At least we are headed into a long weekend with a little bit of hope. Hope that I didn't have yesterday. I am counting on the jury to use their common sense. In so many of the 20/20 and Dateline documentaries when they interview the jurors after a trial, so many of them say it boiled down to common sense. I hope that's the case here.
NM - Tera Chavez, 26, found dead in her Los Lunas home, 22 Oct 2007 - #1
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I'm trying to stay positive too but they--the prosecution, Serna, and the judge-- are making it difficult.
All of us who believe in prayer need to start praying for the jurors right now. They need to be filled with peace and an open mind, and a ton of common sense.
No I don't think she'd shoot the gun upside down, who in the world would and why these guys are giving such a dumb theory any discussion time is ridiculous. Sure hope the jury can separate the wheat from the chaff in this trial.
I also don't think she'd shoot herself from such a cushy-comfy position where her hand looks like the remote had been in it when she fell asleep. With the recoil of that gun, her arm is not going to fall into that position, wonder why none of the experts mention that?
Oh - back from dentist, had to have a cracked filling replaced and hub had a tooth ill as well so the doc saw us both, I'm all done, he has to go back next week. lol
What feminine touch? Darn, it sounds like I missed so much.
I need a blow by blow description, not having seen him all lively and going at it finally is killing me.
McKay began his cross of McCann with an almost scream tone to his voice--a good sound. When he asked McCann how 'normal' was it that Tera had spent practically the previous 36 hours on the phone non stop and had the phone charging McCann's response was that it was 'feminine touch'. Everybody on here had the same reaction--what in the heck is that. He said it's something females do prior to suicide to make their surroundings look nice and neat and normal for those who find them....McKay then asked if McCann knew that her children would have normally been the first to find her or something to that effect. Several things that McKay asked McCann had to admit that he didn't know or had not been told previously, etc. He also admitted that he had the Glock in the office this morning demonstrating to Serna his testimony--which did not go over well with McKay and in all truthfulness I think was a breach of the law. Evidence is not supposed to be removed or tampered with. I think after the day ended and McKay and Serna were at the judge's bench that's what they were talking about--and I hope the judge really got on Serna as he should know better but I'm sure he won't be sanctioned about it. He runs everything in that courtroom. McKay displayed some courage, passion, and got some good points across,,,,but just not enough. He should have kept McCann on cross for much longer because on several points McKay scored and there could have been several more had he pursued them. I'm on the laptop so please excuse anything that doesn't make sense and any typos, I am not a fan of my laptop. Glad your dental appointment went well and you don't have to go back. So sorry for your husband.....
calamityjane831
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Good recap NCEast, reading it brought it back to me. Thank you.
Oh thank you so much NCE, writing all that out on a laptop keyboard could not have been easy, I hate them myself and stick with a regular PC.
I really did miss a lot in those two hours but not all that surprised that McKay pulled up short on really hmmering the witness on all of the crime scene details and get him to at least entertain the notion that the room looked perfectly staged *for someone trying to make it look like a suicide*. I guess it would be hoping for too much for Mckay to try that hard to convict LC.
Did McKay ask him if he'd ever seen a crime scene where a woman killed herself lying comfortably in bed and holding/shooting the gun upside down? I can't imagine that a scene like that wouldn't be a first for him too because the probability is so remote.
I should start making appointments to have all my fillings replaced, this is the 4th one that's broken on me in the last 2 years. They are all over 20 years old (and some probably wink wink twice that so it may not be a bad idea. lol Hub has not a single filling but this one tooth is giving him much trouble, hopefully next week it'll be solved as well.
Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone, have a wonderful 4th all! (I'll peek in over the down time, just in case anyone's conversing).
calamityjane831
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Chavez defense witness: No evidence of staged scene
By Jeff Proctor / Journal Staff Writer on Wed, Jul 3, 2013
12:55 p.m.
BERNALILLO—An expert hired by the defense testified this morning that he saw no evidence of “staging” in photographs and other evidence he reviewed from the scene of Tera Chavez’s death.
“Nothing appeared to have been arranged to direct the investigation in any particular way,” said Larry McCann, who was accepted as an expert in violent crime analysis, crime scene reconstruction and analysis and blood stain pattern analysis.
McCann testified on direct examination by attorney David Serna, who is representing former Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez.
Prosecutors charged Chavez in an April 2011 with first-degree murder and evidence tampering. They allege that he shot Tera Chavez, his 26-year-old wife, once in the mouth with his APD-issued Glock 9 mm pistol inside the couple’s home near Los Lunas on either Oct. 19, 20 or 21, 2007 and tried to make it look like a suicide.
