
did you describe that as a police stance?
A It's like trying to either hide behind a door
or get better aim.
Q All right. And after the person -- after you
saw the shooter in that position, what did you see him
do?
A He closed the door of his car and his lady
friend came out of the Gate.
Q All right. Hold on. How did you know it was
his lady friend?
A At first I didn't know until she hopped in
the car.
Q All right. You saw a lady hop in his car?
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1418
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you see where that lady had come from?
A She came from the cash register.
Q Okay. And you were still watching all of
this from your car?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Is that sidewalk that runs from the front of
your car where the circle is on the photo all the way
to the front door of the Gate, is that fairly well lit?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q In fact, can you see the outdoor lighting in
this photo?
A Yes, ma'am. I can.
Q And is that what allowed you to see from your
car to that vehicle?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Were you sure that the person that was the
driver of that car that the young lady got in, was that
the same person who fired shots at the Durango?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And, sir, did you hear the lady say
anything to the driver?
A I didn't hear her say anything but the look
on her face said enough.
Q All right. What did the look on her face say
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1419
to you? Describe it.
A Horror.
Q Horror?
A Horror.
Q And did you hear the driver that you had seen
shooting, could you hear him say anything to her?
A No, ma'am.
Q Now did you then -- what happened then? I'm
sorry. Strike that. Did you ever get out of your car
at that point?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you get out of your car immediately after
you saw the young lady get into the dark car?
A Not until they drove off.
Q All right. Did you watch them drive off?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And what did you do?
A I turned around to get the license plate
number.
Q What made you turn around and get that
license plate number?
A I don't know. I guess instinct. Something
told me that's what I should do.
Q All right. And did you memorize that license
plate number?
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1420
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
Q How did the shooter drive off?
A Fast. They drove off the same direction as
the Durango with a little bit of speed.
Q Okay. Did you stay in your car after you had
memorized his license tag number?
A For a second just to make sure he was --
drove off a little bit and then I went up into the Gate
Gas Station.
Q What did you do when you got inside the Gate
Gas Station?
A I gave the first cash or first cashier I seen
the license plate number.
Q Did she write it down or did you write it
down?
A I wrote it down for her.
Q I'm going to show you what's been marked into
evidence as state's exhibit 170, 170, and I'm going to
ask you, sir, is this the brown bag that you were given
to write the license plate number on?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And is that the license plate you actually
wrote yourself on there?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And can you read that license plate to the
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1421
jury?
A Yes, ma'am. It's Florida 937VNV.
Q What did you do with this brown paper bag
after you wrote that in your own handwriting?
A Handed it to the cash register or cashier.
Q All right.
MS. COREY: And, Judge, may I publish to the
jury?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: And would you ask -- would you
like me to show it or pass it?
THE COURT: Either. Whatever you prefer.
MS. COREY: And could you remind them they'll
get all of these exhibits later?
THE COURT: Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, the
exhibits that you're seeing, the photographs and
this exhibit here and there will be others, you
will get copies of and be allowed to take back into
the jury room with you to review during your
deliberations.
MS. COREY: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Sir, where was Ms. Alderman at the time you
were doing this and giving this piece of paper to the
clerk?
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1422
A Well, when I went in there I thought she was
in the bathroom. I guess while I was writing down the
license plate number she crept on past me sort of. I
didn't see her go by.
Q I'm sorry. I missed the last thing you said.
We just took the photo down. Go ahead and repeat the
last thing you said.
A I said when I was giving the license plate
number to the lady she must have walked past me from
the bathroom because I went in there to go see if she
was there to get her to go and she was waiting in the
truck.
Q She was in the truck?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q To your knowledge at that time had she seen
or heard anything?
A She didn't see nothing.
Q Did you leave the Gate and go get back into
your truck?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Mr. Atkins, did you leave that gas station at
that point?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Why did you do that?
A Two reasons. One, I was terrified. Two, I
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1423
had absconded from my probation. I missed my probation
and I didn't really want to deal with the police.
Q All right. Tell the jurors what happened
that made you return to that Gate Gas Station.
A She slapped me and made me go back.
Q Who slapped you?
A Lauren did.
Q Had you told her what you had seen?
