Transcript of Bench Trial For Larry Jo Taylor, Jr.

Received: 5/24/2023 1:41 PM
IN THE
INDIANA COURT OF APPEALS
APPELLATE NO. 22A-CR-02615
LARRY J. TAYLOR, JR., ) APPEAL FROM THE MARION

) COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
Appellant / Defendant, )
) TRIAL COURT CASE NO.:
Vs ) 49D31-1511-MR-041732
)
STATE OF INDIANA, ) BEFORE THE HONORABLE
) GRANT HAWKINS, JUDGE
Appellee / Plaintiff ) JEFFREY MARCHAL, JUDGE
)
TRANSCRIPT OF EVIDENCE
NON-CONFIDENTIAL
VOLUME 6 OF 9
PAGES 1 TO 169
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
VALERIE K. BOOTS THEODORE ROKITA

MARION COUNTY PUBLIC INDIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL
DEFENDER AGENCY GOVERNMENT CENTER SOUTH
151 DELAWARE STREET 302 W. WASHINGTON STREET
SUITE 200 5TH FLOOR
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46204 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46204
317-327-2875 317-232-6201
CARLA VILLALTA
OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
MARION COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
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STATE OF INDIANA ) MARION COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
)SS:
COUNTY OF MARION ) CAUSE NO. 49D31-1511-MR-041732
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. )
)
LARRY J. TAYLOR, JR., )
)
Defendant. )
)
BENCH TRIAL
BEFORE THE HONORABLE GRANT W. HAWKINS
JUDGE OF THE MARION COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
DATE: SEPTEMBER 19, 2022
Court Reporter: Nneka Shaheed
Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording;

Transcript produced by TheRecordXchange
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APPEARANCES
ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF, STATE OF INDIANA
MARK A. BUSBY
DANIEL CICCHINI
EMILY SNYDER
MARION COUNTY PROSECUTOR
251 E. OHIO STREET
SUITE 160
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46204-2175
317-327-3522
ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT, LARRY J. TAYLOR, JR.
RAYMOND V. CASANOVA
DEANA L. MARTIN
MARION COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER AGENCY
151 DELAWARE STREET
SUITE 200
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46204
317-327-4100
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1 SEPTEMBER 19, 2022
2 (Called to order at 9:47 a.m.)
3 THE COURT: It looks like we're ready. State of Indiana v. Larry J.
4 Taylor. It also looks like it's on -- not on my calendar, which means I can't
5 read you the cause number.
6 Would you do me the honors, Mr. Casanova?
7 MR. CASANOVA: It's 49D31-1511-MR-041732.
8 THE COURT: And that is just the charge of murder. Is that right?
9 MR. CASANOVA: That's correct, Judge.
10 THE COURT: Is that your understanding, counsel?
11 MR. CASANOVA: It is. It's just that cause number and the counts
12 included in it. Yes, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: That cause number and just the count of murder.
14 MR. CASANOVA: There are multiple counts under that cause
15 number including murder. Yes, Your Honor.
16 MR. BUSBY: It's severed from the other case the Court is aware of.
17 If that's the question.
18 THE COURT: I wanted to make sure we had a clean record on it.
19 Thank you. Are you flying solo or are you waiting for help?
20 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, Mr. Cicchini, Dan Cicchini and Ms.
21 Emily Snyder will be sitting with me on this matter. Tom Lehn will be serving
22 as assisting witness at times. Mark Prater (phonetic) with the Indianapolis
23 Metropolitan Police Department is here helping us with the evidence as Mr.
24 Lehn is retired, but he will not be a witness in the matter.
25 THE COURT: Are you folks ready?
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1 MR. CASANOVA: Clothes are here.
2 THE BAILIFF: Yeah, we do care, sir.
3 THE COURT: Oh, you do care?
4 THE BAILIFF: We need him only dressed and uncuffed (inaudible)
5 the policy.
6 THE COURT: Can we go ahead and dress him --
7 THE BAILIFF: (Inaudible).
8 THE COURT: So ordered. But you can leave him cuffed -- security
9 is up to you for the clothes. I noticed a number of folks just came in. And one
10 of the motions made in your absence was that the witnesses be kept separate.
11 Now, that doesn't mean you can't gather together outside of the courtroom.
12 But it means you can't be in the courtroom during the trial unless you've
13 already testified. I say that not knowing if those who just came in are
14 witnesses or just interested parties. But if you are a witness, please step out
15 until after your until after you testify.
16 MR. CASANOVA: And Your Honor, are you aware if that podium
17 can be moved or is it required to stay where it is?
18 MR. BUSBY: That can't be moved.
19 THE COURT: Well, the simple answer is I get in trouble if you
20 move it and break it.
21 MR. CASANOVA: Understood.
22 THE COURT: I don't want to get in trouble.
23 MR. CASANOVA: I don't want to move it and break it. As far as
24 recording in this courtroom, Your Honor, I know that jury courtrooms are
25 equipped with microphones all over. Does this court have microphones all
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1 during this proceeding. No phones allowed. So if you have phones, turn them
2 off, please. If it rings during the court, you will be escorted out.
3 THE COURT: He's saying that to you, but he means it for me.
4 Unless it's the (inaudible) violator.
5 Mr. Busby, is there something you wanted to use the machine to
6 accomplish?
7 MR. BUSBY: Just to not try the case in this courtroom before,
8 Your Honor, I want to make sure I know where the sound is so I don't create a
9 poor record for the court reporter. And we're going to -- I think both Mr.
10 Casanova and I will use the table at various times, so I want to make sure
11 understand just how to keep things smooth in the court, Your Honor.
12 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, we'll be using that to show exhibits.
13 THE COURT: Thankfully it's a court trial and we won't need it as
14 much as we might for a jury trial. Even though it's a state-of-the-art device
15 designed specifically for Marion County courts, but they sat in the middle of
16 the courtroom which meant that people couldn't see things if they moved, but
17 now it's less reliable.
18 MR. CASANOVA: So we can move it if we don't break it.
19 THE COURT: I'm giving you up in a minute, if you move that
20 table. We're under instruction not to move it.
21 MR. CASANOVA: Understood, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: State, by any chance do you have a list of witnesses
23 and perhaps the order in which they'll be called?
24 MR. BUSBY: One was I filed this morning, Your Honor. Would
25 you like me to email you a copy as well?
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1 surprised the number of witnesses who are anxious to get up there, and just
2 stumble their way up.
3 THE BAILIFF: Yes, sir. I wasn't asked or inquired about the
4 design.
5 THE COURT: Judges weren't asked about the design of the
6 courtrooms. Look at all the room I have here. There's enough for three of us.
7 Did you see the jury rooms?
8 THE BAILIFF: Yes.
9 THE COURT: They're like this.
10 Okay. Mr. Taylor has rejoined us. He's in civilian clothes, but he
11 is cuffed.
12 Any record you want to make on that, Mr. Casanova?
13 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, Judge. I understand the sheriff's need for
14 security, but he will have to be able to write down any notes.
15 THE COURT: Can he write now?
16 MR. CASANOVA: I think he can write now. Yes, Judge.
17 THE COURT: So any other reasons for objection?
18 MR. BUSBY: No objection.
19 THE COURT: Are we ready -- is the Defense ready to proceed?
20 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, Judge.
21 THE COURT: I don't know who's in charge.
22 MR. CICCHINI: Mr. Busby, Judge.
23 THE COURT: Mr. Busby, is the State ready?
24 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor. The State is ready.
25 THE COURT: Opening statement, sir.
10
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1 after 4:00 in the morning, Your Honor, or 5:00 in the morning, Your Honor.
2 When they arrived at the Courtyards at Kessler, Mr. Watson
3 attempted to wake up his girlfriend. She didn't come outside. So the three of
4 them decided to head north on Kessler and possibly look for another target for
5 another robbery. They headed due north on Kessler. They headed due north
6 on Kessler across the highway the first right on your right-hand side leads to
7 Sunny Meadow and Sunnyfield Court. They would ultimately end up on
8 Sunnyfield Court, again in Indianapolis, Indiana, Marion County.
9 The first residence they stopped at was 2830 Sunnyfield Court,
10 which is the residence of Alison Becker. Alison Becker was not home that
11 morning. But she would return later that day to find that the three of them
12 had broken into her home and taken multiple items from her home without her
13 permission. So Mr. Watson, Mr. Gordon and Mr. Taylor entered her home,
14 took several TVs, remote controls, and most importantly, a pink sweater and a
15 bag of oranges and some sheets from Ms. Becker's residence.