The defense contends that Tera killed herself after arriving at the bottom of a trough of depression and despondency — brought on, in large part, by her husband’s many extramarital affairs — that culminated when Levi didn’t show up to spend that October weekend with her.
McCann testified that he reviewed hundreds of crime scene photos, investigative reports from law enforcement, depositions taken in a civil lawsuit filed against Levi Chavez by Tera’s family, explanatory videos about the operation of Glock handguns and statements Levi Chavez made to investigators and civil attorneys.
“I didn’t see any signs of an offender,” he testified. “There were no signs of offender/victim interaction … The body appeared exact as I would expect to see it in a suicide.”
McCann testified that there was “no third-party involvement,” meaning Tera’s body was not discovered by a third party — a hallmark, he said, of “staging.”
He also said from the witness stand that there had been no signs of a struggle. And there was no “skin under the fingernails.”
According to earlier testimony, Tera’s fingernails were not clipped and examined for DNA, even though her hands had been bagged at the scene to preserve any potential evidence.
McCann said he was asked to render an opinion on whether Tera died by homicide or by suicide. He hasn’t yet testified to his overall conclusion on that question.
Before McCann took the stand, Serna and Senior Trial Attorney Bryan McKay, the lead prosecutor in the case, argued for 45 minutes outside the presence of the jury about what questions could and couldn’t be asked of him.
Serna pointed to a 127-page court transcript from an earlier, unrelated case in which McCann’s departure from the Virginia Forensic Science Academy was discussed.
In the end, according to argument this morning from the lawyers, McCann resigned from the organization after he was accused of an ethics violation. That charge stemmed from McCann’s decision to begin testifying for the defense side in various cases. And after his resignation, the organization voted to dismiss him.
Eichwald ruled that the ethics charge couldn’t be mentioned to the jury, although McCann’s resignation from the academy could.
Next, Serna argued that the jury should not hear about the $35,000 McCann was paid by the city of Albuquerque as part of Chavez’s defense in the civil case.
“Yeah, there was some overlap,” Serna said, but the work McCann did for the city was prior to Levi Chavez’s indictment.
He said one of the jurors mentioned during jury selection that she harbored a “resentment” about having been laid off from Intel at the time she was reading news accounts of the nearly $1 million the city paid in Levi Chavez’s salary and defense between the time he was identified as a suspect in his wife’s death in 2008 and when he was fired 11 days after he was indicted.
McKay said Serna raising an issue about a juror nearly a month into the trial was “troubling.” He argued that the jury should hear about the money McCann was paid for his involvement in the case and decide for itself what weight to give that information.
Eichwald asked whether Serna and McCann could tell him how much McCann has been paid by the defense in the criminal case. That amount, according to a document McCann provided, is $26,000.
The judge ruled that McKay could ask questions about that sum and whether McCann was “hired by the city of Albuquerque” as part of the civil case. But the $35,000 the city paid McCann is off-limits.
McCann began his testimony with what essentially amounted to a 30-minute reading of his lengthy résumé and professional achievements via questions from Serna before he ever mentioned the Levi Chavez case.
That was followed — after McCann was accepted as an expert — by another 15 minutes of McCann giving generic explanations of crime scene reconstruction and “staging.”
Around 11:30 a.m., Serna was preparing to go over crime scene photos with McCann, but the jury’s video monitors were on the fritz.
That caused state District Judge George P. Eichwald to call an early lunch break. The trial will resume around 1:30 p.m. in a different courtroom.
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/217083/news/levis-mom-they-should-have-split-up-long-ago.html
By Jeff Proctor / Journal Staff Writer on Wed, Jul 3, 2013
12:55 p.m.
BERNALILLO—An expert hired by the defense testified this morning that he saw no evidence of “staging” in photographs and other evidence he reviewed from the scene of Tera Chavez’s death.
“Nothing appeared to have been arranged to direct the investigation in any particular way,” said Larry McCann, who was accepted as an expert in violent crime analysis, crime scene reconstruction and analysis and blood stain pattern analysis.
McCann testified on direct examination by attorney David Serna, who is representing former Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez.
Prosecutors charged Chavez in an April 2011 with first-degree murder and evidence tampering. They allege that he shot Tera Chavez, his 26-year-old wife, once in the mouth with his APD-issued Glock 9 mm pistol inside the couple’s home near Los Lunas on either Oct. 19, 20 or 21, 2007 and tried to make it look like a suicide.
The defense contends that Tera killed herself after arriving at the bottom of a trough of depression and despondency — brought on, in large part, by her husband’s many extramarital affairs — that culminated when Levi didn’t show up to spend that October weekend with her.
