State v Bradley Cooper 3-18-2011

[NCEast]

I'm not sure... but good question/statement.

One of the symptoms of a concussion is vomiting. If he did hit her hard enough for her to sustain a concussion pretty soon after she returned home, she could have begun vomiting before she was strangled.

 

[ncsu95]

iMO, the defense steered clear of vomiting because it was so far fetched. They knew they won that argument and , imo, Cummings looked desperate suggesting it..
If they had some proof (can't imagine what it would be, cause Butts said he would have no way of knowing that), why did Cummings later say perhaps she ate at 7 and he killed her at 1AM? He waffled and showed the jury he has no confidence in his own theory.

Exactly. We already know she drank after 7:00 PM. I'm assuming it will be easy to prove she ate after that timeframe as well.

 

[ncsu95]

He could have hit her in the head concussing her, causing her to vomit at some point. Strangulation could have been a while later.

Nothing in the MEs testimony even remotely suggested her getting hit in the head.

 

[ncsu95]

So what time did she eat her food at the party?
There was earlier testimony, right?

What time did Mrs. Lopez get there? Since she at some of her Avocado dip, it had to be after that at a minimum. Also, wasn't it after Brad got there as well since one of them (NC I believe) was tending to the grill and BC was pushing the kids in the swing? Considering she drank well into the night, it's reasonable to assume she ate some during that time as well.

 

[Cheyenne130]

I can't believe they would just make up a possibility of a person vomiting to explain the lack of something. We will find out for sure as the case progresses. They took numerous bags of evidence out of the house. IF she did vomit, the chances of him cleaning up every bit aren't good. I didn't feel like the ME gave much of anything one way or the other. Both defense and prosecution scenarios are possible. When the lab evidence is presented, we will find out just how strong or weak the prosecution case really is.

 

[NCEast]

Nothing in the MEs testimony even remotely suggested her getting hit in the head.

The DA specifically asked the ME if she had been hit in the head/face area would he have been able to determine it. The ME again referred back to the right side of her face and said he thought the blood pooled there because that was the way she was laying....however, with that and the insect infestation he said he may not have been able to see any bruising. IIRC.

 

[ncsu95]

Yes! He could have snuck into her room in the early morning hrs of 7/12 (well after 1am) and strangled her in there. There's certainly nothing that precludes that scenario from happening.

Absolutely that is possible. But that isn't what the prosecution seems to be indicating happened. They were pretty clear in todays testimony that they believe he ambushed her when she came home. And if he snuck into her room and strangled her there, why all the evidence about cleaning and stuff being moved in the foyer? The evidence is not matching what the prosecution is putting forward as their theory. Doesn't mean he didn't do it...but it sure adds doubt.

 

[DogWood]

Now y'all have me curious - so I went to see how long it can take to digest some of the food she last ate...

avocado - 1 3/4 hrs.

tomato - 2 hrs.

onion - 3 1/4 hrs.

The rest can be found here.
http://www.unani.com/digestion_time_of_foods.htm

 

[NCEast]

Anybody know if the initial search warrant(s) included the trash cans outside the house? If he cleaned up vomit or anything else (urine, feces) perhaps that evidence was collected?

 

[dgfred]

One of the symptoms of a concussion is vomiting. If he did hit her hard enough for her to sustain a concussion pretty soon after she returned home, she could have begun vomiting before she was strangled.

That is exactly what I was getting at. But I didn't know if the ME could have noted it.

 

[dgfred]

Absolutely that is possible. But that isn't what the prosecution seems to be indicating happened. They were pretty clear in todays testimony that they believe he ambushed her when she came home. And if he snuck into her room and strangled her there, why all the evidence about cleaning and stuff being moved in the foyer? The evidence is not matching what the prosecution is putting forward as their theory. Doesn't mean he didn't do it...but it sure adds doubt.

Wouldn't the defense know from discovery if the prosecution had any evidence of vomit collected or testing done on items that it may have been on?

 

[Cheyenne130]

Anybody know if the initial search warrant(s) included the trash cans outside the house? If he cleaned up vomit or anything else (urine, feces) perhaps that evidence was collected?

Definitely possible but I don't know that he would have put something like that in his own garbage. It would be more likely that he would have dumped it someplace else on one of his trips away from the house that day. A little extra clean-up material might have also been dumped elsewhere when he took the girls to go out and look for Nancy.

 

[water_dancing]

For all we know she was killed at 4AM when he said Katie woke up?
The state obviously wanted to say around midnight when she came home. They should have anticipated the stomach contents issue and given the jury a much bigger window to consider all along. The defense had a much more believable argument on this portion of the evidence.