16 As they were loading up the car, they were across the street from
17 XXXX Sunnyfield Court, which was the residence of Amanda and Davey
18 Blackburn, Your Honor. They saw Mr. Blackburn, Davey Blackburn, leaving in
19 his car. Mr. Blackburn liked to get up early. He would spend some time in the
20 morning meditating, and then he would go to the gym.
21 THE COURT: What time of the day or night are we talking about
22 now?
23 MR. BUSBY: This is approximately 6 a.m. at this point, Your
24 Honor, in the area of 6 a.m. Mr. Blackburn leaves the residence. After he
25 leaves the residence, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Gordon, and Mr. Watson, headed across
12
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1 At some point he leaves the residence and he is walking down the street.
2 There'll be testimony from Mr. Gordon and Mr. Watson that they were having a
3 heated conversation with Mr. Taylor who was upset with him for taking too
4 long to get back to him. As they returned to him, several neighbors in the
5 neighborhood saw an individual, a black male, walking through the
6 neighborhood approximately 7:00 to 7:15 in the morning. The cell tower record
7 communications between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Gordon, and Mr. Watson,
8 corroborate this time frame.
9 The individuals in the neighborhood seen an individual wearing a
10 black coat, matching clothing worn by the defendant at that time, and seeing
11 an individual talking in an animated manner on his phone. Two security
12 cameras captured this individual and those will be played for the Court. A
13 witness across the street named Amanda Knox saw an individual walking
14 through the neighborhood and she thought it was odd.
15 So she loaded up her car, went back inside her house, locked her
16 house up, came out to her car, proceeded to drive by what is going to be
17 testified to be the Defendant Larry Taylor. Mr. Taylor, at that point was leaving
18 the cul de sac and heading east into another cul de sac in the neighborhood.
19 She will testify that he was speaking in an angry manner on the phone,
20 although she will say she did not hear exactly what was being said. Shortly
21 after that, Your Honor, the evidence will show that Mr. Gordon and Mr. Watson
22 arrived at Mr. Taylor's presence, picked him up in the Sebring, and left the
23 neighborhood.
24 Subsequent to this, Mr. Blackburn returned home. He sat in his
25 driveway for a while speaking with a friend of his on the phone. When he went
14
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1 tandem with Mark Hess, Eric Eads, and several other officers with the
2 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department came up with three names; Diano
3 Gordon, Jalen Watson, and the defendant, Larry Taylor.
4 Now, ultimately, this would lead to phone records being requested,
5 corroborated their presence, corroborated the statement or the summary
6 provided with you earlier, as well as ultimately seizing phones associated with
7 those three individuals. A forensic assessment of those phones would show
8 communications between the phone belonging to Diano Gordon, which is the
9 phone number ending in 6567. That phone was communicating with a phone
10 associated with the number 7125. That 7125 number, Your Honor, testimony
11 will show that that phone belonged to Larry Taylor and it's the State's
12 argument that that phone belonging to Larry Taylor was the phone that was
13 present near Amanda Blackburn at the time that communication between that
14 phone, Mr. Gordon's phone, and Mr. Watson's phone.
15 The forensic assessment of that phone will show that evidence was
16 erased off that phone. That data was attempted to be removed off that phone.
17 And despite that data -- attempts to remove that data, the forensic assessment
18 of that phone corroborates communications with Mr. Watson and Mr. Gordon
19 that morning. That phone has a contact associated with Mr. Gordon, with the
20 nickname Dlo. That phone has a contact associated with Mr. Watson, contact
21 name Watts. And the assessment of Mr. Watson's and Mr. Gordon's phones
22 will show that they received the message from the phone associated with Mr.
23 Taylor stating that he would keep his mouth shut for life.
24 In addition to that, on Mr. Taylor's phone are messages to a friend
25 saying I may be going away for a long time, as well as messages indicating he
16
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1 Larry Taylor. Larry is related to Alonzo Bull by marriage. He's Alonso's uncle
2 by marriage. But Larry is actually several years younger. And none of these
3 guys are particularly close with Larry, especially Watson and Gordon. But
4 sometimes when Watson and Gordon were over at Alonzo's apartment, Larry
5 would be there, kind of just on the periphery. And that's where they were in
6 the early morning hours of November 10th, 2015.
7 Alonzo didn't live by himself though. He had a girlfriend and a
8 small child. And his girlfriend, Donae Mitchell, didn't want all these guys
9 hanging out all night waking up the baby. So she kind of asked them to leave.
10 And the group goes. And one or more of them may have been wearing some of
11 Alonzo's clothing. That wasn't out of the ordinary. These buddies regularly
12 traded off clothes and property. And so when they leave, they -- it's kind of
13 like, what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours and nobody thinks anything of
14 it.
15 When they come back, it's only Jalen Watson and Diano Gordon.
16 They have dropped Larry Taylor off at some apartments around 58th, 59th and
17 Georgetown. In between the time they left Bull's apartment, and when Watson
18 and Gordon returned to Jacola Searsbrook, Alison Becker's and Amanda
19 Blackburn's homes were verbalized and Amanda Blackburn was shot. They
20 took TVs, computers, cash, cars, even oranges. But Watson left something. He
21 left his DNA. He left his DNA on a pink sweater that was stolen from Alison
22 Becker's apartment. He left it as he's trying to get out money from Amanda
23 Blackburn's apartment while he's driving the car he stole from Jacola
24 Searsbrook apartment.
25 Before Watson and Gordon go back to Bull's apartment though,
18
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1 not just that they can be and that they're shared by other people. But you're
2 going to hear about how they connect to towers, and that a tower that a phone
3 connects to may be in the same general area as the phone, but is not GPS.
4 It's not precise. It can't tell you exactly where the phone is. It just
5 gives you a general area. And phones connect to the tower with the strongest
6 and clearest signal. Proximity or distance is one factor. But it's only one
7 factor. The tower usage at a particular time, topography, and a number of
8 other factors will play into the decision of which tower is going to connect to a
9 phone. And you will also hear that cell towers can cover seven to nine miles,
10 and that they often overlap.
11 You're going to hear from a number of witnesses who either saw a
12 person in the neighborhood of Alison Becker and Amanda Blackburn or saw a
13 car with people in that neighborhood on the morning of the burglaries. They
14 either saw it themselves or through their surveillance video, and Jacola
15 Searsbrook was able to through her surveillance, see people involved in the
16 burglary of her apartment. But no one, none of those witnesses will identify
17 Larry Taylor as being in the Becker and Blackburn neighborhood or in Ms.
18 Searsbrook's apartment.
19 There's only two witnesses that will say that; Jalen Watson and
20 Diano Gordon. Jalen Watson and Diano Gordon were both arrested first, and
21 they were subsequently charged with murder and burglary and all of the
22 charges that Larry stands accused of. And Watson originally told the police, I
23 didn't have any involvement. I don't know anything about it. But detectives
24 told him in his interrogation, that he can make things a lot easier for himself if
25 he could provide some incriminating evidence on others. And he was facing 45
20
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DIRECT EXAMINATION SCOTT FLOYD
1 MR. FLOYD: Good morning.
2 THE COURT: Be careful going up the slope. We've had more than
3 one faceplant. If you would raise your right hand, please.
4 SCOTT FLOYD, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
5 THE COURT: Okay. Please have a seat. Once you're comfortable,
6 would you please state your full name and spell your last name?
7 THE WITNESS: Sure. It's Scott Allen Floyd, F-L-O-Y-D.
8 THE COURT: Thank you.
9 DIRECT EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. CICCHINI:
11 Q Good morning, sir. Are you currently employed?
12 A No, sir. I'm retired.
13 Q Okay. And before your retirement, where were you employed?
14 A Indianapolis Fire Department.
15 Q How long were you with the fire department?
16 A 22 years.
17 Q At the time -- well, when did you retire?
18 A July 15th of this year.
19 Q Of this year?
20 A Yes, sir.
21 Q At the time of your retirement in July of 2022, at what position or what
22 rank did you retire?
23 A I retired as a lieutenant with the special operations.
24 Q As a lieutenant with the special operations and with your many years
25 with the Indianapolis Fire Department, did you have any medical training?
22
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1 Q Did there come a time on the 10th of November 2015, where you were
2 dispatched to XXXX Sunnyfield Court?
