for Monday, Nov. 15th continued:
Veronica Waters
@MissVWaters
·
13h
The State also showed video from Roddie Bryan's driveway with a time stamp of 2:40 PM on Feb. 23. Bryan is seen riding up the drive on a bike.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1460335852744318981
Back from recess, Travis McMichael atty Jason Sheffield begins cross of Agent Kelly. He asks, in May 2020, did the medical examiner say he didn't have an opinion on the order of the shots? Couldn't determine them? Correct, said Kelly.
Prior to and on Feb. 23, Kelly saw no communication on cell phones between Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan.
State calls Brian Leppard, who works for the GBI State Crime Lab in Savannah. He's worked there 16.5 years. He's a firearms and tool mark examiner.
Along with a projectile, burnt & unburnt particles of gunpowder, and lead come out of a gun when it's fired. Soot is a layman's term to describe all that. Stippling is the mark made on an object if it's close enough to the muzzle.
ADA Dunikoski assures jury Exhibit 339 has been rendered safe by the sheriff's department here. Leppard pulls on a pair of purple gloves, pulls out a silver revolver, and says he recognizes it as one submitted to him for analysis in the homicide of #AhmaudArbery.
Leppard identifies Exhibit 342, some lead pellets, probably from a shotgun, since they're that size. #343 is a combo of both pellets and wadding. Can't match pellets; they don't make comparable marks as "random balls going down the barrel of a gun"
Leppard describes cartridge case--sometimes called a shot shell--and a cartridge--unfired ammunition component.
Leppard identifies Ex/ 332; confirms for the courtesy of the Court this shotgun is unloaded. He IDs a 12-gauge Remington shotgun he received in reference to the homicide of #AhmaudArbery. There are also test fires he made and 12-gauge cartridges submitted w/the weapon
Leppard says he also looked at clothing of the victim #AhmaudArbery, video of the homicide, the frame-by-frame images of the video, and crime scene photos of Arbery's body. Then he performed muzzle-to-target distance analysis--examining shirt holes, testing particles.
Gunshot residues on the front of Mr. #AhmaudArbery's shirt were consistent with "contact or near-contact gunshot holes of entry," testifies Leppard.
This is from the left shoulder area. The end of the shotgun was very close to that fabric when it was fired, Leppard says, evidenced by the large hole & the measurement--4 or 5 inches across.
Leppard says that for the hole to be this large it had to be from large amt of gas exiting end of gun--also fabric edges seared & rolled up are from a contact or near-contact shot. Can he tell if the gun was pressed up against #AhmaudArbery? Hard to say but pretty close
Mr. #AhmaudArbery had one chest wound, but there are three holes. Leppard isn't sure why.
The following media includes potentially sensitive content.
Leppard explains after firing a shotgun once, you have to manually pull the slide back to eject the spent cartridge & load next one into chamber. Each time. Slide rearward, slide forward. Tests show it takes ~3.25 pounds of pressure to fire this shotgun.
Leppard measured the shotgun barrel. It is of legal length. He measures it in front of jury. State asks him to hold gun as if he'd fire it and please don't point it at anyone. Judge quietly echoes this and points, courtroom laughs quietly
Trigger to end of shotgun barrel is about 25 inches. Leppard says you can hold the gun in numerous ways to shoot it as long as you can pull the trigger. Bob Rubin, attorneye for #AhmaudArbery shooter Travis McMichael, is doing his cross-exam.
Bob Rubin asks Leppard if he was asked to determine the muzzle-to-target distance b/c it hadn't been determined yet? He says yes. Rubin asks if he spoke to a former GBI agent named Jay Jarvis around 2 months ago, close to when he and Leppard spoke.
State objects as to relevance. Rubin says it goes to why the clothing was examined in June 2021 as opposed to May 2020 when the case first came to his office. State says, Because we asked him to do it. Not sure what's relevance. Rubin says he'll move on.
link:
https://twitter.com/MissVWaters
continued in next post...