Given the information presented today, I would say, if BC did it, 4AM is much more likely. If she had vomited either on her own or from being strangled, it would have cleared the food from her system and any alcohol from her stomach but not the alcohol that was already in her blood.

However, the peak absorption for alcohol is generally recognized as b/w 30-45 minutes. It takes the body 1 hour to metabolize 5 oz of wine or 12oz of beer.

So if she was strangled @midnight when she walked in the door and vomited, it would have only cleared the alcohol she consumed after 11:15-11:30 +/-. JA testified that she and NC both had wine at 5PM, and others noted NC consumed both beer and wine at the party. Others also testified that she was "buzzed" at the party which would indicate a more than marginal BAC.

For her alcohol level to be were the ME found it, it would seem that her body would have needed a longer time to metabolize it unless she stopped drinking at 9-10PM if not earlier. Her body would not have been metabolizing the alcohol after she was killed.

 

[snowshuze]

Absolutely that is possible. But that isn't what the prosecution seems to be indicating happened. They were pretty clear in todays testimony that they believe he ambushed her when she came home. And if he snuck into her room and strangled her there, why all the evidence about cleaning and stuff being moved in the foyer? The evidence is not matching what the prosecution is putting forward as their theory. Doesn't mean he didn't do it...but it sure adds doubt.

With evidence presented SO FAR...I think the prosecution anticipated the defense would zero in on the stomach content. We KNOW she ate/drank a fair amount at the party.We know also that the stomach contents were limited at the time of autopsy. We know that onion was present and that it takes somewhat longer for onion to digest. IMO, the prosecution was covering all bases to suggest vomiting MAY have happened.
And another thing...
IF Nancy went running and was assaulted/strangled by a stranger/boyfriend/bigfoot, WHY were there no ligature marks on her neck? Unless it WAS bigfoot, most people planning an assault usually plan on taking/using a weapon/instrument.
I believe Cummings made a point of asking how long it takes to strangle someone to pass out/die because Brad used his arm instead of a ligature. Might have been a heat of passion assault to begin with in the foyer, but he had MINUTES to change his mind before she died.

To clarify: Anyone lurking on a running trail to ambush someone.

 

[snowshuze]

Wouldn't the defense know from discovery if the prosecution had any evidence of vomit collected or testing done on items that it may have been on?

Brad washed her dress.

 

[Cheyenne130]

Given the information presented today, I would say, if BC did it, 4AM is much more likely. If she had vomited either on her own or from being strangled, it would have cleared the food from her system and any alcohol from her stomach but not the alcohol that was already in her blood.

However, the peak absorption for alcohol is generally recognized as b/w 30-45 minutes. It takes the body 1 hour to metabolize 5 oz of wine or 12oz of beer.

So if she was strangled @midnight when she walked in the door and vomited, it would have only cleared the alcohol she consumed after 11:15-11:30 +/-. JA testified that she and NC both had wine at 5PM, and others noted NC consumed both beer and wine at the party. Others also testified that she was "buzzed" at the party which would indicate a more than marginal BAC.

For her alcohol level to be were the ME found it, it would seem that her body would have needed a longer time to metabolize it unless she stopped drinking at 9-10PM if not earlier. Her body would not have been metabolizing the alcohol after she was killed.

That part of his testimony wasn't clear to me. He made a point to explain that he did not test her blood because there wasn't enough left. He tested fluid which I'm guessing would not be the same as BAC. He indicated that he might expect to find a higher level but I wasn't sure if the question was specific to BAC or to the fluid he tested.

 

[dgfred]

I wanted to ask more on the dress... why/how did he have time to wash it when it can be seen in that photo? What was his excuse for washing it?

 

[Cheyenne130]

Now y'all have me curious - so I went to see how long it can take to digest some of the food she last ate...

avocado - 1 3/4 hrs.

tomato - 2 hrs.

onion - 3 1/4 hrs.

The rest can be found here.
http://www.unani.com/digestion_time_of_foods.htm

Based on this, the onion should not have been in her stomach if she died after 7 a.m.

 

[Cheyenne130]

I wanted to ask more on the dress... why/how did he have time to wash it when it can be seen in that photo? What was his excuse for washing it?

When they came to look for her on the 12th, they were looking for a black dress. It wasn't until later that others remembered that it was a green dress. Brad gave the police the green dress after he had washed it. I don't know what day he gave it to them.

 

[snowshuze]

Based on this, the onion should not have been in her stomach if she died after 7 a.m.

Wish we knew what time she ate the onion.