3 A Yes, sir.
4 Q Approximately what side of town is that on?
5 A That's northwest. That's right up on Knowlton and -- I'm sorry, Kessler
6 and 38th Street basically, area.
7 Q And --
8 A Just north of the interstate.
9 Q Is that address located here in Marion County?
10 A Yes, sir.
11 MR. CICCHINI: Judge, may I approach?
12 THE COURT: You may. And you don't have to ask.
13 MR. CICCHINI: Sounds good, Judge.
14 BY MR. CICCHINI:
15 Q Sir, I'm handing you what's been marked for identification as State's
16 Exhibits 3 and 4. Do you recognize those?
17 A Yes, sir.
18 Q Are State's Exhibit 3 and 4 true and accurate maps or overhead views of
19 the area to which you responded on November 10th, 2015?
20 A Yes, sir.
21 Q And would those assist with your testimony?
22 A I'm sorry?
23 Q Would those assist with your testimony today?
24 A Yeah, that's fine. Yes.
25 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, at this time the State moves to State's
24
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1 A Yes, sir.
2 Q Do you recall approximately what time you arrived to that area?
3 A I do not have this sheet right in front of me. It was the 8:30-ish range.
4 Q If I showed -- you said your sheet. When you respond to a scene, do you
5 prepare a brief report? A summary of what happens?
6 A Generally the officer will write a report. Just due to the nature of this, I
7 also wrote a supplemental report.
8 Q If I showed you that might that refresh your recollection?
9 A Yes, sir.
10 Q I'm going to show you that supplemental report, sir. Do me a favor, take
11 a moment to review that and when you've had a minute, please look up at me.
12 Has your memory been refreshed?
13 A Will do.
14 Q Okay. About what time did you get to that Sunnyfield Court address?
15 A About 8:28.
16 Q Was that shortly after dispatch?
17 A Yes.
18 Q When you arrive on scene, are you pulling in to the right as we look at
19 State's Exhibit 4, you're driving down that cul de sac that way?
20 A Yes, we -- the engine, which I was on, we pulled in at the bottom of the
21 cul de sac. The ambulance a separate unit, pulled in. They passed us and
22 kind of pulled up to about that first tree.
23 Q Do you encounter anybody as you arrive?
24 A I encountered a male subject at the end of the driveway with blood on his
25 arms and hands.
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1 A Yes, sir.
2 Q Can you indicate or describe for us where the male subject was that you
3 encountered?
4 A Just on the other side of the front of the police car kind of the end of the
5 driveway area.
6 Q Near the mailbox?
7 A Yes, sir.
8 Q I'm going to show you State's 7. What do we see here?
9 A This is the front door.
10 Q Do you recall if that door was open or closed when you arrived?
11 A The interior door was open. The storm door was closed.
12 Q State's 8. What do we see here?
13 A It's the front entry rolling to the left.
14 Q If you can orient us, sir. As we walk into the door, the door opens. It's
15 on the right-hand side of State's 8. What is on the other side of that door?
16 A Hallway. The railing. I mean, you see -- you can see the Christmas tree.
17 That's as I stepped through the doorway. I looked over the railing and that's
18 where I could see Amanda lying.
19 Q And you used the name. Did you know her name at the time you
20 arrived?
21 A No. I'm sorry.
22 Q That's fine. Did you learn that later?
23 A Yes, sir.
24 Q Now, I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 9. Is this the area where you
25 encountered the young woman you later learned to be Ms. Blackburn?
28
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1 A Yes.
2 Q Okay. And so her arms were underneath her body when you arrived?
3 A Yes, sir.
4 Q What was the first thing you noticed about her condition?
5 A Noticed the blood on her head and there was brain matter about five to
6 six feet to my side of her, because I was approaching her.
7 Q In your experience, what does the presence of brain matter on the scene
8 generally indicate?
9 A It's they're in a grave condition at that point.
10 Q Were you able to check for vital signs?
11 A Yes, sir.
12 Q Could you find any?
13 A Yes. We actually found very good vital signs, which was surprising for
14 her condition.
15 Q Was she able to speak at all?
16 A No, sir. She was unconscious.
17 Q I'm now going to show you State's Exhibit 10. Is this a close up of what
18 we were looking at in State's 9?
19 A Yes, sir.
20 Q There appears to be some pieces of I guess plastic, for lack of a better
21 way to frame it, to the left of the blood there. What are those?
22 A The packages laying right at the at the blood pattern spatter is for Kerlix
23 for us to wrap a wound with. The other package down where it says you can
24 see the words Ambu, that's for a bag valve mask. So we did assist her
25 breathing.
30
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1 A They were folded. And we disturbed them as we rolled her.
2 Q And sir, I'm not sure if I told you. You described the way that her arms
3 were positioned.
4 A Yes, sir.
5 Q Was there any clothing on her top --
6 A A shirt was pulled down over her arms.
7 Q So just the shirt on her arms, not on her torso?
8 A No. Just over her arms.
9 Q And the only other clothing you found is what we see in State's Exhibit
10 11 the undergarment that was under her leg?
11 A Yes, sir.
12 Q Finally, I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 12. Can you orient the
13 Court for what -- where we are in the home and in relation to where you found
14 Ms. Blackburn?
15 A That is straight in and to the left of the doorway. The Christmas tree is
16 right here. And she would have been -- her head would have been laying closer
17 to the bottom of the screen to the left.
18 Q Bottom left-hand side of State's 12?
19 A Yes, sir.
20 Q And then kind of right in the middle of State's 12, we see more what
21 looks like gauze or packages. Is that more signs of medical intervention?
22 A Yeah. It was more Kerlix and four by fours, and then a trauma bed.
23 Q Above that, closer to the middle of State's Exhibit 12, what do we see?
24 A That would be a pocketbook with the credit cards out.
25 Q Was the pocketbook with the credit cards out in that condition when you
32
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CROSS-EXAMINATION SCOTT FLOYD
1 the driveway?
2 A Yes, ma'am.
3 Q And subsequently, you've learned that's David Blackburn.?
4 A Yes, ma'am.
5 Q And I think you said he was pretty calm and collected?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And he told you his wife was inside?
8 A Yes.
9 Q When you went inside, and you saw the woman laying on the floor, she
10 was unconscious?
11 A Yes, ma'am.
12 Q But she had a strong radial pulse.
13 A Yes, ma'am.
14 Q And that's the pulse that you take at your wrist?
15 A Yes, ma'am.
16 Q And she was breathing?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Based on everything you saw, kind of the questionable circumstances,
19 you notify the lieutenant that IMPD should probably be notified.
20 A Yes, ma'am.
21 Q An officer later on, asked you to check whether the front door had been
22 locked after the Blackburn's went to Methodist; is that right?
23 A No, I secured the residence and told him that it was not locked.
24 Q Okay. But when you checked the door, you think you were wearing
25 gloves, right?
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DIRECT EXAMINATION T. MICHAEL WILSON
1 MR. FLOYD: Thank you, sir.
2 THE COURT: Please call your next.
3 MR. CICCHINI: Sergeant Wilson, Judge.
4 THE COURT: You're lucky she hasn't tackled you already.
5 Good morning, sir.
6 MR. WILSON: Good morning.
7 THE COURT: Watch your step going up there and we'll swear you
8 in.
9 T. MICHAEL WILSON, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
10 THE COURT: Thank you. Please have a seat. Would you please
11 state your full name and spell your last name?
12 THE WITNESS: T. Michael Wilson, W-I-L-S-O-N.
13 THE COURT: Thank you, sir.
14 Mr. Cicchini.
16 BY MR. CICCHINI:
17 Q Sir, how are you employed?
18 A Sergeant with the Indiana Metropolitan Police Department.
19 Q And your current rank is Sergeant. What's your present assignment?
20 A Northwest district day shift supervisor.
21 Q How long have you been with IMPD?
22 A 22 years.
23 Q And at that time, how long have you been a sergeant?
24 A Nine.
25 Q I want to take you back to November 10, 2015. At that time, were you
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DIRECT EXAMINATION T. MICHAEL WILSON
1 A Yes.
2 Q When you arrive on scene, what other emergency personnel are already
3 present?
4 A I believe I had three officers on scene. I believe the fire engine was still
5 on the scene. And I think that's about it.
6 Q When you arrive on scene, what is your role?
7 A Basically to start coordinating resources. Getting the right people on the
8 right bus in the right seats.
