I wanted to offer some thoughts on the court proceedings today.
Cell phones were confiscated upon entering the courtroom. Media was present and left periodically to do updates. JO was there in the morning and was with someone, but left after the first recess around 10:30. It is most likely that other parties had family members there, but without photographs, positive identification cannot be made at this time.
For the most part, glass looked straight ahead at the witness. She wore black slacks and a black shirt with a gray sweater. She was not wearing glasses and looked healthy.
A WPD officer was the first witness. He essentially testified that he responded to a call at EG's residence on 2/17 because EG called police. He was at the residence for more than an hour. He wore a body camera. He had access to the garage. Pictures of the garage and of EG's daughter were admitted into evidence. There was an area set up in the garage with chairs and an ash tray. He testified that the house was free from clutter and trash, EG's daughter was clothed, clean, and appeared emotionally happy. He does not recall seeing any cannabis or paraphernalia, and would have reported it if he had.
The next witness was a Crime Scene Investigator which helped process the residence. He said that a lot of manpower goes into processing each case. He arrived around 10:30 p.m. and they worked to process the scene all night. He worked until his shift ended around 6:00 a.m. He took 230 photos of the entire residence and created a diagram of the residence. Some relevant photos presented into evidence included those of the backseat of EG's white SUV showing a car seat and a booster seat buckled in side by side. He testified he "processed" the vehicle. He also testified that an occupant of the home provided a written waiver to process the house. Defense showed that there were food and beverages in the fridge and the house was relatively clean.
The next witness was a homicide detective. He was called to the house around 10:30 p.m. He interviewed EG four times. They are all recorded. The dates are 2/18, 2/19, 2/20, and 2/21. EG requested the second interview and brought up cannabis use.
Detectives obtained all of EG's phone records from her carrier. The limited pings offered into testimony showed the phone near Olive Garden at Rock and Central at 4:53 p.m. and 5:43 p.m. EG's written statement was read into evidence. It is summarized, in short hand form, as follows:
Friday, woke up. Changed the kids. Took LH's pullup off and put on underwear. Gave them pop tarts and fruit. Put on cartoons for them while I did laundry. Lounged with the kids and watched cartoons. Smoked a cigarette. Gave daughter a bottle. Did more laundry.
Around noon, gave kids sphagetti-o's and PBJ. LH's tummy hurt. Gave him Zofran and put him in his room to watch a movie. He asked to. Cleaned up after lunch. Checked on LH every 20-30 minutes. Did more laundry. Took a break from cleaning My hands hurt from working in the flower bed. I smoked pot in the garage and got hungry.
I remembered JH gave me a gift card and I decided to eat quick at Olive Garden. Took daughter. Left LH because he fell asleep. Landlord called at 5:30. Said he needed in the house by six to fix the sewer lines. I had been smelling weird things. I told him I was almost home. On my way home he called again.
At home, I made Lucas dinner and gave the kids baths. I put them to bed and talked to JH by video chat.
Then the seven minutes of interviews were played. Audio was low and hard to hear. Of note, her weed gets brought to her by a man named Mike. She does not know his last name.
She has cracks on her hands and has for years. She then rolled up her sleeves to show the detectives her arms also. She hurt her hands digging in the garden. Also, it was her first time going to OG from her new house and she does not remember the route she took.
After showing the video, the judge had a bench conference with the attorneys for several minutes and put white noise on the speakers so they could not be heard. During the bench conference, EG looked over multiple times at three people sitting in the courtroom -- a man and woman about 55, and a woman about 35 -- and she gave a thumbs up with a look on her face like she was asking a question. Then, they broke for lunch.
The events after lunch have been reported.
I've wondered if EG has viewed her status as a guest of the state as being on a vacation, a strange one, yes, but a vacation. She hasn't had to worry about kids (if she did before), she's not worrying about where her next meal will come from, and she has a bed and a roof over her head. If she had ever been homeless, maybe she'd look at this as a step up? And maybe she's not in a big hurry to get out? I don't know, it's all just speculation on my part.