McCann testified that he reviewed hundreds of crime scene photos, investigative reports from law enforcement, depositions taken in a civil lawsuit filed against Levi Chavez by Tera’s family, explanatory videos about the operation of Glock handguns and statements Levi Chavez made to investigators and civil attorneys.
“I didn’t see any signs of an offender,” he testified. “There were no signs of offender/victim interaction … The body appeared exact as I would expect to see it in a suicide.”
McCann testified that there was “no third-party involvement,” meaning Tera’s body was not discovered by a third party — a hallmark, he said, of “staging.”
He also said from the witness stand that there had been no signs of a struggle. And there was no “skin under the fingernails.”
According to earlier testimony, Tera’s fingernails were not clipped and examined for DNA, even though her hands had been bagged at the scene to preserve any potential evidence.
McCann said he was asked to render an opinion on whether Tera died by homicide or by suicide. He hasn’t yet testified to his overall conclusion on that question.
Before McCann took the stand, Serna and Senior Trial Attorney Bryan McKay, the lead prosecutor in the case, argued for 45 minutes outside the presence of the jury about what questions could and couldn’t be asked of him.
Serna pointed to a 127-page court transcript from an earlier, unrelated case in which McCann’s departure from the Virginia Forensic Science Academy was discussed.
In the end, according to argument this morning from the lawyers, McCann resigned from the organization after he was accused of an ethics violation. That charge stemmed from McCann’s decision to begin testifying for the defense side in various cases. And after his resignation, the organization voted to dismiss him.
Eichwald ruled that the ethics charge couldn’t be mentioned to the jury, although McCann’s resignation from the academy could.
Next, Serna argued that the jury should not hear about the $35,000 McCann was paid by the city of Albuquerque as part of Chavez’s defense in the civil case.
“Yeah, there was some overlap,” Serna said, but the work McCann did for the city was prior to Levi Chavez’s indictment.
He said one of the jurors mentioned during jury selection that she harbored a “resentment” about having been laid off from Intel at the time she was reading news accounts of the nearly $1 million the city paid in Levi Chavez’s salary and defense between the time he was identified as a suspect in his wife’s death in 2008 and when he was fired 11 days after he was indicted.
McKay said Serna raising an issue about a juror nearly a month into the trial was “troubling.” He argued that the jury should hear about the money McCann was paid for his involvement in the case and decide for itself what weight to give that information.
Eichwald asked whether Serna and McCann could tell him how much McCann has been paid by the defense in the criminal case. That amount, according to a document McCann provided, is $26,000.
The judge ruled that McKay could ask questions about that sum and whether McCann was “hired by the city of Albuquerque” as part of the civil case. But the $35,000 the city paid McCann is off-limits.
McCann began his testimony with what essentially amounted to a 30-minute reading of his lengthy résumé and professional achievements via questions from Serna before he ever mentioned the Levi Chavez case.
That was followed — after McCann was accepted as an expert — by another 15 minutes of McCann giving generic explanations of crime scene reconstruction and “staging.”
Around 11:30 a.m., Serna was preparing to go over crime scene photos with McCann, but the jury’s video monitors were on the fritz.
That caused state District Judge George P. Eichwald to call an early lunch break. The trial will resume around 1:30 p.m. in a different courtroom.
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/217083/news/levis-mom-they-should-have-split-up-long-ago.html
Didn't we learn somehow that the city also paid for Tera's funeral expenses? I wonder if that reference can be located now? I am glad the juror was upset over the amount of money the city invested in LC's legal defense and salary--she should be as each tax paying citizen of Albuquerque should be. It's upsetting to me as well. I don't think I've ever heard of a case in which funds were so readily paid out on behalf of a defendant.
calamityjane831
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Defense witness tries and fails to unseat Glock magazine
By Jeff Proctor / Journal Staff Writer on Wed, Jul 3, 2013
6:30 p.m.
BERNALILLO—A well-paid expert for the defense tried and failed to pull off a courtroom demonstration with former APD officer Levi Chavez’s department issued Glock 9 mm pistol that would’ve cast serious doubt on a key prosecution theory.
Larry McCann, who testified as an expert in crime scene analysis and other matters, tried four times to show the jury that he could, in one continuous motion, pull the Glock’s trigger then press the button that releases the gun’s magazine.
It didn’t work.
“Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t,” said McCann, who also testified that he made a video that showed him accomplishing the feat. “Today I can’t.”
During a break in testimony and outside the presence of the jury, McCann and Chavez’s attorney, David Serna, tried repeatedly to make the trick work.
Still it would not, and they did not try again for jurors.