9 Q And does that involve including detectives?
10 A Detectives, homicide, Crime Lab. Media response, if I need it, things like
11 that. And educating my chain of command what's going on.
12 Q Keeping the higher ups appraised?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Do you also take steps yourself or direct other officers to secure the area,
15 establish a perimeter?
16 A Yes.
17 Q That's to keep people out of the crime scene?
18 A Correct.
19 Q And did that include the home itself at XXXX Sunnyfield?
20 A Yes, it did. Front and back.
21 Q And did it also include an area around the home?
22 A We went basically from neighbor to neighbor, front door to front door on
23 both sides of the house and then behind.
24 Q And that's to make sure no unauthorized people get in or out of the
25 home?
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CROSS-EXAMINATION T. MICHAEL WILSON
1 THE COURT: Sergeant, was Ms. Blackburn already -- had she
2 already left the scene or been taken from the scene when you arrived?
3 THE WITNESS: Yeah. Next, they call load and go. They
4 didn't -- they got the call first. And then by the time my officers arrived she
5 was already leaving.
6 THE COURT: Do you know how long -- how much time passed
7 between the call for your assistance and you actually arriving?
8 THE WITNESS: 10 or 15 minutes at the most. It's not far from a
9 roll call.
10 THE COURT: Thank you. Questions on my questions?
11 MR. CASANOVA: Nothing, Judge.
12 MR. CICCHINI: No, Judge.
13 THE COURT: May the witness be released from his subpoena?
15 MR. CICCHINI: Yes, sir.
16 THE COURT: Thank you very much.
17 MR. WILSON: Thank you, Your Honor.
18 THE COURT: And again, watch your step.
19 Please call your next.
20 MS. SNYDER: The State calls David Blackburn.
21 THE COURT: Watch your step as you go up. Sir, before you sit,
22 raise your right hand.
23 DAVID BLACKBURN, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
24 THE COURT: Thank you. Please have a seat. Would you please
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DIRECT EXAMINATION DAVID BLACKBURN
1 South Carolina for a few years after that. So I kind of say my two home bases
2 were Alabama and South Carolina.
3 Q Did you know somebody by the name of Amanda Blackburn?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And who was Amanda Blackburn to you?
6 A Amanda was my wife.
7 Q I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's Exhibit 13. What is
8 State's Exhibit 13?
9 A That is a picture of me and Amanda.
10 Q Okay. And that's Amanda Blackburn?
11 A Yes.
12 MS. SNYDER: State would move to admit State's Exhibit 13.
13 MR. CASANOVA: No objection, Judge.
14 THE COURT: Shows Exhibit 13 admitted without objection.
15 Thank you.
16 (State's Exhibit 13 admitted into evidence)
17 BY MS. SNYDER:
18 Q When did you meet Amanda?
19 A 2005. October 2005.
20 Q And where did you meet her?
21 A In her hometown of Elkhart while I was in college in South Carolina.
22 Q Okay. Did you eventually get married?
23 A We did.
24 Q When did you get married?
25 A August 1st, 2008.
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1 A In our garage.
2 Q So is it fair to say your garage was filled with furniture and that type of
3 stuff?
4 A Yes.
5 Q So was it customary for you both to park your vehicles in the driveway?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Well, again, going into November 2015. Can you give the Court just kind
8 of a brief -- what was your routine in the evenings?
9 A In the evenings, we would usually have dinner together. The three of us
10 Amanda, Weston, and myself. Typically, she would clean up dinner and I
11 would take Weston upstairs, put him to bed, and we would go to bed pretty
12 early. She valued her sleep a lot. So we went to bed at about usually 9 or
13 9:30. But with the intent of being asleep by 10.
14 Q Tuesday's, what was your normal routine in the morning?
15 A Typically, I would wake up really early on Tuesdays, as early as 4 or
16 4:30. So I could spend some time reading my Bible. I could go to work out
17 before getting the day started.
18 Q Where did you work out?
19 A Usually I would work out at LA Fitness.
20 Q Which location?
21 A It would vary, but usually it was the West 38th Street location or the
22 Keystone and 62nd location.
23 Q Okay. The morning of November 10th, 2015, that was a Tuesday. Was
24 that your typical routine on a Tuesday morning?
25 A Yes.
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1 Q Explain to the Judge what you mean by that?
2 A Well, she was up at 7 every morning. She would read her Bible for about
3 an hour. It was her only quiet time as a stay-at-home mom. And Weston was
4 very routine as well. He'd wake up at 8. And so that was 7 to 8 was her sacred
5 time.
6 Q Okay. And when you say her sacred time, was there -- she liked it to be
7 quiet during that time?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Is that fair?
10 A Um-hum.
11 Q And was there anything previous to that Tuesday where she had made it
12 clear or you guys had discussed that that time was her time?
13 A Yeah. Most Tuesday mornings, I would have a conversation with a friend
14 of mine as a pastor. And there a couple of weeks before November 10th I had
15 walked into the house while having that conversation before Weston woke up
16 at 8. And she had asked me not to come into the house if I was going to be on
17 the phone still, because I woke Weston up incidentally that morning earlier
18 than what she would have wanted.
19 Q So essentially, if you're on the phone, don't come until at least 8 --
20 A Right.
21 Q -- when Weston wakes up.
22 A Right.
23 Q That morning, you woke up early. And then what did you do after you'd
24 had some time to read the Bible?
25 A So then I -- about 6, 6:10, left for the gym. And was at the gym from
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1 Q When you left that morning, did you notice anything unusual?
2 A I didn't.
3 Q And I think you said you left the gym around 7:10 or 7:20.
4 A Yeah, around 7:20.
5 Q And when you leave that gym, were you still on the phone with Kenneth?
6 A I was.
7 Q What did you do after you left the gym?
8 A Got in my car and drove back to the house and finished the phone call
9 while walking around in my driveway.
10 Q Okay. Again, so you wouldn't wake Weston up?
11 A Correct.
12 Q When you were outside, did you see any of your neighbors?
13 A I did.
14 Q Who did you see that morning?
15 A I saw Amanda Cummings. She lived a few houses across the street. And
16 she was getting in the car with her daughter.
17 Q Okay. While you were on the phone outside in the driveway, is there
18 anything else you're doing besides talking with Kenneth?
19 A I was just walking around the driveway while I was talking to him. A
20 couple of times as it got closer to 8, I would check the front door. There was a
21 window on our front door where you could just barely see Weston's door
22 opening. That was usually my indication that the coast is clear. He's awake, if
23 his -- if his door was open, and I can come in. And --
24 Q Did you notice at any point that it was open?
25 A That the door was -- Weston's door was open? No. It was closed the
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1 going through your mind about what happened while you were gone?
2 A When I initially saw her, you know, she had been having some dizzy
3 spells over the past couple of weeks. And so I originally thought that she woke
4 up, maybe got out of the shower, was, was really hot, and passed out or started
5 to faint. There was also a ladder that she had used for decoration that
6 was -- had fallen next to her. And so my original thought was that she had hit
7 that ladder, that ladder fell on top of her. And that was the explanation for all
8 the blood that I saw.
9 Q When you had gone home, did you notice anything unusual about your
10 front door?
11 A I didn't notice anything unusual about the front door.
12 Q And then you said you called 911. Were there other -- were there other
13 things about your house that maybe we're out of place?
14 A Yes.
15 Q What were those things?
16 A I didn't notice it till after I had called 911. But as I was waiting for the
17 paramedics to respond, I noticed that there was a lamp that had been turned
18 over as well. That her credit cards were strewn out over the floor. And then
19 eventually I noticed that her purse was on our kitchen counter, which was not
20 typically the place it would be. And I noticed a pack of Swisher sweet cigars
21 next to her purse.
22 Q When you first discovered Amanda, did you realize that she had been
23 shot?
24 A No.
25 Q It's not till much later that you realize she had been shot, correct?
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1 could.
2 Q After the paramedics got there, what did you do?
3 A I could hear them coming down the street. So I ran out to try to wave
4 them down. And then I freaked out realizing that I just left Amanda by herself
5 in there. So I ran back in. Didn't really know what to do. And they got inside
6 the house and asked me a few questions. But mostly asked me if there was
7 anybody else in the house. And I told him Weston was. And so they kind of
8 looked at me like why are you not getting him. And so I went and washed my
9 hands. There was a lot of blood on my hands at the time. And that's when I
10 noticed her purse and the Swisher sweet cigars there or the packet and went
11 up to get Weston and then we just sat on the couch in the front of the living
12 room while the paramedics attended to her.
