July 2014

Well, things finally got engaging in the second degree murder trial of Theodor Wafer, charged with unlawfully killing 19-year-old Renisha McBride on his Detroit front porch in the early morning hours of November 2, 2013. Of key importance was the playing in court--but outside the hearing of the jury--of audio recovered from police recording units at the scene, apparently from personally-worn recording devices of the officers present. Numerous witnesses have testified over the course of the trial that a mere $56 dollars had been recovered from Renisha's body. On the audio recording, however, police officers can be heard noting that a $100 bill had been found on her person, leading to one officer responding "No kidding?" This in turn led to a discussion on the officers' part as to whether McBride had been working as a prostitute and had been seeking to collect money owed. Later in the trial Detective Gurka testified at length about how he had early on began looking for any signs that there may have been a get together at Wager's house, such as a pair of drinking glasses or a pizza box, suggesting that he may have been thinking along the lines of the other officers. There was also audio recorded of at least one officer mentioning that he'd "stepped in some," presumably blood or brain tissue evidence at the scene. All of this occurred near the end of the court day, and gave the Judge by her own admission plenty to think about. I imagine the Prosecution, as well, and I'd expect some healthy debate when court opens again in the morning, before the jury is brought back in. With that said, I'll merely note that other than Detective Gurka's testimony the only other witness was the cross examination of forensics firearms officer Kolonich in the early part of the afternoon. And now to our chronological tweets:

We;re back with day 4 of the second degree murder trial of Theodore Wafer for the shooting death of Renisha McBride on Wafer's Detroit front porch in the early morning hours of November 2, 2013. The day started, as has become customary, with Wafer's defense counsel Cheryl Carpenter asking Judge Dana Hathaway to allow into evidence certain cell phone pictures from McBride's phone, as well as some of her social media information--specifically, her Twitter account handle, "Young and Thugging."  Judge Hathaway again excluded the pics, and also the Twitter handle, noting that the account had been closed in June 2012 and was too far distant from the events of November 2013. The number of witnesses saw a considerable decline relative to earlier days of the trial, with only two witnesses being moved through, and the second of those only through direct examination.  These two were:

• James Bivens Jr., Chief, Criminal Investigative Division of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office
• Michigan State Police Detective Sergeant Shawn Kolonich, a forensics firearms expert

There was nothing particularly notable about Kolonich's testimony on direct.  Bivens' testimony raised some issues, such as the State's refusal--upheld by Judge Hathaway--to deny the defense certain of Bivens' raw notes, as well as a question from the defense asking if it would have been relevant to Bivens' if it turned out McBride has spent the "missing hours" in a drug house.

Today continues with the third day of the murder trial of Theodore Wafer in the Detroit front porch shooting death of Renisha McBride.  We covered this morning's testimony here:

Detroit Front Porch Shooting case: Day 3 Mid-Day Wrap-Up

Witnesses this afternoon included:

• Cyndi Maxwell, Dearborn Police Corporal, Fingerprint Collection
• Jennifer Rizk, Michigan State Police, Fingerprint Analysis
• Allison Riviera-Papillo, Michigan State Police Crime Lab
• Heather Vitta, Michigan State Police, Forensic Scientist

All four are, obviously, involved in the law enforcement collection and analysis of evidence from crime scenes.