A Yes, ma'am, when we got on Southside.
Q And she made you go back up there?
A She forced me to go back.
Q Did you want to go back up there, Mr. Atkins?
A No, ma'am, I did not.
Q Did you know that by going back up there
there would be police officers there?
A I was sure of it.
Q All right. And then did you pull back into
the parking lot?
A Not immediately.
Q Tell the jurors why you couldn't pull back in
at that time.
A Police had it taped off so I couldn't go by.
There was according to the officer a murder
investigation or, well, at that time it was a shooting
is what they called it.
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1424
Q All right. How long do you think you were
gone from the time you got back into the car and pulled
out with Ms. Alderman till the time you returned to the
Gate Gas Station?
A Five minutes, give or take.
Q And in that time, sir, did you tell anyone
else besides Ms. Alderman about what happened?
A No.
Q Did you see any other police officers to the
-- at the destination where you drove? Did you go back
to the Winn-Dixie?
A No. I didn't make it there.
Q Okay. You turned around and went back?
A I turned right onto Southside or left on
Southside and went and made a U-turn on Baymeadows into
the Gate.
Q Okay. And did you then tell the police that
-- what you had witnessed?
A No. I told them that I saw everything go
down but I didn't tell them the details of what I saw.
Q Right. But did they ask you to remain at the
scene?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you remain at the scene?
A Yes, ma'am. I did.
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1425
Q Knowing that they could determine that you
were on probation at the time?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did Ms. Alderman wait there with you?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Did you eventually go down to the Police
Memorial Building in downtown Jacksonville?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you speak with the police and convey
to them what you conveyed here to this jury?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Were you ever shown that brown piece of paper
again?
A No. It was the first time I've seen it since
I made it.
Q And, sir, did there come a time at your
deposition when you talked to Mr. Guy about hopefully
helping you out of this trouble you were in?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And why did you do that?
A I got seven years. That's a long time. I'm
young. You're only young once.
Q To your knowledge while your charges were
pending in Clay County, even though it's our office, do
you know whether anyone or did you or your lawyer ever
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1426
directly contact us about your situation?
MR. STROLLA: Your Honor, I'm going to object
to speculation of what his lawyers did, may or may
not have done.
THE COURT: Overruled.
THE WITNESS: No, ma'am. We never.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Was there ever a part of your plea bargain on
the record in Clay County that mentioned that you were
a witness in this case?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you ever try to make contact with me or
Ms. Wolfson or Mr. Guy prior to the time you were
brought back for a deposition?
A No, ma'am.
Q And as you testified here today in front of
the jury are you expecting any special benefit from
your testimony?
A No, ma'am.
Q Tell these jurors why you went back to the
Gate Gas Station.
MR. STROLLA: Your Honor, asked and answered.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MS. COREY:
Q Tell them why you're testifying here in court
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1427
today.
A To do the right thing.
MS. COREY: May I have just a moment with
co-counsel?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
MS. COREY: That's all I have for Mr. Atkins,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla, cross.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you, Your Honor. One
moment.
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Mr. Atkins, just to stay on topic from that,
at the time you got sentenced did you know what your
sentence would be?
A Yes.
Q Okay. And when I took your deposition
Mr. Guy was there, I was there, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And prior to you entering even in the room is
when you approached Mr. Guy privately and asked for
those benefits and favors, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you asked him for two based on your
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1428
testimony in this case, isn't that true?
A Yes, sir.
Q One was you wanted to stay in Jacksonville as
long as possible, isn't that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q You didn't want to go back to prison, did
you?
A No, sir.
Q The other one is you asked if you could get
some of your sentencing reduction for you being a
witness in this case, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Isn't it true that after your depo was
over that day you got to stay in Jacksonville for over
a month before you were sent back to D.O.C.?
A I stayed for a month and a day and I was sent
back to D.O.C..
Q Okay. So the answer to my question was, yes,
you stayed for over a month, correct?
A Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Q So you did receive a benefit that you asked
for, is that fair?
A I guess you can say that.
Q It just wasn't long enough for your liking?
A It was fine enough for me, sir.
