Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Live Feed updates - Theodore Wafer on trial for killing Renisha McBride

Theodore Wafer (R) and Renisha McBride (L)
THEODORE WAFER FOUND GUILTY OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER
I just can't.  Involuntary Manslaughter, MAYBE, but what evidence proved Murder 2?


Note:  looks as though AP bowed to pressure and removed their article which offended some. The truth in these cases does that sometimes.

Closing Arguments: This link has all the information related to closing arguments.  I am truly so disgusted with this Judge and the investigation that I don't really even care to address much of it.  The Judge's mother went to prison on corruption charges and it appears the apple presiding over the Wafer trial did not fall far from that tree.

A few highlights (in bold) from Rumpole's summary at above link with my comments below them:

"judge says no dispute mcbride injured, bleeding .."

The above statement is a reference to defense asking that "looking for help" be left out of jury instructions.  I will just interject here that the autopsy did not note any other injury aside from the gunshot wound.  No one, especially Wafer, heard Renisha calling out for help. No proof whatsoever McBride was looking for help.

"judge says she has not given jury instructions in relation to breaking and entering. the whole issue is whether someone was attack. in home

 judge says there was no attack. pros. says def is going to infer there and that law contrary to tha

 judge says you still need an attack for no duty to retreat (michigan self defense law)"

Dear crackhead Judge, with all due respect:
Sec. 21c. (1) In cases in which section 2 of the self-defense act does not apply, the common law of this state applies except that the duty to retreat before using deadly force is not required if an individual is in his or her own dwelling or within the curtilage of that dwelling.
 "In Michigan the meaning of curtilage lias been extended to include more than an enclosure near the house. People v. Taylor, 2 Mich. 250"

 Not to mention, and contrary to what the Judge stated to the prosecution and defense, an actual "attack" does not need to take place in order for a homeowner to have reasonable and honest fear of great bodily harm or to perceive imminent danger.

 The investigation into this case was so inept - in fact, to call what transpired an investigation would be a joke.  So, suffice it to say the Judge is guaranteeing a successful appeal by not allowing the jury to consider breaking and entering.  There is no possible way she could reasonably deduce that this was not Renisha McBride's intent when no steps were taken by investigators to assess the incident scene at all, or at least not in a timely manner.  By the time evidence was taken the entire scene was contaminated.

 "Hathaway said that jurors can only consider evidence that was properly admitted in the case."

 What a total joke this case was.  Wafer may or may not be guilty of something, but I can't even render an honest opinion based on the facts as they were presented.  My gut feeling is Wafer lied and said it was an accident because most people believe accidents can be forgiven.  He shot himself in the foot and now he is facing the consequences of that misguided false admission.  Who knows though - this has been a pathetic look into our American justice system.

 Day Eight - Wafer takes stand again today to testify.  

Day Seven - Theodore Wafer testified today.  Other links from courtroom https://twitter.com/idabeewells - https://twitter.com/oralandar_DN

**** Case Timeline and documents HERE Discuss this case at Random Topics Follow trial on Twitter @thetrialfile ****

 Also new on this blog: "Renisha McBride: Young and Thuggin"  
Renisha McBride is not on trial...Theodore Wafer is on trial.  During this trial the defense attorney was allowed to ask witnesses about a profile name for Renisha McBride "Young and Thuggin"

Day Six - Did not put up feed for day six, will find and post later.

Day Five (also here)of the Theodore Wafer Trial  - the trial picked up the pace today with a few interesting facts coming to light that I had not heard before.  Apparently Renisha had $156.00 on her person the night she died.  In some mysterious way, a $100 bill that was in her pocket when she was shot, was not there when her body was received by the medical examiner.  Renisha's mother, Monica McBride testified that she was given the $100 bill by the medical examiner, but not the $56.00.  In testimony late yesterday an audio was played from inside the squad car at the scene of Renisha's death.  An officer is heard talking about the $100 bill.  He is also heard talking about how he somehow contaminated the scene.
Prosecution rested and Werner Spitz, the renowned pathologist from the Phil Spector and Casey Anthony trials took the stand as the 1st witness for the defense. Dr. Spitz who has an extensive CV testified that both Renisha's hands were swollen which could be attributed to banging on Wafer's door and also to post mortem processes.  Dr. Spitz also pointed out there was a fresh trail of blood originating from Renisha's left hand.  This tells me the wound is something that happened shortly before her death, and not at the crash.
When asked about McBride's toxicology, which showed her blood alcohol at 0.218, Spitz said said she would have had to consume between 10 and 11 shots of vodka or, if she drank beer, that would be the same number in bottles within one hour. He said that if she drank over two hours, for each hour she would have had to drink one more shot or one more bottle. He said she would burn off one unit per hour. (via Damron at Liveblog)

Earlier, whether or not Renisha was shot at close range was testified to by ME Kesha:

Finally, a must watch video from today's proceedings - this is the detective in charge of the Renisha McBride crime scene.  Seriously, watch the VIDEO 

**** Case Timeline and documents HERE Discuss this case at Random Topics Follow trial on Twitter @thetrialfile ****

 Day Four of the Theodore Wafer Trial - the reporting by the person I usually link to was very scattered and uninformative today, so I am going to link to a blog with a combination of all reporters who were in the courtroom today - both tweets and the live blog.  He also outlines the highlights, which were not really relevant to the outcome, in my opinion.

Day Three (looking for working link)  of the Theodore Wafer Trial - Davonte Bines, a co-worker of Renisha testifies.  A cell phone expert goes over Renisha McBrides cell phone records for November 1 and November 2.

Astonishing from today's trial: The cell phone expert testified that it was highly unlikely any conversation occurred during 12:35 a.m. and 12:59 a.m. calls, but said it was a possibility. Said he never called those numbers during his investigation to find out more information.

**** Case Timeline and documents HERE Discuss this case at Random Topics Follow trial on Twitter @thetrialfile ****

 Tweets of Interest from today's proceedings (also see a great breakdown of the witnesses so far at The Trial File):
More as the day goes on....

Day 2: live.freep.com Theodore Wafer Trial - The reporter doing the live blog had some technical difficulties, so not all of the trial is contained here. Today brought no major revelations and court will not re-convene until Monday morning. All in all, it seems the investigation was on trial today...





Instead of copying and pasting, I am just going to link to today's live blog - click here and make sure you begin at "oldest" post first at the bottom of the scroller. Case Timeline and documents HERE Discuss this case at Random Topics Follow trial on Twitter @thetrialfile - and thanks to Nettles for this:


Below are live tweets from Gina Damron who is in the court room for the Theodore Wafer trial. I've added other links of interest as well. Please check back often for updates as this will be the only blog on the trial until after Prosecution's case has rested.

KEY point in my opinion.....someone else knows what went on that night....I hope they have an idea of who those people are:
Compare hearing a few months ago to today's witness testimonies: Part I Part II (audio is rough at beginning of Part II but clears up when testimony begins)

Case Timeline and documents HERE Discuss this case at Random Topics Follow trial on Twitter @thetrialfile

Day 1: live.freep.com