The video was not shown to the jury, which by late next week, is expected to begin deliberating to determine whether Chavez killed his 26-year-old wife Tera Chavez in 2007 and tried to make it look like a suicide.
The defense contends that Tera shot herself, and Chavez has pleaded innocent.
According to testimony earlier in the trial from then-Detective Aaron Jones, who was the lead investigator who looked into Tera’s death for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, a bullet was in the Glock’s chamber when he found the gun next to Tera’s body, but magazine was not locked in place in the butt of the pistol.
Prosecutors contend, as do a handful of their witnesses, that the magazine had to be “seated” for the gun to chamber another round. And Tera died instantly, so she would not have been able to release the magazine.
McCann has a different theory.
At one point Wednesday, on direct examination by defense attorney David Serna, he testified that he reviewed crime scene photos of the gun and obtained a sworn affidavit from a Glock expert who looked at the same photos.
Based on that, McCann testified, “It appears to be seated to me.”
But later Wednesday, McCann performed another demonstration for the jury.
He stood directly in front of the jury box with the Glock, which he turned upside down and pointed at himself.
McCann said he believed Tera “jerked” the trigger and that her thumb continued on to the magazine release button.
“That’s what I think happened,” he said.
Earlier testimony in the trial indicated that five pounds of pressure must be applied to the button to release the magazine and that only a “deliberate, intentional act” can accomplish the feat.
Again, McCann had a different explanation.
He attributed the pressing of the button to a “cadaveric spasm,” which he said was a “rare form of rigor mortis” in which the body essentially stiffens up immediately after death.
Senior Trial Attorney Bryan McKay, the lead prosecutor on the case, objected to that theory, pointing out that McCann is not a forensic pathologist.
Moreover, New Mexico’s longtime chief medical investigator, who is now retired, testified earlier in the trial that “cadaveric spasms” essentially are junk science that has has long ago been debunked.
Serna said it was an important part of McCann’s report, and state District Judge George P. Eichwald allowed the testimony.
“I’ve seen it before, and I think it happened in this case,” McCann testified, adding that the Chavez case would be only the second time he’s seen a “cadaveric spasm” during a law enforcement and consulting career that began in 1970 and has included the investigation of thousands of cases.
McCann also pointed to a response to an article published last month purporting to once again refute the phenomenon in which a former colleague of his said she had seen three examples of “cadaveric spasms.”
McCann was the only witness to testify on Wednesday, a day that featured clearly observable emotional shifts from those assembled in the mostly full courtroom.
During McCann’s demonstrations — and during McKay’s aggressive cross-examination of him — several of the often-jovial members of Levi Chavez’s family sat silently with their arms crossed.
Conversely, members of Tera Chavez’s family — who have sat stoically through much of the trial — gasped, smiled and whispered audibly amongst themselves following McCann’s failed experiment.
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/217083/news/levis-mom-they-should-have-split-up-long-ago.html
By Jeff Proctor / Journal Staff Writer on Wed, Jul 3, 2013
6:30 p.m.
BERNALILLO—A well-paid expert for the defense tried and failed to pull off a courtroom demonstration with former APD officer Levi Chavez’s department issued Glock 9 mm pistol that would’ve cast serious doubt on a key prosecution theory.
Larry McCann, who testified as an expert in crime scene analysis and other matters, tried four times to show the jury that he could, in one continuous motion, pull the Glock’s trigger then press the button that releases the gun’s magazine.
It didn’t work.
“Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t,” said McCann, who also testified that he made a video that showed him accomplishing the feat. “Today I can’t.”
During a break in testimony and outside the presence of the jury, McCann and Chavez’s attorney, David Serna, tried repeatedly to make the trick work.
Still it would not, and they did not try again for jurors.
The video was not shown to the jury, which by late next week, is expected to begin deliberating to determine whether Chavez killed his 26-year-old wife Tera Chavez in 2007 and tried to make it look like a suicide.
The defense contends that Tera shot herself, and Chavez has pleaded innocent.
According to testimony earlier in the trial from then-Detective Aaron Jones, who was the lead investigator who looked into Tera’s death for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, a bullet was in the Glock’s chamber when he found the gun next to Tera’s body, but magazine was not locked in place in the butt of the pistol.
Prosecutors contend, as do a handful of their witnesses, that the magazine had to be “seated” for the gun to chamber another round. And Tera died instantly, so she would not have been able to release the magazine.
McCann has a different theory.
At one point Wednesday, on direct examination by defense attorney David Serna, he testified that he reviewed crime scene photos of the gun and obtained a sworn affidavit from a Glock expert who looked at the same photos.
