GUILTY MI - Venus Stewart, 32, Colon, 28 April 2010 - #11

[Kimberlyd125]

A few questions so I can keep track, anyone know....

Did Ricky Spencer's parents testify on Mon 2/28 or was reporter just mentioning them?

What is the name of the OH trooper who pulled Doug over 4/15?

What is the name of the MSP trooper who testified the first day 2/23 (one is Todd Peterson, who is the other)?

Wish I could help you Amanda.
But I have no clue on any of those questions.

 

[darlin gal]

A few questions so I can keep track, anyone know....

Did Ricky Spencer's parents testify on Mon 2/28 or was reporter just mentioning them?

What is the name of the OH trooper who pulled Doug over 4/15?

What is the name of the MSP trooper who testified the first day 2/23 (one is Todd Peterson, who is the other)?

His parents, Richard and Donna both testified on 2/25.

Ohio State Police Trooper Jeremy Wheeland,said he pulled Doug Stewart over for crossing the lanes outside Dayton at 4:25 a.m. on April 16.


MSP trooper Aaron Steensma, first trooper on scene the day Venus went missing testified on 2/23.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

His parents, Richard and Donna both testified on 2/25.

Ohio State Police Trooper Jeremy Wheeland,said he pulled Doug Stewart over for crossing the lanes outside Dayton at 4:25 a.m. on April 16.


MSP trooper Aaron Steensma, first trooper on scene the day Venus went missing testified on 2/23.

Wow! You are good!!!!

 

[crocus]

A few questions so I can keep track, anyone know....

Did Ricky Spencer's parents testify on Mon 2/28 or was reporter just mentioning them?

What is the name of the OH trooper who pulled Doug over 4/15?

What is the name of the MSP trooper who testified the first day 2/23 (one is Todd Peterson, who is the other)?

Hi Manda


Court - Friday, Feb 25, 2011
Spencer's parents, Richard & Donna Spencer, testified on Friday, Feb 25, 2011.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Doug-Stewart-murder-trial-Feb-25-2011


Court - Monday, Feb 28, 2011
Ohio State Police Trooper Jeremy Wheeland, the only other witness to testify Monday, said he pulled Doug Stewart over for crossing the lanes outside Dayton at 4:25 a.m. on April 16. (Testified Monday, Feb 28, 2011)

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/02/alleged_accomplice_tells_how_d.html


Court - Wednesday Feb 23, 2011
Trooper Aaron Steensma was the first witness to be called by Prosecutor John McDonough. snipped.....

Todd Petersen was one of two Michigan State Police troopers who testified on opening day of the trial. snipped.....

http://www.sturgisjournal.com/features/x1290227887/Testimony-centers-on-day-of-woman-s-disappearance

 

[crocus]

OH~ LOL!

darlin gal - I must have been typing mine up while you posted!

 

[Coldpizza]

Virginia Man on Trial in Michigan for Missing Wife's Murder
Mar 3, 2011 – 7:16 PM

At least it made MSM
Justice for Venus

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/03/virginia-man-on-trial-in-michigan-for-missing-wifes-murder/

 

[samirosenjacken]

Is there a timeline of the events? When did RS go to Va to meet DS for the first time? When did the actual crime take place??

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Is there a timeline of the events? When did RS go to Va to meet DS for the first time? When did the actual crime take place??

Venus disappeared from her parent's home on the morning of April 26, 2010.

I don't know if they have a timeline, but Wood TV's website has a great archive on the case. And Amanda here has one too.

I'll grab the links for you.

ETA: LINKS:
http://www.woodtv.com//generic/news/The-Venus-Stewart-case

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Venus Stewart -MI-/

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Good Morning WSers!!! I hope today is productive in working towards justice for Venus and her family.

Link to the live stream in case anybody needs it:

http://www.woodtv.com/subindex/video/live_video


This mornings tweets (so far) from the cover it live sidebar at link:

8:42 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge tells audience that it's "understandable" if people cannot control their emotions but he says if you cannot do not sit in the court [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:42 DaniCarlsonTV8

8:44 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense attorney saying prosecution did not give them phone record with enough time, says discovery has been a "problem throughout" [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:44 DaniCarlsonTV8

8:46 DaniCarlsonTV8: Prosecution says they have been as forthcoming as they can be [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:46 DaniCarlsonTV8

8:48 DaniCarlsonTV8: Prosecution: it would be prejudicial to not allow phone records in [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:48 DaniCarlsonTV8

8:50 DaniCarlsonTV8: These motions are not in the presence of the jury [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:50 DaniCarlsonTV8