13 Q There was a pair of headphones that was found in the living room near
14 where Amanda had been. How did those get there?
15 A They were the headphones I was using on the phone call with Kenneth.
16 And I remember dropping those immediately when I walked in the door.
17 Q Did you eventually then go to the hospital?
18 A I did.
19 Q How did you get there?
20 A Weston and I drove. Well, I drove Weston. And we followed the
21 paramedics.
22 Q And then you went to the hospital?
23 A Um-hum.
24 Q What did you do once you arrived at the hospital?
25 A I remember going to some kind of a waiting room. And you know, at
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1 Q Do you remember how long that was after you arrived at the hospital?
2 A I don't remember. And to be honest with you, I don't -- I don't remember
3 the time line of those conversations other than reading my previous
4 statements.
5 Q Okay.
6 A It seems like based on those statements, it was really pretty early after
7 arriving at the hospital.
8 Q Is it fair to say that that hospital time is kind of a blur for you?
9 A Yes. Very much so.
10 Q So investigators did come and speak with you; is that correct?
11 A Correct.
12 Q And you gave several statements to them, correct?
13 A Um-hum. Yes.
14 Q And that was voluntary?
15 A Yes.
16 Q You also provided a DNA sample.
17 A Correct.
18 Q And you also agreed to being photographed as well as giving your clothes
19 and your shoes.
20 A Correct.
21 Q So did somebody come bring you something else to wear?
22 A Yes. We had a family in our church that brought some clothes for me to
23 wear.
24 Q Did investigators also ask you for additional information about both
25 yourself and Amanda?
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1 A I did.
2 Q And what were those things?
3 A My bookbag. My backpack that had my laptop computer in it, as well as
4 some other books. And then at some point, and I don't know when this
5 information got to me. I can't recall in that 24-hour span, but at some point,
6 realized that there had been funds that had been attempted to be withdrawn
7 from our bank account, out checking account.
8 Q Where did you have a checking account?
9 A Chase.
10 Q And was that a joint checking account?
11 A It was.
12 Q Between you and Amanda?
13 A Correct.
14 Q And you said you receive notifications?
15 A I don't --
16 Q You received some type of information?
17 A Yes. I don't remember if somebody told me or if I receive notifications.
18 During that time, someone had taken my phone, just one of our family
19 members, or somebody that was just trying to protect me from all of that that
20 was happening. And so I don't recall getting notifications during that time from
21 Chase, but I do recall seeing them later.
22 Q Okay. And no one had permission to come in your home that day,
23 correct?
24 A Correct.
25 Q And no one had permission to take anything from your home that day,
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1 making it till noon is going to be a bit of a challenge. Would you mind if we
2 took about a 10-minute recess now and then proceeded to hear evidence till
3 about 12:30?
4 MR. CICCHINI: That should be fine, Judge. We've -- I've got two
5 witnesses ready to go, so 12:30 might be trickier, but certainly a 10-minute
6 recess now would be great.
7 THE COURT: Okay. Defense?
9 THE COURT: We'll be in recess until 25 after.
10 MR. CASANOVA: Thank you, Judge.
11 THE BAILIFF: All rise.
12 (Recess taken from 11:13 a.m. to 11:25 a.m.)
13 THE COURT: We are back on the record. State of Indiana v. Larry
14 J. Taylor. Cause number 15-041732. Mr. Taylor is here with Mr. Casanova
15 and Ms. Martin. The State by team Busby. Are we ready to proceed?
16 MR. CICCHINI: We are, Your Honor.
17 THE COURT: Please call your witness.
18 MR. CICCHINI: Alison Becker, Judge.
19 THE COURT: Watch your step, ma'am. Before you sit down,
20 would you please raise your right hand.
21 ALISON BECKER, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
22 THE COURT: Please have a seat. Would you please state your full
23 name and spell your last name.
24 THE WITNESS: Alison M. Becker, B-E-C-K-E-R.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION ALISON BECKER
1 A Yeah. The living room is open to the second floor. The front door comes
2 in, there's two steps down. At that point in time there's a big red cabinet with
3 a camera on it, a Nest camera. It's got a fireplace. It's pretty. It's got a window
4 out into the front yard.
5 Q Did you have any pets at the time?
6 A I did. I had several cats and a Bassett hound.
7 Q Okay. And would you ordinarily when you were not at home, put your
8 Bassett hound in a crate?
9 A I ordinarily would. Then I was gone I had not. I had left him free range.
10 Q Okay. You mentioned a camera, a Nest camera that was on a red
11 cabinet. In which direction did that face?
12 A That pointed out toward the window and the front door.
13 Q So someone coming in the front door you might capture them?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Was the camera motion activated or would it record continuously?
16 A I don't know.
17 Q Okay. Other than the front door and the garage door, is there another
18 way to get into your home?
19 A There is. There is at that time there was a door that came into what was
20 formerly a patio, that had become a three-season room. And there was a single
21 door that went in through a patio door into the dining room.
22 Q Okay. I'm going to show you some photographs. States Exhibits 18
23 through 27. Please take a look at those.
24 A Okay.
25 Q Do you recognize those?
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1 that weren't that way when I had left the previous night.
2 Q What about your dog? Was anything different about him when you left?
3 A Yeah. He was -- as I said he was out of his crate when I left the night
4 before and he was in his crate when I returned.
5 Q And was the door closed?
6 A It was.
7 Q Okay. I'm now going to show you State's 20. Is this the three-season
8 room you were describing?
9 A It is.
10 Q And is there anything unusual or distinctive about anything we seen in
11 State's 20?
12 A The screen there that's kind of in the middle is ripped considerably more
13 than it was when I had left the night before.
14 Q So there was a little bit of damage, but a lot more now?
15 A Yeah.
16 Q State's 21. Is that a closeup of that screen damage?
17 A It is.
18 Q State's 22. Where are we in your house?
19 A That's in my kitchen.
20 Q And what do we see on the floor there?
21 A That is a broken bottle of beer and an open bottle of wine.
22 Q Was it like that when you left the house?
23 A No. Both had been in the refrigerator when I left.
24 Q States 23. Where are we in this photo?
25 A That's my bedroom.
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1 A Not that I recall.
2 Q States 24. Where are we?
3 A That's the guestroom upstairs on the second floor.
4 Q And we see a number of items strewn about. Was it like that when you
5 left?
6 A No, it was not.
7 Q Did you notice anything either immediately or later that was missing
8 from that room?
9 A There was definitely a television that was in there that was gone as well.
11 A That's where the television should have been in that guest room.
12 Q Across from the day bed?
13 A Correct.
14 Q State's Exhibit 26. What room are we in here?
15 A That's the loft that's just upstairs from the living room.
16 Q And is anything missing from this room?
17 A Yes. There's a TV missing from there as well.
18 Q Finally, State's 27. Where are we here?
19 A That's back in my bedroom.
20 Q And we see a number of items strewn about on the ground. Was that
21 like that at the time you left?
22 A No. Most of those items were in that chest that had been taken out after
23 I left home that night.
24 Q The number of items taken were their approximate value all together
25 have exceeded $750?
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1 Q Larry Taylor?
2 A No.
3 Q Would anybody have had permission to go into your house and take any
4 of the property that we discussed that was missing?
5 A No.
6 Q More specifically, would anybody have your permission to go in through
7 the screen to gain access to your home and take any of the items that we
8 discussed?
9 A No.
10 Q And finally, one other question, ma'am. I want to take you back to the
11 kitchen. Was there anything from the refrigerator, other than the wine and the
12 beer bottle that we saw on the floor, that you noticed was missing?
13 A Yes, there was. After we talked about those two items being on the floor,
14 the detectives asked if they could look in the refrigerator. When they opened
15 the refrigerator, I said my oranges are missing. There was a bag with three
16 oranges. And there was -- you know, the bag that you get at the grocery store
17 all tied up in a knot. It had been in the crisper drawer and it was no longer
18 there.
19 Q Kind of like the mesh bag?
20 A Yeah, just the cheap plastic bag that you can't ever get apart in the
21 grocery store. Yeah.
22 Q Anything else you notice missing?
23 A No.
24 MR. CICCHINI: Thank you, Judge. I have no other questions.
25 THE COURT: Cross?
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CROSS-EXAMINATION ALISON BECKER
1 Q And so when you gave that statement on November 17th of 2015, you did
2 identify that sweater as being yours?