Based on that, McCann testified, “It appears to be seated to me.”
But later Wednesday, McCann performed another demonstration for the jury.
He stood directly in front of the jury box with the Glock, which he turned upside down and pointed at himself.
McCann said he believed Tera “jerked” the trigger and that her thumb continued on to the magazine release button.
“That’s what I think happened,” he said.
Earlier testimony in the trial indicated that five pounds of pressure must be applied to the button to release the magazine and that only a “deliberate, intentional act” can accomplish the feat.
Again, McCann had a different explanation.
He attributed the pressing of the button to a “cadaveric spasm,” which he said was a “rare form of rigor mortis” in which the body essentially stiffens up immediately after death.
Senior Trial Attorney Bryan McKay, the lead prosecutor on the case, objected to that theory, pointing out that McCann is not a forensic pathologist.
Moreover, New Mexico’s longtime chief medical investigator, who is now retired, testified earlier in the trial that “cadaveric spasms” essentially are junk science that has has long ago been debunked.
Serna said it was an important part of McCann’s report, and state District Judge George P. Eichwald allowed the testimony.
“I’ve seen it before, and I think it happened in this case,” McCann testified, adding that the Chavez case would be only the second time he’s seen a “cadaveric spasm” during a law enforcement and consulting career that began in 1970 and has included the investigation of thousands of cases.
McCann also pointed to a response to an article published last month purporting to once again refute the phenomenon in which a former colleague of his said she had seen three examples of “cadaveric spasms.”
McCann was the only witness to testify on Wednesday, a day that featured clearly observable emotional shifts from those assembled in the mostly full courtroom.
During McCann’s demonstrations — and during McKay’s aggressive cross-examination of him — several of the often-jovial members of Levi Chavez’s family sat silently with their arms crossed.
Conversely, members of Tera Chavez’s family — who have sat stoically through much of the trial — gasped, smiled and whispered audibly amongst themselves following McCann’s failed experiment.
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/217083/news/levis-mom-they-should-have-split-up-long-ago.html
Here is another article from a different source about Wednesdays testimony with Mr. McCann. It states that the defense will be paying him an additional $26,000 on top of the $35,000 he already received. To bad McKay didn't bring this up on redirect.
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/defense-expert-teras-death-a-suicide
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/defense-expert-teras-death-a-suicide
calamityjane831
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It is hard for me to leave this thread for long periods of time, like I keep checking back in reading pasts posts etc. I pray for justice for Tera and the fact that Levi is out on bond enjoying his life is so frustrating but I have to respect the process. Anyway I was doing some research on the web looking to see if I could find any of the testimony on YouTube since KOAT is not posting it in any archives and I did and IMO some of the most important testimony yet for the state came from the defense expert Larry McCann. It is video from 7/3/13 after lunch recess with defense witness Larry McCann's (behavioral forensic specialist and crime scene analyst among other accolades) testimony with the cross by Bryan McKay. Now I did listen to t his live on Wednesday but I will say that going back and watching this testimony again was pretty amazing. Now of course this is my own opinion and if you feel otherwise I wholeheartedly respect that... but too me after watching this again Mr. McCann's testimony was utterly preposterous and ridiculous. I felt when I first watched it that Mr. McKay really turned this witness and broke his testimony and I thought why did he not do more well IMO it is because MOST of the testimony was so crazy why even justify it and give it any credibility with cross examination questions. For the most part McCann's testimony was a lot of hot air and both of his hypothesis' of how Tera shot herself and could have unseated the gun chamber with cadaveric spasm were laughable. What McKay did was deflate all of this hot air and if it went on and on and on it would just belabor points and work against the state with the jury, the valuable arguments would get lost and not make the same impact.
I went ahead and dissected the video a little bit, I feel it is best to watch it in full but if you want to skip around I made some time stamps with most of the good stuff IMO. The video itself is 2:33:00 but the last 15 minutes or so is just a black screen. My time break downs are pretty close but still approx but with in seconds.
Now then (as Bryan McKay likes to say) 0:02:01-0:02:05 is a picture of the cell phone plugged in and placed on top of the armoire. This is an original photo taken by the sheriff's office on the night of murder. This is the image on cross that McKay points out to McCann that is important because McCann used two photos during his crime scene analysis to make his determinations but the other photo was taken by OMI and it was some time after and the bedroom had been cleaned up. So Mr. McCann used of piece of incorrect data to make his determination for the defense theory.Which Mr. McKay brought up in cross. No way Tera would have plugged her phone in at that location then sit back on the bed and commit suicide IMO.