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1429
Q Now you indicate that you heard two shots and
then the red SUV backed out, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you said you believed it backed out
straight but you're foggy on that, that was your
testimony, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q You also admit that you were homeless at the
time when these crimes occurred that you're now in
custody for, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Let me ask you this: On the evening
that this happened did you have any type of drugs or
alcohol or synthetic marijuana in your system that
night?
A No, sir.
Q And you're saying you couldn't hear music or
you just ignored it?
A I couldn't hear it. It's a possibility that
I just ignored it because like I said I've lived in the
city a few years. Just -- you start drowning out those
things.
Q But if something was playing music loud
enough to make mirrors or vibrate and shake -- have you
been around cars that are on the street that do that?
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1430
A Yeah. That was not happening.
Q Okay. And there's a difference -- would you
agree, there's a difference between loud music and then
base thumping?
A Ridiculous.
Q I'm sorry?
A Ridiculous music.
Q Ridiculously loud?
A Yeah. That was not happening.
Q Okay. And you've even been around it where
it's so loud it may even hurt your ears, you think
that's fair?
A Yes, sir.
Q And if it was that loud that night you'd be
able to hear that ridiculously loud music?
A Oh, yes.
Q Now prior to any gunshots, were you looking
over at the red SUV?
A For a second when the driver came out of the
Gate and hopped into the red SUV.
Q Okay. And you're talking about the gentleman
with the dredlocks, correct?
A I believe so.
Q Okay. And how long was he in that red SUV
before that first shot was fired?
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1431
A Less than a minute probably.
Q And again you can't testify to what words
were exchanged, right?
A No, sir.
Q You can't testify to what actions happened on
the other side of that Durango, correct?
A No, sir.
Q And matter of fact, isn't it true you told
the police that night that it actually looked like
Mr. Dunn, who you now know is Mr. Dunn, was shooting in
the ground as the SUV was leaving, is that true?
A I thought it was but I really have no
experience with a firearm.
Q Okay. And based on that lack of experience
I'm assuming, and I don't want to put words in your
mouth, correct me if I'm wrong, that would have freaked
you out being in that situation?
A I was terrified.
Q And you were so terrified you didn't even
realize that your longtime serious girlfriend walked
right by you inside the gas station, correct?
A Not at all. Never saw her.
Q And afterwards talking to her when you came
back you realized she's in the car, she must have
walked right by you?
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A Yeah.
Q Okay. It's not like you walked around the
store and went to the bathroom or anything like that?
A Well, when I got in there and I gave the lady
at the desk the license number I went to -- I don't
why. I knocked on the girl's bathroom. I was
terrified. I wanted to get Lauren out of there and she
wasn't in there.
Q Okay. So at that point though it's safe to
assume you're actually at the front desk right by the
front door and Lauren walked right by you?
A Yeah. She went right by me.
Q Now were you there when the SUV pulled back?
A I was still on the side of the store when it
pulled back.
Q Okay. So as you're leaving the SUV was
already back, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Isn't it true that that SUV was in a
different spot entirely from where it was when the
shooting took place?
A I can't recollect.
Q Okay. Is it possible that SUV was closer to
your car when it came back than at the time of the
shooting?
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A It's possible.
Q But you don't have a clear recollection, is
that fair?
A That's fair.
Q Now that night you were taken to the homicide
office, true?
A Yes, sir.
Q And, in fact, you actually saw three of the
guys from that SUV, didn't you?
A Yes, sir.
Q You were there when they actually took those
three gentlemen and put them in different rooms,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And that was the same room eventually they
put you into, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And that purpose of you going into that room
was so that Ms. Wolfson could take your sworn
statement, isn't that true?
A Yes, sir.
Q She administered an oath just like the clerk
did today, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you were told that this was going to be
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1434
videotaped and they were going to take your statement,
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. And that was after the other three
gentlemen from the SUV had already given their
statements and left, was that correct?
A I believe so. No, no, because when we got
back to the desk and sat down they left. They sat in
another room until -- probably about 30 minutes before
me and Lauren left.
Q Okay. So even when you were in the room and
videotaped and recorded and sworn, when you came out
those guys were still there for a little bit?
A Yes, sir.
Q And Ms. Wolfson was present?
A Yes, sir.