3 A I did.
4 Q And at that time during that statement on November 17th of 2015, the
5 Detective Kepler mentioned a name to you, a name Jalen Watson, correct?
6 A I don't know. I did not read that in what you showed me.
7 Q Sure. Let me show you again. And this is page 4 over to 5. Just look at
8 the bottom of page 4. And then over to about a quarter way down on page 5.
9 A Okay.
10 Q So on the 17th, Detective Kepler did mention the name Jalen Watson to
11 you?
12 A He did.
13 Q And he also showed you some photos, correct?
14 A I'm sorry, I didn't read that part of the statement. I apologize. I saw it
15 switch to the discussion about to the remote control.
16 Q I'm sorry, but he did mention the name of Jalen Watson?
17 A He did.
18 Q And that's the only name he mentioned to you on that occasion?
19 A According to what I just read there. Yes.
20 Q Okay. So on the 17th, the only name that was mentioned to you with
21 regard to this investigation was Jalen Watson?
22 A Based on what I just read.
23 Q Okay.
24 A Yes.
25 MR. CASANOVA: Nothing further, Judge.
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REDIRECT EXAMINATION ALISON BECKER
1 you please raise your hand.
2 JACOLA SEARSBROOK, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
4 name and spell your last name?
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Jacola Searsbrook.
6 S-E-A-R-S-B-R-O-O-K.
7 THE COURT: I'm going to ask you to spell that first name for me.
8 THE WITNESS: J-A-C-O-L-A.
10 Mr. Cicchini.
11 MR. CICCHINI: Thank you, Judge.
13 BY MR. CICCHINI:
14 Q Good morning, Ms. Searsbrook.
15 A Good morning.
16 Q I'm just going to ask you a few questions. Do you live here in the city?
17 A I do.
18 Q You don't have to share exactly where.
19 A I'm sorry?
20 Q You do live in the city?
21 A Absolutely.
22 Q And what do you do for a living?
23 A I work for Xfinity.
24 Q And how long have you worked for Xfinity?
25 A Over 13 years.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION JACOLA SEARSBROOK
1 Q All right. And what side of town is that located on?
2 A That is on the east side.
3 Q Is that located here in Marion County?
4 A Yes.
5 Q I'm going to show you what's been marked for identification as 127
6 through 132.
7 A Um-hum.
8 Q Take a minute and look at those, please. Do you recognize State's 127
9 through 132?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Do those truly and accurately depict the exterior and interior of your
12 apartment on San Clemente Lane?
13 A Yes.
14 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, I move to admit State's 127 -- or
15 excuse me 127 through 132. Yes.
16 MS. MARTIN: No objection.
17 THE COURT: Show 127 through 132 admitted without objection.
18 (State's Exhibits 127 through 132 admitted into evidence)
19 MR. CICCHINI: If I may publish, Judge?
20 THE COURT: You may.
21 BY MR. CICCHINI:
22 Q Ms. Searsbrook, we've got 127 on the monitor here. Which apartment is
23 yours?
24 A Mine is 5756, the one with the beautiful flowers in the front.
25 Q Smack dab in the middle?
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1 Q I'm going to show you State's 129. Is this standing on your patio?
2 A That is standing on my patio.
3 Q Can you tell us what we see is in terms of that screen door on the side.
4 A Never would stay up. But that's my screen door over to the side. A
5 tomato bin the middle. And that goes into that seating area that I was telling
6 you about.
7 Q On the second floor?
8 A On the second floor.
9 Q I want to ask you a couple of questions about that sliding door. Did it
10 have a lock on it?
11 A It did.
12 Q Did that lock work all the time?
13 A I would think it did.
14 Q Would you keep it locked all the time?
15 A Probably not.
16 Q Okay. In addition, sometimes on sliding doors, people will put a piece of
17 wood or some object to prevent the door from sliding. Do you recall if you had
18 one of those at the time?
19 A I do have one.
20 Q Did you then?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Okay. And do you recall if it was there on --
23 A It was not.
24 Q It was not there on November 10th, 2015?
25 A No.
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1 So when I went to the bathroom one time, I looked at the phone. I had
2 plenty of time to go back to sleep. Wake up closer to the time for me to get up,
3 my phone is gone. And so when my phone is gone, I'm like, I couldn't, you
4 know, remembering I could have sworn I just checked my phone last time I
5 went to the restroom. So in a frantic I go upstairs, because I want to make -- I
6 want to lay back down, but I want to make sure that I can wake back up.
7 Looking for my phone and when I come to the middle area, I don't see it and
8 then I feel a draft because it's cold. I feel a big draft like whoo, and since my
9 heat had stopped working before, the first thing I did was check the
10 thermostat. When I checked the thermostat, I mean, a goosh and then I looked
11 and my blinds is open.
12 Q Is that how they were when you went to bed?
13 A Well, they were moving.
14 Q Okay.
15 A So I can tell the door was open. And no my door wasn't open when I
16 went to bed. So that's the first indication that something was wrong. I
17 immediately ran to the kitchen because that's where I keep my purse. Of
18 course that you usually (inaudible) -- but with my blinds, you can see it from
19 the window. So anybody that stays probably over there knows where all my
20 stuff is at.
21 Q A couple questions. Just let me jump in real quick, ma'am. You
22 mentioned that you woke up, felt for your phone and it was there. Do you
23 recall approximately what time that was?
24 A I believe that probably would have been around I want to say 5-ish, 4-
25 ish. I'm not for sure.
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1 Q And where would your phone would have been in State's 132?
2 A In the bed.
3 Q On the left-hand side there?
4 A Yes.
5 Q I'm going to take you back to the surveillance camera. I'm going to show
6 you State's Exhibits 133 through 137. Take a look at those, please.
7 A Um-hum.
9 A Yes, that's the hallway area.
10 Q And are those true and accurate still photos taken by your surveillance
11 system the night of the break in?
12 A They are.
13 Q And when did you receive those, and in what way did you receive them?
14 A They're saved on my app on my phone. So immediately --
15 Q Did you get an email alert or anything like that?
16 A Do I get email alerts? No. Because the alarm wasn't actually set.
17 MR. CICCHINI: Okay. Your Honor, I move to admit State's 133
18 through 137.
22 MR. CICCHINI: May I publish?
24 BY MR. CICCHINI:
25 Q Ms. Searsbrook, we've got State's Exhibit 133 on the monitor. Where are
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1 Q I want to ask you about the items that were taken from your home. So
2 far, you've mentioned your purse and your phone. What kind of phone did you
3 have at the time?
4 A iPhone.
5 Q And from your purse, what was missing from there?
6 A And they took the entire -- well, they took my keys. No, they didn't take
7 my purse. They took my keys. My -- all of my wallet. Everything was gone.
8 Q The amount of items stolen from your home, would that have exceeded
9 $750?
10 A The amount of items. Yes. No, it wouldn't have -- not from my home.
11 No, not including my car.
12 Q All right. And so let's talk about that. What kind of car did you have at
13 the time?
14 A I had a Chrysler Sebring.
15 Q Do you recall what color it was?
16 A Silver.
17 Q And how many doors?
18 A Four.
19 Q Where was that car parked in relation to your home?
20 A It was parked directly in front of that window that we saw earlier.
21 Q And would you keep your registration in the glove box?
22 A Yes.
23 Q That kind of thing? Did -- I'm going to ask you about a couple of
24 individuals names. Let me know if you recognize them. Do you know anyone
25 named Jalen Watson?
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CROSS-EXAMINATION JACOLA SEARSBROOK
1 A Um-hum.
2 Q Is that a yes?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Okay.
5 A I'm sorry.
6 Q No, you're good. And nothing seemed to be missing from their room; is
7 that right?
8 A That is correct.
9 Q And so you call the police.
10 A I did.
11 Q And I want to talk a little bit more about your surveillance system, your
12 security system. You looked at the video that day; is that right?
14 Q And you later gave police that video through email?
15 A Absolutely. Yes.
16 Q And I think you said your surveillance system you had set up that every
17 time the door would open or shut it would take a picture.
18 A Yes.
19 Q But it wasn't continually running or recording that you could go back
20 and see a full stream.
22 Q Is that right? And that camera, it timestamps the photos?
23 A It does.
24 Q Okay. And so before you turned over the surveillance photos to police,
25 you looked at some of the still shots, right?
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1 THE COURT: Mr. Cicchini?