0:25:15 McCann begins giving his testimony about the suspicious elliptical stain. Mr. Ortiz (the states crime scene analyst who is the only witness to be recalled and was in the galley on this day thank goodness) says the stain is suspicious because it is isolated from other blood sources and Mr. McCann agrees that that would be a suspicious stain if it could not be explained. Mr. McCann believes that the blanket wicked blood away from the pool of blood next to Tera's body and wicked the blood away to that location causing the elliptical stain and we can't see the wicking action under the blanket. Well when I paused the video and really looked at the image for along time I began to think that if the blanket wicked the blood and Tera had been there quite a bit of time before she was found then the blanket in my completely uneducated opinion would have been even more saturated. I am sure that Mr. McKay left this point to be discussed when Mr. Ortiz takes the stand on recall.
0:32:00 McCann begins speaking about whether or not someone in dim light would recognize that Tera had a head wound or not immediately but note that Serna asks Mr. McCann if someone would recognize that Tera had a Gunshot wound to the head and Mr. McCann says NO. Mr. McCann says that because of the blood someone would recognize that she had a head wound of some kind but he does not say a gunshot wound. One must infer that only because Levi knew what happened was he able to say suicide. Tera could have been beaten, or a brain bleed I mean who knows except that Levi did know. Immediately following that Serna asks McCann about the other suspicious elliptical stain on the carpet one single drop of blood. Mr. Ortiz said that there is no way to no for sure that that one drop of blood is blood because it was not tested however Mr. McCann has an explanation that is ridiculous because if that blood flew off the gun when it left Tera's mouth then there would be more than one single drop that clearly fell straight down to the Carpet off of Levi's hand. Levi had so much time to get rid of evidence.
0:36:15 Serna and McCann begin the discussion of the gun cartridge being seated or unseated.
0:47:50 Now we start getting into a bunch of hot air or circle talk which this is really bizarre and this is one of the points that is so dumb McKay knew there was no point in crossing it...McCann starts talking about using blood running down into the well and this goes on for a while only to conclude with that whether or not the gun was seated or unseated the blood would drip down into the well. This whole argument does not prove or disprove anything... it was IMO pointless.
0:49:32 Serna and McCann start talking about the experiments that McCann did using a Glock 9mm using a 3rd generation because the first and third generation are very close. I wondered why not use the first generation like the actual gun but anyhoo that is just me.
0:58:23 Levi is reading his prayer card because he must being praying that the jury is going to buy this BS that is about to go down.
1:05:00 This is when it gets really crazy and McCann starts talking about his hypothesis of how Tera shot herself with the gun upside down. It is beyond the realm of common sense and I thought that when I first heard the testimony but going back again it is even more ridiculous than I thought. Mr. McCann shows his a picture of his wife holding the gun upside down. McCann handed his wife the gun upside down and she took it upside down. This is important because the wife did not pick up the gun this way because it is so unnatural for someone to pick up a gun and hold it upside down. McKay made this point on cross.
1:09:00 McCann begins talking about the video he made of experiment he did with the gun upside down and somehow he is supposed to be able to fire the gun and hit the release button to unseat the gun all in one motion basically. Now we don't ever see the actual video and Mr. McCann bless his heart tries to do this motion 3 times in the courtroom and it is an epic fail. The Cordova family is laughing at this point and I do not blame them because this is utterly ridiculous. As is if Tera could have hit that release button when she was deceased. Jury needs a break.
1:11:00 The court is in a short break during this break it is IMO incredible what happens. Serna coaches the witness what to say exactly... like word for word. Now I am paraphrasing of course and please watch this for yourself and see what you think. Serna saying well since the actual experiment did not work just say this, this and this. To me it is so unethical but maybe I have not watched enough trials to know any better but...
1:23:00 McCann and Serna still talking again about the experiment and not doing the demo again for the jury because McCann says he is losing strength in his thumb and can't do it. So how was Tera supposed to do this while she is dead oh cadaveric spasm... NOT. Now Serna says after he comes back into the courtroom and Mr. McCann is chatting with the CO's to be careful what you say because it is all being recorded so I guess Serna does not think it is wrong to coach the witness during the break so I don't know what to make of it.
1:25:00 Serna tells McCann that McKay that will probably cross him for two hours because McCann wants to get the heck out of New Mexico from the way it sounds. I had a light bulb moment when I thought why didn't McKay cross him for a long time and that is when it clicked that Serna figures that McCann's testimony is so powerful and explosive that it really will take a long time to cross it but that is only because Serna is delusional and the testimony does not need a 2 hour cross because so much of this hypothesis ridiculous and there is not enough valid information for a 2 hour cross. IMO. When McKay comes back into the courtroom I think to myself wish you had been in there to hear Serna coaching McCann.
