Veronica Waters
@MissVWaters
·
4h
Good morning! The jury in the #AhmaudArbery shooting case is still behind the scenes as lawyers hash out a legal argument. Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said as she was getting ready to prep for the medical examiner's testimony, the defense handed her 68 police reports.
Dunikoski says they were certified last Thursday, yet only given to her today. They're neighborhood patrols by officers & random personal issues (roomie disputes, etc.) Says defense made a discovery violation by withholding these until now.
Dunikoski said plus, it’s irrelevant. "Unless someone in this case knew all about this and had seen these police reports..." State wants it excluded and says it has nothing to do with the death of #AhmaudArbery. “State’s been blindsided."
Travis McMichael atty Jason Sheffield says the State gave them all the info; all they've done is go get the Computer-Aided Dispatch reports to go with them. They intend to demonstrate there were lots of concerned neighbors, extra officer patrols, etc.
Sheffield says it's to establish that there is a "high volume of suspicious person calls in this neighborhood and a lot of extra patrolling" which bled onto chatter on the neighborhood Facebook page. They want to list the nature and date of each call.
Sheffield says they'll have testimony that neighbors were talking online about crime and extra patrols and that it was discussed with Travis McMichael. "It supports our defense that this neighborhood was on edge and under attack."
Judge Walmsley says it sound like they're trying to characterize these calls. Sheffield says they're not. These are 911 calls since January. Judge asked how they plan to use this: Are you going to link this up to anything the defendants knew?
Greg McMichael atty Laura Hogue contends the State tried to minimize what was happening in Satilla Shores dating back to October. Walmsley asks why they didn't get into this when the officer was on the stand.
Hogue says the police report and neighbors will refute State's "downplaying" of activity in Satilla Shores.
Kevin Gough got up and said he was adopting the codefendants' position on this. He says, "We sometimes feel like the red-headed stepchild sitting over there in the corner. We tend not to get served things from codefendants."
Gough says this is the first he's heard of it, but thinks there's no discovery issue. State says it's been a "drumbeat w/the defense: This neighborhood's on edge! They want to argue it was 'under attack.'"
State asked it be excluded--or go through each call including the roommate and contractor disputes. Just saying there was this number of calls is not right--either go down the road totally or not at all.
In the #AhmaudArbery shooting case: Edmund Donoghue takes the stand. He is a physician and forensic pathologist. He got his medical degree in 1970, and joined the GBI as a medical examiner in 2007.
Dr. Donoghue tells the jury about how autopsies. He has been qualified as an expert in courts more than 1,000 times, and is also licensed to practice in four states, including Georgia.
On Feb. 24, 2020, Dr. Donoghue performed an autopsy on #AhmaudArbery. His cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. He was 5'10", muscular and thin, weighing 164 pounds.
Donoghue says a motor vehicle striking a pedestrian can cause serious injury and death.
We see the first photo of #AhmaudArbery. His eyes are slightly open, as is his mouth. Then two more photos of Arbery's full body, clothing on. Then closer shots of his torso and lower body.
WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS. Dr. Donoghue then shows a close-up photo of #AhmaudArbery's gunshot wounds once his torso was cleaned off. We then see extreme close-ups of the gunshot wounds and abrasion wounds.
Donoghue shows pellet exit wounds from the center of #AhmaudArbery's chest. He points out pellets under the skin. Then a photo of Arberys' face shows a number of abrasions on the right side of his face--typical of an unguarded fall.
There is a photo of the gunshot on #AhmaudArbery's left shoulder. This shot alone could've caused his death, because it involved the axillary artery and vein. Donoghue doesn't think anything could've been done to save him just from that one shot.
Donoghue detailed a photo of #AhmaudArbery's right side, pointing out pellets and pellet exit wounds. HIs pen here is pointing to a pellet. The small red areas are exit wounds. Then photo of his right shoulder from the back. A series of photos of blood-soaked clothes.
We see photos of pellets, then a full-body X-ray of #AhmaudArbery. Dr. Donoghue points out shotgun pellets in his body, and fractures of the humerus and scapula--what kids call the angel wings. The pen's pointing to the humerus fracture--compare to the other side.
Dr. Donoghue says #AhmaudArbery developed a distinct injury after he was shot the 3rd time: Erb's Palsy, a paralysis of the left arm. He says still shots from the video show Arbery's shirt ballooning out as shotgun pellets exited his body.
This photo, with his left arm straight and limp, shows the Erb's palsy of #AhmaudArbery--he's paralyzed now, can't use that arm, says Donoghue. That's due to this gunshot.
link:
https://twitter.com/MissVWaters
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