2 MR. CICCHINI: Nothing else, Judge. Thank you.
3 THE COURT: Can I see the pictures 31, 33 through 137, please.
4 MR. CICCHINI: They're over here, Judge. The surveillance photos,
5 Your Honor?
6 THE COURT: They're over where?
7 MR. CICCHINI: They're over here.
8 THE COURT: Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to -- are these the
9 pictures in which you saw a shadow and a fourth person?
10 THE WITNESS: Yeah. They're the same pictures.
11 THE COURT: Show me those -- show me that picture.
12 THE WITNESS: I'm getting ready to try. Because of course when I
13 look back I didn't -- I think this is the one.
14 THE COURT: What's the picture number?
15 THE WITNESS: Oh, the number.
16 THE COURT: Give me the number.
17 THE WITNESS: Oh, 136.
18 THE COURT: 136?
19 THE WITNESS: Yes.
20 THE COURT: Okay. So 136 is the picture where you think you
21 saw four people --
23 THE COURT: -- or you saw three and the shadow?
25 THE COURT: Okay. Questions on my questions.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION ANGELA KNOX
1 Q And is that in Indianapolis, Indiana?
2 A It is.
3 Q Marion County?
4 A Yes.
5 MR. BUSBY: We would ask the Court to put the exhibit on the
6 State's computer, State's Exhibit 4, please publish that to the witness. Thank
7 you.
8 BY MR. BUSBY:
9 Q Please direct your attention to the screen in front of you.
10 A Yes.
11 Q You just stated that you lived on Sunnyfield Court. And on the map in
12 front of you, can you indicate for the -- or indicate for the Judge where that is
13 in terms of this map?
14 A Where my house was?
15 Q Where your house was? That's right.
16 A Okay. I think it's -- should I touch it? Will it touch over there?
17 THE COURT: It won't do it.
18 THE WITNESS: Is this a touch screen?
19 MR. BUSBY: You just tell the Judge roughly.
20 THE WITNESS: So I lived --
21 THE COURT: See the red dot there?
22 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I see the red dot. That's in the cul de sac. I
23 lived further north of that. And on the west side.
24 MR. BUSBY: So just for the benefit of the Court, Your Honor. I'm
25 familiar with your residence.
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1 A I did.
2 Q And where were they when you looked up?
3 A In that grassy area, but on the sidewalk.
4 Q So again, this grassy area here?
5 A Correct.
6 Q It's sort of wedge -- that pie-shaped wedge near the letter S? Is that
7 right?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Okay. But they're on the sidewalk?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Was the sun up yet?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Could you see what they were wearing?
14 A All black.
15 Q Could you make any facial characteristics or see their face specifically?
16 A I could not.
17 Q Did you hear the specific words they were saying?
18 A I could not.
19 Q Were you able to draw any conclusions about their mood or their
20 demeanor based on what you could hear?
21 A The voice was strong enough to grasp my attention. No one's usually up
22 making that type of sound or that type of speaking in that manner in that
23 morning -- in the mornings like that.
24 Q So it's fair to say you didn't know the person that was speaking what
25 they normally speak like; is that correct?
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1 A Correct?
2 Q And did you follow them or talk to them or anything?
3 A No, I went ahead and turned in that direction on Sun Meadow Way. And
4 I was about to pull over and ask him if he needed some help, because he was
5 obviously not in -- from my neighborhood. We pretty much know everyone
6 that's down in the cul de sac.
7 Q So it was a person you didn't recognize.
8 A Correct.
9 Q Were you able to tell what race they were as far as --
10 A African American.
11 Q So you said you were going to speak with them or going to offer them a
12 ride, but you did not.
13 A I did not.
14 Q What did you -- why did you not offer them a ride?
15 A I saw another garage door open and thought there's a man. We'll let that
16 man handle it. And I went ahead to work.
17 Q And then subsequent to that, when you received, I guess an email
18 looking for possible witnesses; is that correct?
19 A Correct.
20 Q Is that how you became involved in this case and you spoke to the
21 police?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Is there anything else from that morning that you remember specifically
24 about that man that I failed to ask you?
25 A Sure.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION ANGELA KNOX
1 Q And to those attorneys you said that he had a man's physique not a
2 boy's, right?
3 A Well, his clothes were sagging on him. So according to the way he was
4 dressed, that's why I say he was more of a boy. I could tell he was athletic in
5 his built, but not a full grown 30-year-old man.
6 Q Down here at the bottom.
7 A Um-hum.
8 Q Your answer is, "But he had a man's physique and not a boy's." Is that
9 right?
10 A I'm saying he's -- yes, that's what it states there.
11 Q Okay.
12 A Yes.
13 Q And you estimated him to be about 22 to 25 years old?
14 A Correct.
15 Q You mentioned on direct he was talking loud, but you couldn't
16 understand anything he said; is that right?
17 A That's correct.
18 Q You didn't know what he was talking about?
19 A Correct.
20 Q And you never spoke to him.
21 A I did not.
22 Q You spoke with police on more than one occasion, right?
23 A Correct.
24 Q And at some point, they showed you what we call photo arrays --six
25 photos on a piece of paper, right?
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1 we're going to finish Wednesday whether we go to 5 or to 6 just the way the
2 witnesses are going to work out with the transport order and two of our
3 witnesses availability. So I think we've got good wiggle, room but we're going to
4 push for 6 every day, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: Very good. So when should we come back after
6 lunch?
7 MR. BUSBY: How long does the Court need?
8 THE COURT: I just want to keep the case moving.
9 MR. BUSBY: We'll be ready at 1, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: Does that give the gallery enough time,
11 understanding that you might just have water for lunch. She giggles with no
12 pain.
13 MR. BUSBY: We can ask for an hour if the gallery needs an hour,
14 Your Honor.
15 THE COURT: All right. I'm afraid to suggest where they might go
16 to eat.
17 MR. BUSBY: I think the court staff would prefer an hour. So an
18 hour would be fine, Your Honor.
19 THE COURT: The Court's staff would like an hour. We'll be back
20 at 1:15.
21 MR. BUSBY: Thank you, Judge.
22 MR. CASANOVA: Thank you.
23 (Recess taken from 12:13 p.m. to 1:24 p.m.)
25 Taylor Jr. Cause Number 15-041732. Mr. Taylor's here with Mr. Casanova,
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DIRECT EXAMINATION AMANDA CUMMINGS
1 A Yes, I was.
2 Q Do you remember what your address was?
3 A It was 2821 Sunnyfield Court. Do you want me to give you the rest of it?
4 Q Was it in Marion County?
5 A It was Marion County, yes.
6 Q And who was living with you in that home?
7 A My daughter.
8 Q Okay. How old was she at the time?
9 A She was six.
10 Q And at the -- at that time in November, did you know a Blackburn
11 family?
12 A Yes, I did.
13 Q Who did you know in that family?
14 A I know -- I mean, all three of them. Amanda, Davey, and Weston.
15 Q Okay. Were you a part of their church?
16 A Yes, I was.
17 Q That was Resonate?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And what would you -- how would you describe your relationship with
20 the Blackburn's?
21 A Well, it started out just as neighbor's and then, when I started to go to
22 their church, we became friends after that as well. I wouldn't say that I was
23 close friends with them, but I knew them, and their family and we talk on a
24 regular basis.
25 Q And how far did they live from you?
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1 A I did see Davey pull up about that -- right before she got home. I think it
2 was around 7:15 that morning. I saw his car, you know, drive by my house
3 and pull up to his house.
4 Q And then, your daughter comes home at some point?
5 A Yes.
6 Q At about, what time did you think?
7 A Probably by -- no later than 7:20 that morning.
8 Q Did she still need to get ready for school --
9 A Yes.
10 Q -- after she came home?
11 A Yes. So -- and as soon as she came home, she was running a little bit
12 late, because I was expecting her to come home a little early. So, I had her get
13 ready as soon as she got home.
14 Q And then, do you leave your house that morning?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Do you remember about what time you left?
17 A I do remember, because I had to take the kids next door to school as
18 well, and we were running late. And so, I remember looking at the clock when I
19 was pulling out of the driveway, and it was 8:09 a.m.
20 Q Okay. Before you left that morning at 8:09, did you see what Davey was
21 doing?
22 A Yeah. When he came home, he got out of his car, and he was standing
23 in the driveway. It appeared that he was on his phone, and he stayed on his
24 phone -- he was still on his phone when we left at 8:09.