1:36:10 McCann goes back to the jury box to talk through the demonstration as directed by Serna with the firing the gun upside down and Tera's thumb during a cadaveric spasm pushes the release button.
1:43:10 McKay begins his cross examination of defense expert Mr. McCann.
1:48:56 Serna objects declaring now that his expert witness in NOT a suicide expert. LOL. The judge over rules this objection.
1:58:00 McCann starts to read verbatim and article on re direct.
2:10:00 McKay is talking with the Cordova's and they shake his hand. The Cordova's seem pleased with how McKay busted up the defense's testimony and I am happy for the Cordova's that they can go into the break feeling like maybe they can see a light of justice at the end of their long dark tunnel.
Levi Chavez Trial. July 3. Partial - YouTube
I went ahead and dissected the video a little bit, I feel it is best to watch it in full but if you want to skip around I made some time stamps with most of the good stuff IMO. The video itself is 2:33:00 but the last 15 minutes or so is just a black screen. My time break downs are pretty close but still approx but with in seconds.
Now then (as Bryan McKay likes to say) 0:02:01-0:02:05 is a picture of the cell phone plugged in and placed on top of the armoire. This is an original photo taken by the sheriff's office on the night of murder. This is the image on cross that McKay points out to McCann that is important because McCann used two photos during his crime scene analysis to make his determinations but the other photo was taken by OMI and it was some time after and the bedroom had been cleaned up. So Mr. McCann used of piece of incorrect data to make his determination for the defense theory.Which Mr. McKay brought up in cross. No way Tera would have plugged her phone in at that location then sit back on the bed and commit suicide IMO.
0:25:15 McCann begins giving his testimony about the suspicious elliptical stain. Mr. Ortiz (the states crime scene analyst who is the only witness to be recalled and was in the galley on this day thank goodness) says the stain is suspicious because it is isolated from other blood sources and Mr. McCann agrees that that would be a suspicious stain if it could not be explained. Mr. McCann believes that the blanket wicked blood away from the pool of blood next to Tera's body and wicked the blood away to that location causing the elliptical stain and we can't see the wicking action under the blanket. Well when I paused the video and really looked at the image for along time I began to think that if the blanket wicked the blood and Tera had been there quite a bit of time before she was found then the blanket in my completely uneducated opinion would have been even more saturated. I am sure that Mr. McKay left this point to be discussed when Mr. Ortiz takes the stand on recall.
0:32:00 McCann begins speaking about whether or not someone in dim light would recognize that Tera had a head wound or not immediately but note that Serna asks Mr. McCann if someone would recognize that Tera had a Gunshot wound to the head and Mr. McCann says NO. Mr. McCann says that because of the blood someone would recognize that she had a head wound of some kind but he does not say a gunshot wound. One must infer that only because Levi knew what happened was he able to say suicide. Tera could have been beaten, or a brain bleed I mean who knows except that Levi did know. Immediately following that Serna asks McCann about the other suspicious elliptical stain on the carpet one single drop of blood. Mr. Ortiz said that there is no way to no for sure that that one drop of blood is blood because it was not tested however Mr. McCann has an explanation that is ridiculous because if that blood flew off the gun when it left Tera's mouth then there would be more than one single drop that clearly fell straight down to the Carpet off of Levi's hand. Levi had so much time to get rid of evidence.
0:36:15 Serna and McCann begin the discussion of the gun cartridge being seated or unseated.
0:47:50 Now we start getting into a bunch of hot air or circle talk which this is really bizarre and this is one of the points that is so dumb McKay knew there was no point in crossing it...McCann starts talking about using blood running down into the well and this goes on for a while only to conclude with that whether or not the gun was seated or unseated the blood would drip down into the well. This whole argument does not prove or disprove anything... it was IMO pointless.
0:49:32 Serna and McCann start talking about the experiments that McCann did using a Glock 9mm using a 3rd generation because the first and third generation are very close. I wondered why not use the first generation like the actual gun but anyhoo that is just me.
0:58:23 Levi is reading his prayer card because he must being praying that the jury is going to buy this BS that is about to go down.
1:05:00 This is when it gets really crazy and McCann starts talking about his hypothesis of how Tera shot herself with the gun upside down. It is beyond the realm of common sense and I thought that when I first heard the testimony but going back again it is even more ridiculous than I thought. Mr. McCann shows his a picture of his wife holding the gun upside down. McCann handed his wife the gun upside down and she took it upside down. This is important because the wife did not pick up the gun this way because it is so unnatural for someone to pick up a gun and hold it upside down. McKay made this point on cross.