Q Do you recognize her today as the lady asking
you questions that day on video?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Was she also there talking to the
other three gentlemen that were in the SUV?
A I believe so.
Q Okay. And the homicide detectives were
obviously there because you're at the homicide office,
correct?
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1435
A Yes, sir.
Q And do you recall how long you were there?
A From about 9:00 o'clock till 2:00 o'clock in
the morning.
Q So you were there for about six hours?
A Yeah, for a good minute.
Q That's being a little facetious, correct?
A A tiny bit.
Q Okay. Now you indicated in that videotaped
statement that Mr. Dunn was actually leaning out of the
car, correct?
A He was crouched but --
Q Do you recall if you would have said leaning
that night that they took your video?
A I may have. I don't remember.
Q Okay. But sitting here today it's a
possibility. You just don't recall?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Do you know how long that red SUV was
gone once it left after those couple of shots were
fired?
A Two minutes, maybe two-and-a-half minutes.
Not very long at all.
Q Okay. And isn't it true the homicide
detectives never asked you about that red SUV leaving
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1436
the scene?
A Oh, I don't remember.
Q Is it possible that they only asked you about
Mr. Dunn shooting and never asked you about the red SUV
leaving? Is that possible?
A It's possible.
Q And that's just because you can't recall
today?
A Yes, sir.
Q Same thing with Ms. Wolfson. Is it possible
that she never even asked you about that red SUV
leaving or any type of timeframes?
A It's possible.
Q Have they showed you that video to refresh
your recollection prior to today?
A No, sir.
Q Have they showed you any reports or any
statements you gave to the police before coming here
today?
A When we did -- when you did our deposition I
saw the -- my statement I filled out but I didn't see
no police report.
Q Right. They didn't show you the video?
A No, sir.
Q And even as of today when they brought you
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1437
over from your correctional facility to testify they've
still never refreshed your recollection with either the
video or your reports, correct?
A Correct.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, if I can just have a
moment, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
BY MR. STROLLA:
Q Mr. Atkins, you said when you returned to the
parking lot they wouldn't let you in, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you're talking about the Gate parking
lot, isn't that true?
A Yes, sir.
Q So are you familiar with that area? I know
you were staying across the street over by the
Winn-Dixie but do you -- are you familiar with that
plaza? I think Ms. Corey put a picture up that you
were drawing on.
A I'm very familiar with that area.
Q Okay. That plaza and parking lot was
actually open where people could drive into that plaza,
correct?
A No, not from the -- where I was going. The
police stopped me as soon as I got to the turnoff, the
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1438
driveway.
Q Right. You came up the driveway. You just
couldn't pull into the Gate parking lot?
A No, I couldn't pull into the parking lot.
Q All right. How did you get into the parking
lot? You said you drove around and pulled in?
A I drove the uey on Southside, came to the
first right driveway and an officer he waved me down.
He said you can't go. I told him that I saw what
happened and then he asked me to pull up a little bit
further onto the grass and sit there for a few minutes.
Q And that was right outside the Gate Gas
Station, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q So there's actually extra entrances into that
plaza north -- further north, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q You never even had to go down there, did you?
A No.
Q So again you have no idea if those were open
and letting people into the plaza, is that a fair
statement?
A That's a fair statement.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, I have nothing further.
Thank you, sir.
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1439
MS. COREY: May I?
THE COURT: Ms. Corey. Yes, ma'am.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. COREY:
Q Mr. Atkins, did Ms. Wolfson ever tell you
what your testimony should be?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did any member of the Jacksonville Sheriff's
Office ever tell you what your testimony should be?
A No, ma'am.
Q Did you discuss anything about the actual
facts of the case with anyone else at the Gate Gas
Station while you were there?
A No.
Q And when you were at the Police Memorial
Building, did you get together with any of the young
men in the red Dodge Durango and talk about what any of
you should say?
A I didn't talk to a soul. I was withdrawn.
Q Why were you withdrawn?
A Scared.
Q Has anyone from my office told you what to
testify to here in court today?
A No, ma'am.
Q And, sir, isn't it true that when -- well,
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1440
let me ask you a question. Do you recall the day of
your deposition?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And do you recall talking to Mr. Guy about
was there anything that could be done about the length
of your sentence?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. Do you recall being placed under oath
in the deposition to talk to Mr. Strolla?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you hear Mr. Guy tell Mr. Strolla
every word of conversation that the two of you had had
about your request for leniency?
