SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #27

[sunshineray]

Threads are really moving. Could not bear to watch this witness. I need cliff notes.

It's been...attention-grabbing "alternatives" and a trip to Elementary school....and some guffawing

 

[Derph]

Go ahead Poot, have fun putting this catastrophe back together!

 

[BUF]

DH….so much to straighten out

 

[otto]

The only variable is the angle of the bullet, everything else is ignored. The bullet angle is based on a hole, no bullet, and it may be 1 or 3 degrees.

 

[sunshineray]

Our crazy train just passed a woman on a wagon pulled by a Unicorn, said "Tarot Card Reader and Tonics".

and a wounded tree....and missing glass....and and ohhh I don't know...engineer chest thumping

 

[Kudzuu]

This guy didn't even try to show the little alien in a spot where he could have shot Maggie. In fact in one pic he seems to be standing on her.

 

[Derph]

Haha The Judge just objected!!!!!! OMG!!

 

[Batman's Mommy]

LOL he sat there in a state of shock as everyone had a stand break

AM was sitting there trying to act like he wasn’t trying to listen to what the prosecutors were discussing about his sound expert who testified AM couldn’t have heard anything…

And now, here come’s DH with his dowel, AND THE JUDGE OBJECTS!!!!

 

[Edvis]

and a wounded tree....and missing glass....and and ohhh I don't know...engineer chest thumping

No trees were killed in the making of his fantasy.

 

[BUF]

Haha The Judge just objected!!!!!! OMG!!

I love this judge!

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks

Prosecutor David Fernandez starts his cross-examination by noting that Sutton is being paid by the defense to testify. Fernandez establishes Sutton's company is paid $350 an hour, and he has worked 40-50 hours on this case. So that's at least $14,000.

Sutton testifies he primarily does accident reconstruction.

He was previously retained in the 2019 boat crash case. He testifies he has never consulted for PMPED. But he was deposed in a lawsuit by them. He was working for the other side in that case, a railroad.

Fernandez asks a series of questions heavily implying that Sutton is trafficking in guesswork and speculation, not science, in offering this expert testimony.

Fernandez establishes Sutton has no certification in shooting incident reconstruction and has no training in that field. He's not a firearms expert. Sutton has, however, performed studies and tests on bullet trajectories.

Fernandez and Sutton agree none of those studies have ever been published.

Sutton reiterates he is not a pathologist, nor is he a firearms expert. Fernandez: So that means we can't rely on any opinion you render about firearms. Sutton: That's not what I said. I can testify about bullet trajectories.

Fernandez and Sutton are going back and forth about the fact that a chart of AM’s driving speed on 6/7/21 isn’t labeled with timestamps, so Sutton can’t actually identify where on that chart AM passed the point where Maggie’s phone was found.

This sparked a strange exchange in which Sutton tried to retrieve his laptop to pull up the timestamped version of the graph, and Fernandez insisted on asking questions on the non-timestamped version, obviously to show that Sutton's earlier testimony was based on the bad version.

So, after stressing the importance of not relying on guesswork in rendering an opinion, Fernandez then just showed an example of Sutton rendering an opinion from the witness stand in which he couldn't see one of the two key variables.

Fernandez establishes that Sutton didn’t use the exact same guns and ammunition in his sound tests as the guns/ammo used in the killings.

Fernandez establishes that Sutton conducted his sound test in January 2023. The pine trees between the Moselle main house and kennels had grown since the June 2021 slayings. Fernandez: “Are you aware that trees generally grow?” Sutton: “Yes.”

Sutton concedes the greater tree height would have affected the sound. But not a big one. He said he corrected for that in his calculations.

Fernandez: Do you have any formal training, expertise and certifications in shotguns? Sutton: I’ve done a lot of study. I understand what happens with the pellets.

Fernandez establishes with Sutton that Sutton doesn't know off the top of his head how wide shotgun pellets spread every yard. "You don't even know the cone and the rate of expansion from a shotgun. How can you give that opinion?" he asks.

Fernandez is trying to discredit Sutton here, but also trying to discredit Sutton's bullet trajectory analysis from the first shotgun blast at Paul.

This exchange is scoring pretty high on the Jim Griffin-David Owen Brutal Cross-Examination Index.

Fernandez: Have you done any testing as to what happens to a shotgun pellet after it goes through a body or window? Sutton: I don’t need to. There was a missing pellet, and I recovered it by the tree near the feed room window.

Fernandez is now taking aim at Sutton’s .300 Blackout bullet trajectory analysis. He says the angles might not be exact because we’re extrapolating from a bullet hole made in a flimsy paper product. Sutton testifies he used the angle provided by SLED’s crime scene agent, Worley.

Fernandez on Sutton’s bullet trajectory analysis: Bullets can ricochet if they hit something, right? Sutton: Yes. Fernandez: It’s possible? Sutton: I think it’s very unlikely in this case, based on evidence recovered from the crime scene.

We are going subatomic into the weeds

the sound of a tape measure rattling into the Court TV mics

Fernandez notes Sutton used the shell casing locations in his bullet trajectory reconstruction. Fernandez“Is it possible cartridge casings were moved?” That they were ejected in an unorthodox manner? That they hit something and ricocheted? Sutton: Yes.

A friendly reminder for y'all to please untag me if you're gonna have a brawl with each other in my comments

Fernandez keeps joking that the 5-foot-2 figures in Sutton's shooting rendering are children. Harpootlian objects: "There is no testimony that two 12-year-olds were involved in this in any way.”

Fernandez, basically: We can all see that these grey dudes are 12-year-olds.

Fernandez is now going one by one through all the variables that Sutton did not consider in his analysis, including whether the shooter was moving or whether the victim was moving. F: "Would you agree, though, that people do move?" S: "In my experience, yes, people move.”

Fernandez is done questioning Sutton. Harpootlian rises to redirect. He establishes that the data Sutton used came from SLED. It includes no evidence of ricochets.

 

[sunshineray]

Bend and stretch and reach for the stars, there goes Jupiter, there goes Mars...ahhhhh

 

[bestill]

I bet the jury is as frustrated as the Judge. jmo

 

[meanddblj]

DH thinks because he says it then it is true - a whinny baby when he does not get his way - it's sickening

 

[BUF]

DH is in his typical rude bad mood again

 

[Kudzuu]

DH just chastised the judge! And got away with it.

 

[WichitaFalls]

The witness seems somewhat deflated. Wonder why.

 

[Diddian]

If I am a juror, I am wondering why the Defense did not hire a firearms and ballistics expert to testify regarding firearms and ballistics, but relied instead upon a mechanical engineer who does accident reconstruction and studies of product failure.

 

[LaborDayRN]

DH is in his typical rude bad mood again

Way to make points with the jury Dick!

 

[BUF]

AM is probably thinking…this is the best you could get and cost how much?