1:09:00 McCann begins talking about the video he made of experiment he did with the gun upside down and somehow he is supposed to be able to fire the gun and hit the release button to unseat the gun all in one motion basically. Now we don't ever see the actual video and Mr. McCann bless his heart tries to do this motion 3 times in the courtroom and it is an epic fail. The Cordova family is laughing at this point and I do not blame them because this is utterly ridiculous. As is if Tera could have hit that release button when she was deceased. Jury needs a break.
1:11:00 The court is in a short break during this break it is IMO incredible what happens. Serna coaches the witness what to say exactly... like word for word. Now I am paraphrasing of course and please watch this for yourself and see what you think. Serna saying well since the actual experiment did not work just say this, this and this. To me it is so unethical but maybe I have not watched enough trials to know any better but...
1:23:00 McCann and Serna still talking again about the experiment and not doing the demo again for the jury because McCann says he is losing strength in his thumb and can't do it. So how was Tera supposed to do this while she is dead oh cadaveric spasm... NOT. Now Serna says after he comes back into the courtroom and Mr. McCann is chatting with the CO's to be careful what you say because it is all being recorded so I guess Serna does not think it is wrong to coach the witness during the break so I don't know what to make of it.
1:25:00 Serna tells McCann that McKay that will probably cross him for two hours because McCann wants to get the heck out of New Mexico from the way it sounds. I had a light bulb moment when I thought why didn't McKay cross him for a long time and that is when it clicked that Serna figures that McCann's testimony is so powerful and explosive that it really will take a long time to cross it but that is only because Serna is delusional and the testimony does not need a 2 hour cross because so much of this hypothesis ridiculous and there is not enough valid information for a 2 hour cross. IMO. When McKay comes back into the courtroom I think to myself wish you had been in there to hear Serna coaching McCann.
1:36:10 McCann goes back to the jury box to talk through the demonstration as directed by Serna with the firing the gun upside down and Tera's thumb during a cadaveric spasm pushes the release button.
1:43:10 McKay begins his cross examination of defense expert Mr. McCann.
1:48:56 Serna objects declaring now that his expert witness in NOT a suicide expert. LOL. The judge over rules this objection.
1:58:00 McCann starts to read verbatim and article on re direct.
2:10:00 McKay is talking with the Cordova's and they shake his hand. The Cordova's seem pleased with how McKay busted up the defense's testimony and I am happy for the Cordova's that they can go into the break feeling like maybe they can see a light of justice at the end of their long dark tunnel.
Levi Chavez Trial. July 3. Partial - YouTube
This is all most excellent CJ. I really appreciate your taking the time to review the testimony and put all of your thoughts down for us. I will try to go back and watch it again tonight. I recall most of your points, but I'm certain watching it the second time I'll see them and/or various other things will sink in that didn't the first time. You are going to make a very good attorney one day!!
I found this article while reading something else. Anyway we all know how Albuquerque PD had been having trouble. This article talks about 2 dozen officers leaving the force due to changes in retirement funds and cost of living funds.
http://www.koat.com/news/more-than-...ment/-/9154100/20754140/-/354cg0/-/index.html
http://www.koat.com/news/more-than-...ment/-/9154100/20754140/-/354cg0/-/index.html
Thanks for the article Jewels, I wish Texas would make changes like that, here if you work for the local or state gov't you can retire, take your retirement pay/benefits and be rehired, called double dipping.
Heck, our governor proved you don't even have to retire, he began taking his retirement pay at the beginning of last year, while a sitting governor, because the law allows it after so many years of service. What blasphemy for the taxpayers of this state.
Sorry for the OT but some things just get under my skin.
My husband is a Teamster and has been paying into their pension plan since 1969. Their plan is teetering on bankruptcy, he wanted to retire this year and they are not allowing anybody retire unless it is medically related. If he ever can retire, they are estimating he will get about 1/3 of what he should be getting, which was supposed to be about $4500 a month. The reduction won't be enough, plus SS, for us to live on. I am mad, furious over it-- he is taking it all in stride.
Sometimes he can be an idiot--this is an example....he left over an hour ago to take a complete stranger who stopped at our house somewhere to get some form of transportation. It was an AA man, who is probably a god fearing Baptist minister for all I know, but here in eastern NC AA men, unfortunately, commit an overwhelming majority of all crime. So I'm sitting here worried to death because when my husband came in to get his keys he said he was taking him 'right down the road' and he'd be right back. And he's not back yet. If he's not back in another hour I'm going to have to go look for him. He has a heart as big as our yard but his brain isn't.
ETA--He just got home. Thanks for letting me vent!!
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