A Yes, very clearly.
Q In detail?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now Mr. Strolla asked you whether or not you
had been granted leniency by remaining in Duval County,
is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What is your understanding of what happens to
your gain time in prison when you come back to Duval
County?
MR. STROLLA: Your Honor, I'm going to object
to speculation in terms of relevance as well, Your
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1441
Honor. If I may, Your Honor, approach?
THE COURT: All right.
(Sidebar discussion with reporter present.)
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, I don't believe he has
the qualifications to answer that question. He is
not an employee with D.O.C.. In terms of what do
you know about it I think goes not to relevance of
it, and again he is not qualified to answer that
question.
MS. COREY: Judge, if it's in his knowledge
that he actually loses gain time which is not a
benefit it's a fair rebuttal to what Mr. Strolla
tried to imply.
THE COURT: You are correct. You got into it,
Mr. Strolla, so you can ask the question. If he
knows he knows. If he doesn't he doesn't.
MR. STROLLA: Judge, if I may then --
THE COURT: I would venture to say I suspect
pretty much every inmate knows about their gain
time. That's one of their most important things
which they cherish it to say the least and they are
very -- the ones that I have seen correspondence
from will quote you verse upon verse about their
gain time.
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1442
MR. STROLLA: Judge, and the only thing I
would ask if I could have then a brief recross
question to clarify and rehabilitate that where
this was -- this witness I understand what you are
saying about the gain time. I agree, but this
witness specifically asked to remain in
Jacksonville so I would like to ask at least a
follow-up on recross for that, Your Honor.
MS. COREY: He already asked that.
THE COURT: You already asked that. He has
already said he specifically asked to remain in
Jacksonville. He admitted it.
MR. STROLLA: Then I would renew another
objection and grounds that it's not relevant
because it doesn't matter if he knows he loses gain
time. He specifically asked for that benefit and
got it, Judge.
THE COURT: But the impression you have tried
to leave the jury with is that he got some kind of
a benefit, be it 30 days. I guess Ms. Corey is
going to try and show if you want to call it a
benefit it wasn't a 30-day benefit because he lost
some gain time on the other end of his sentence.
MR. STROLLA: How is that relevant, Judge, if
he asked for that? If he didn't ask for it then I
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1443
can understand the argument.
THE COURT: It it just -- because it it goes
to show really it might not be such a benefit, the
amount of time.
MR. STROLLA: No, no. I understand the gain
time but he specifically asked for something and
received it. I understand we can argue it. I just
want to put that objection on the record. I don't
think it's relevant that he got what he asked for.
THE COURT: Actually I don't know that he got
what he asked for. I know that he asked to stay
here for a lengthy period of time according to what
you had asked him. He didn't get that. He did
stay for a while. Under what circumstances I don't
know.
I don't know -- there has been no testimony
that the state had a deal with him to keep him here
for 30 days. For all I know it could have been the
order to transport back to the D.O.C. didn't get
done. Whether it was on purpose or not I don't
know or a Judge didn't sign it to send him back. I
don't know. So I will let her ask that question
about the gain time over your objection.
MR. STROLLA: Thank you.
MS. COREY: While we are at sidebar so we can
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cover two quick things to keep from approaching, I
am going leave after this witness and go to see a
witness who was previously wearing jeans. I want
to make sure she is appropriately clothed.
After that -- the witness after that has Gate
Gas Station legal counsel with her and we need your
permission when we call her in, her name is
Ms. Grimes, to allow the lawyer to come and sit on
the front row. The bailiffs told me to ask your
permission.
MR. STROLLA: I would only object that she
walks in with a lawyer and sits down.
MS. COREY: No. We will have him come in
after she takes the stand.
MR. STROLLA: That's fine.
THE COURT: He can come in and have a seat.
MS. COREY: We are not going to announce who
is coming in with her. I want you to make sure we
were putting somebody on the front row and that
person is an officer of the Court.
THE COURT: He is behind -- he is in the
gallery, not coming inside.