8:56 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense attorneys say they need time to contact an expert about GPS coordinates on phone records [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 8:56 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:03 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge says defense shouldn't have waited until trial to say they didn't get records, says they should have known records would be issue [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:03 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:04 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge says will not adjourn the trial for more than a few days if defense needs time to find an expert on GPS [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:04 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:08 DaniCarlsonTV8: First witness of the day: Prosecution re-calls Wally Knight, AT&T phone record keeper [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:08 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:23 DaniCarlsonTV8: AT&T rep says can't track the location of any phones that are not AT&T [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:23 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:45 DaniCarlsonTV8: AT&T representative answering questions from jury [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:45 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:50 DaniCarlsonTV8: Prosecutor asking about a phone call made at 8:23 am on April 26, the day Venus disappeared from her parents' Colon Twp. home [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:50 DaniCarlsonTV8

9:56 DaniCarlsonTV8: Prosecution asks several phone records be admitted...jury leaves again so judge can talk to attorneys about the issue [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 9:56 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:03 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge allows phone records with GPS locations in as evidence...says if defense did not get copies of records should have asked before trial [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:03 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:05 DaniCarlsonTV8: MSP Detective Chuck Christensen called to the stand [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:05 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:05 DaniCarlsonTV8: Christensen interviewed Spencer in Baer, Delaware [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:05 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:08 DaniCarlsonTV8: Christensen took Spencer's DNA & fingerprints while in Delaware [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:08 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:11 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense accuses prosecution of leading MSP Det. Lt. Christensen on the stand [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:11 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:16 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge sustains objection, agrees that defense attorney was arguing with the witness [via Twitter]

10:20 DaniCarlsonTV8: MSP Det. Sgt. Shane Criger takes the stand, says he looked for specific things like clothes when searching Doug Stewart's VA Apartment [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:20 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:21 DaniCarlsonTV8: Criger dismissed for the day after a short testimony, may be re-called to the stand [via Twitter]

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Witness now:
Shane Criger - Detective with the MI State Police.
Assigned to MI Inteligence Operation Center.

Traveled to Newport News, VA to assist in the case.
He searched for specific clothes, but they were not found.

 

[cluciano63]

NG is covering Venus on her America's Missing show tonight after her regular show...

 

[Chili Fries]

Michigan State Police computer analyst testified that on April 26th somebody used Doug's laptop to access a Myspace account for the user R1chard25 and an e-mail account at the Delaware Technical College site. Since you have to know the password to get into those accounts and because those accounts are obviously Spencer's, the implication is that it's obvious Spencer was at Doug's house that day using Doug's computer.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://www.woodtv.com/subindex/video/live_video

10:28 DaniCarlsonTV8: Mid-morning break in the Stewart trial [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:28 DaniCarlsonTV8

10:58 DaniCarlsonTV8: Michael Fisher takes the stand, electronic analyst for the FBI [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 10:58 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:01 DaniCarlsonTV8: Fisher says analyzed even deleted information on a GPS unit [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:01 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:06 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense objects to GPS testimony, saying analyst "manipulated" GPS data [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:06 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:06 DaniCarlsonTV8: Judge says data "manipulation" is similar to taking a digital picture and getting an image and not a series of 1's and 0's [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:06 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:13 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense attorney asks FBI witness if he authored software program he used to analyze GPS data [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:13 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:20 DaniCarlsonTV8: MSP investigator Michael Scott takes the stand, lead investigator in the Stewart case [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:20 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:29 DaniCarlsonTV8: Scott talking about evidence sent to the MSP lab [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:29 DaniCarlsonTV8

11:51 DaniCarlsonTV8: Lunch break in the Doug Stewart trial [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 11:51 DaniCarlsonTV8

12:18 WOOD TV8: We will continue to keep the color bars up during the lunch break
Friday March 4, 2011 12:18 WOOD TV8