MS. COREY: Oh, not inside the bar but I can't
see the front row quite frankly and I just want to
make sure I tell him where to sit specifically.
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1445
MR. STROLLA: Is there a reason he needs to
sit on the front row?
THE COURT: If he can get a seat on the front
row fine. If it's the second tell him to sit on
the second.
(Sidebar discussion concluded.)
THE COURT: All right. The objection is
overruled. Go ahead, Ms. Corey.
MS. COREY: Mrs. Simpkins, do you mind reading
back my specific question for Mr. Atkins?
(The question was read back by the court
reporter.)
THE WITNESS: You won't get none. You lose
it.
BY MS. COREY:
Q You lose that benefit in prison from staying
here, is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am. That's true.
MS. COREY: Thank you. No further questions,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: May he be excused?
MS. COREY: He may.
THE COURT: Mr. Strolla?
MR. STROLLA: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, sir.
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You're excused.
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: State, next witness, please.
MS. WOLFSON: Your Honor, the state next calls
Mariah Grimes, and may Mr. Strolla and I approach
as she's approaching?
THE COURT: Yes. Mariah Grimes.
MS. COREY: Yes, sir. That was the issue.
THE COURT: Okay. Mariah Grimes, please.
Ms. Grimes, if you would come all the way up to the
front for me, please, ma'am. Right up here to the
front. If you'll raise your right hand the clerk
will administer the oath to you.
MARIAH GRIMES,
having been produced and first duly sworn as a witness
on behalf of the State, testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: Yes, I do.
THE COURT: All right. Ma'am, if you'll come
right around here and have a seat for me in the
witness chair. And if you'll scoot yourself up to
the microphone. Be sure and speak right into the
microphone and speak loudly so everybody can hear
you, all right?
THE WITNESS: Okay.
THE COURT: Thank you, ma'am. Be sure and
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speak up.
THE WITNESS: Okay.
THE COURT: Ms. Wolfson, go right ahead.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. WOLFSON:
Q Good afternoon, ma'am. Could you please
state your name and spell it for the record?
A Okay. Mariah Grimes, M-A-R-I-A-H,
G-R-I-M-E-S.
Q Ms. Grimes, where are you currently employed?
A Gate Petro.
Q Now, Ms. Grimes, how long have you been
employed -- excuse me. Let me strike that. Is that
Gate Petroleum?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Okay. And, Ms. Grimes, how long have you
been employed by Gate Petroleum?
A Since September, 2012.
Q Now, Ms. Grimes, could you just speak into
the microphone?
A Oh, September of 2012.
Q Okay. Thank you. That's better. Now do you
work at a particular Gate Gas Station store?
A Yes, the Southside and Baymeadows store.
Q And how long have you worked at that
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particular store?
A Since I started.
Q Could you tell the jury what your role is at
Gate Petroleum?
A Okay. I'm a CSR which is a customer service
representative, and I just ring customers up and do the
cleaning and all that good stuff.
Q Now, Ms. Grimes, I'd like to turn your
attention back to November 23rd of 2012. Were you
working on that particular day?
A Yes, I was.
Q And were you working at that particular Gate
Gas Station store?
A Yes, I was.
Q And that's here in Jacksonville?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q In Duval County?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now, Ms. Grimes, what shift were you working
on that day?
A Second shift which is 2:00 to 10:00 p.m..
Q And during that day when you were working,
were you working then as a customer service
representative?
A Yes, I was.
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Q When you're working at the Gate Gas Station
stores, are you assigned to a particular register?
A You get the register that's open when you go
in and you clock in.
Q Okay. And on this particular day who else
was working?
A Lillian which was our assistant manager at
the time and a co-worker, Darrion.
Q Ms. Grimes, do you remember which particular
register you were working at?
A Yes. I was at register number three.
Q Now could you explain to the jury when you're
walking into the gas station what the store looks like
in terms of where the registers are?
A Okay. When you walk in you're immediately
facing register number two. To your right is register
one and to your left is register number three.
Q Now, Ms. Grimes, are those registers in a
line?
A They curve so you're facing two. One is off
to the left -- the right side and then over to the left
is register number three.
(REPORTER'S NOTE: For easier reading
continuation of transcript in next volume.)