1:05 DaniCarlsonTV8: Court resumes for the afternoon, first witness is called [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:05 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:06 DaniCarlsonTV8: Rebecca Macarthur computer analyst in the MSP crime lab takes the stand [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:06 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:11 DaniCarlsonTV8: Macarthur qualified as expert witness [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:11 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:12 DaniCarlsonTV8: Macarthur testifies looked at activity on an HP laptop [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:12 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:15 DaniCarlsonTV8: Testifies computer she analyzed went to MySpace, Facebook and Delaware Technical College among other places on April 26, 2010 [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:15 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:17 DaniCarlsonTV8: Says the MySpace account accessed on HP computer was for R1chard25 [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:17 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:19 DaniCarlsonTV8: Macarthur says she was told the laptop belonged to Douglas Stewart [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:19 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:20 DaniCarlsonTV8: It looks like MySpace account R1chard25 is currently deactivated [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:20 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:27 DaniCarlsonTV8: Macarthur says just because activity on the laptop was under Doug Stewart's user name does not mean Doug Stewart was using it [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:27 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:31 DaniCarlsonTV8: Macarthur says password protected websites more likely to tell who was using computer than the user name the computer was accessed with [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:31 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:37 DaniCarlsonTV8: Paul Donald, Forensic scientist at MSP crime lab takes the stand [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:37 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:40 DaniCarlsonTV8: Donald says has been qualified as a forensic biologist "at least 50 times" [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:40 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:48 DaniCarlsonTV8: Donald says he took a swab of smudges on tarp bag found at Venus' parents' home...looking for DNA... [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:48 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:54 DaniCarlsonTV8: Defense attorney has witness hold papers, takes them back, asks if he now has witness' DNA...witness replies "it's possible" [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:54 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:55 DaniCarlsonTV8: Donald says no blood analysis performed on tarp packaging [via Twitter]
Friday March 4, 2011 1:55 DaniCarlsonTV8

1:57 DaniCarlsonTV8: Christine Gregory, forensic scientist at the MSP crime lab takes the stand [via Twitter]

2:01 DaniCarlsonTV8: Gregory says she doesn't claim to be an expert, but says it is up to the court to decide if she is, Judge Stutesman qualifies her [via Twitter]

2:04 DaniCarlsonTV8: Gregory says she received plaster casts of tire tracks as well as pictures of suspect's vehicle and tires

2:07 DaniCarlsonTV8: Gregory says general tread pattern of tire pictures and tire cast appear to match [via Twitter]

2:16 DaniCarlsonTV8: Gregory says she can't say which tires definitely produced the treads at the crime scene because they don't have enough unique traits [via Twitter]

 

[Chili Fries]

Trace evidence scientist is testifying about the tire tread impressions taken from the crime scene. Defense attacks her testimony by pointing out that she is just saying the tire impressions appear to be the same size and tread pattern as those on Doug's truck, but she can't say the impressions are specifically from Doug's truck. Then when prosecution re-questions her, he undermines his case a little by going into the details of her findings. She says that the tread impression is consistent with the type of tires on Doug's car but she can't say if there are other types of tires that look like that. Defense also gets her testify to something that wasn't in the official report. She was not a good witness, especially for a supposed expert.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Next witness:

Sarah Thibault
Employeed as forensic scientist for MSP.

Approx 16 years as forensic scientist.
Worked with MSP since 1999.

Graduated from Hope colledge.
Worked for Illinois state police.
18 month training program while with Ill state police.
Worked in city of Chicago for approx 4 years.
Was a member of research and validation team.
Left Ill State Police

Went to Lansing for MSP.
Trained there as well.
Worked there for appox. 4 years.

Transferred to Grand Rapids
(wow - lost track of what all she has done!!!! It's a lot)

She has been qualified as an expert approx 70 times as expert in DNA and biology.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

People's exhibit 182
Copy of ???? missed it. Dang it.

It's essentially her resume.

182 is admitted.

Defense is objecting to calling witness an expert because she can not know biology about ALL LIVING THINGS :waitasec:

 

[Kimberlyd125]

People's exhibit 183, 184, 185, 186 & 187.
Showing them to the witness. She says they are the reports the witness generated for this case.

She knows they are the reports because they have her signature and they are marked with a unique identifier.

#183
3 pages
She says she recognizes it.

Defense asks to approach. (again)

 

[Chili Fries]

Sample from truck interior was positive for blood but couldn't tell if it was human blood because the sample was too small. Possible blood was found in truck bed but she can't say for sure and it wasn't tested to see if it was human blood, not enough sample. No blood on gloves. No blood on anything else she tested...hammer, sunglasses, cap, Mercury Sable car. Doesn't seem to me that this witness has presented anything that will help convict Doug.

In my opinion this witness and the tire track witness haven't shown that either Doug's truck was at Venus' house or that any suspicious blood was found on any of his stuff. Of course Spencer testified that Doug strangled Venus and the only blood came from her nose so I don't see any reason to believe there was an appreciable amount of blood associated with the crime anyway. Thankfully the case is much bigger than these two witnesses.

 

[Chili Fries]

One thing prosecutor hinted at was that they may have suspicious DNA from one of the truck samples. The reason they didn't have enough sample for the human blood test is that some of it was saved for DNA test. We'll see.

 

[Chili Fries]

DNA scientist testifying next.

No Venus DNA on gloves. Doug's DNA found on gloves, cap and possibly on sunglasses. No DNA on duct tape and not enough on hair tie to say who it was or what gender. Spencer's DNA was also found on sunglasses.