25 Q And did you know that to be part of his routine?
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2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. CASANOVA:
4 Q Ms. Cummings, you said you woke at 6:15 a.m. on the morning you
5 discovered Amanda Blackburn killed?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And you waited in your bedroom until about 6:45 a.m.?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And during that time, you didn't hear anything out of the ordinary?
10 A No, I did not. My bedroom is in the back of the house. So, it would have
11 been difficult for me to hear anything that was happening out on the street.
12 Q Nor did you see anyone out of the ordinary in the neighborhood?
13 A No, I did not.
14 MR. CASANOVA: That's all the questions I have, Judge.
15 THE COURT: Redirect?
16 MS. SNYDER: No redirect, Your Honor.
17 THE COURT: May the witness be released from her subpoena?
18 MS. SNYDER: Yes, Judge.
20 THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am. Free to go.
21 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
23 MS. SNYDER: We call Tammy Wolverton.
24 THE COURT: Good afternoon. Please watch your step.
25 THE WITNESS: Thanks.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION TAMMY WOLVERTON
1 Q Okay. Is it fair to say, an array of traumas?
2 A Uh-huh.
3 Q Okay. That morning on November 10th, were you working?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And did a person by the name of Amanda Blackburn come in?
6 A Yes.
7 Q You didn't know her at the time, correct? You learned her identity when
8 she came in?
9 A Correct.
10 Q And how did Amanda Blackburn come in that morning?
11 A She came in her ambulance as a trauma one.
12 Q What is typically done when somebody comes in as a trauma?
13 A So, they're taken into one of two traumas booth. Present are the doctors,
14 nurses, technicians. They're put in there, placed on the monitor, IV started,
15 orders placed for labs, and medical imaging.
16 Q And for Amanda Blackburn specifically, was she cleaned off when she
17 brought in?
18 A So, typically, when people are first brought into the trauma room, their
19 clothes are taken off, they're put on the monitor, IVs are started, a catheter is
20 placed in. So, when -- typically when you put in a catheter, you -- you might
21 swab off with some Betadine. But as far as, like, physically washing everything
22 else, all that's not done in the trauma room, no.
23 Q Okay. What was done specifically for Amanda Blackburn?
24 A You mean in the trauma room?
25 Q Yes.
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1 ///
2 BY MS. SNYDER:
3 A It is a sexual assault exam kit.
4 THE COURT: I'll sustain it. Okay.
5 THE WITNESS: I mean, that's just what the kits called. And in it
6 is everything that you would collect for that. But then, our role is expanded to
7 also do the, you know, regular trauma, knife, gunshots, and stuff like that. So,
8 I had my camera with me. There was a physician and a nurse in the room, so
9 they help me kind of position her. And then, I collected evidence. I swabbed
10 around her hair, around her mouth, her nails, took photographs, and then, I
11 swabbed her rectal area and her vaginal area.
12 BY MS. SNYDER:
13 Q And at the time you did the swabs, had her body been cleaned off?
14 A So, usually when somebody comes into the ICU, there's a group of
15 nurses that kind of all work together. Same as in the trauma room. Everybody
16 work together to stabilize the patient. And typically, at that time, they do wash
17 people off with the Hexedine solution.
18 Q Okay. And you had mentioned that the catheter, that is also swabbed.
19 So, would the vaginal area, would that have all already been cleaned by the
20 time you took -- attempted to take DNA swabs?
21 A Correct.
22 Q Okay.
23 A The outer vaginal area.
24 Q The outer vaginal area.
25 A The vulva, yeah.
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1 THE COURT: Okay.
2 MS. SNYDER: That's all I have, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Cross?
5 CROSS-EXAMINATION
6 BY MR. CASANOVA:
7 Q Ms. Wolverton, you talked about the examination that you did of Ms.
8 Blackburn when she arrived at your unit, correct?
9 A Uh-huh. Yes.
10 Q In that examination, you didn't observe any entries to her labia majora?
11 A No, I did not.
12 Q You didn't observe any injuries to her labia minora?
13 A No, I did not.
14 Q You didn't notice -- you also didn't notice any cuts, bruises, or
15 abrasions --
16 A Correct.
17 Q -- to that area? And in fact, her vagina had a normal appearance?
18 A Correct.
19 Q So, you said you did observe a small amount of mesenchymal tissue,
20 correct?
21 A Correct.
22 Q But not the result of injury?
23 A Correct.
24 Q You also didn't observe any injuries to her anus?
25 A Correct.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION TAMMY WOLVERTON
1 A I don't think I did. I think I just put it in a bag and gave it to the
2 detective after I saw it.
3 Q Okay.
4 A Again, I'd have to look at my notes for sure.
5 Q But the basic result of your examination is you didn't find any physical
6 signs --
7 A Uh-huh.
8 Q -- consistent with a sexual assault?
9 A Correct.
12 MS. SNYDER: Nothing on that, Your Honor.
17 THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am.
19 Counsel, approach please.
20 (Sidebar begins at 1:42 p.m.)
21 THE COURT: We're going to have much more testimony about the
22 appearance of the body and the treatment of the body, you might want to see if
23 he wants to leave the room for a little bit.
24 MR. BUSBY: We've warned him a head of time about --
25 THE COURT: You can warn him, but he's not going to know
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1 hand them to you, I will.
2 THE COURT: If they're in the order in which they're referred to --
3 MR. BUSBY: They're in numerical order, Your Honor.
4 MR. CASANOVA: And Defense has no objection to the trial
5 deposition, Judge.
6 THE COURT: And you've seen the --
7 MR. CASANOVA: 305, I'm sorry.
8 THE COURT: -- exhibits? 28 through -- well, there's 150 here.
9 You've seen all the exhibits? You have no objection to those either?
10 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, 28 through 84, I believe. And 181
11 through --
12 MS. SNYDER: Oh, sorry. It's 145.
13 THE COURT: I've got 28 through 67, 144 --
14 MR. CASANOVA: 181.
15 THE COURT: -- through 161.
16 MS. SNYDER: So, I think the rest will be physical evidence.
17 THE COURT: These are all pictures and diagrams.
18 MR. CASANOVA: Well, Judge, we didn't object to those items as
19 they were introduced and during the trial deposition. We don't have any
20 further objection to them at this point.
21 THE COURT: Are you going to play the deposition and --
22 MR. CICCHINI: Yes, Judge.
23 MR. BUSBY: And Your Honor, for the benefit of the Court and the
24 record, it was the State's intent originally to present this statement in two parts
25 due to limitations of building and staff. This includes both the crime scenes at
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1 You're starting out with 305?
2 MR. CICCHINI: Correct.
3 THE COURT: Okay.
4 Colleen Brandenberry (sic), did you say?
5 MR. CICCHINI: Brandyberry, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Brandyberry.
7 MR. BUSBY: Formally Colleen Clark, Your Honor.
8 (State's Exhibit 305 received into evidence)
9 (Whereupon, a video recording, State's Exhibit 305 was played in open
10 court at 1:47 p.m. and not transcribed.)
11 (Video paused at 1:47 p.m.)
12 MR. BUSBY: Judge, can you hear that, okay?
13 THE COURT: Oh, yeah.
14 MR. BUSBY: Okay.
15 (Video resumed at 1:47 p.m.)
16 THE COURT: Is that saying 33?
17 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor. Would you like me to pause it?
19 MR. BUSBY: I've handed the witness a physical item of evidence
20 and that's 43. So, she's referring -- or 44. She's referring -- she's looking at
21 34, but off camera, she's sponsoring 44 into evidence -- or 43 into evidence.
22 We'll hand it to you at the close of her testimony. So, you'll received the
23 physical evidence after the deposition's been played.
24 THE COURT: Yeah, but the picture is Exhibit 33.
25 MR. BUSBY: Yes, that's correct.
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2 THE COURT: Was that --
3 MR. BUSBY: There was no objection to those three exhibits, Your
4 Honor.
5 THE COURT: 45, 63, 64, no objection.
6 MR. CASANOVA: No objection.
9 MR. BUSBY: And Your Honor, again, these are items being
10 reviewed offscreen by the witness. At this point, we realized we only had about
11 15 minutes left to work with Mr. Taylor present in the room and we were trying
12 to make sure we got everything in. So, I apologize for the format, again.
13 THE COURT: I'm sorry. Some of the items just referenced aren't
14 here. This stops at 67.
15 MR. BUSBY: In which? In the --
16 THE COURT: Book.
17 MR. BUSBY: Sorry. These are physical items that will be handed
18 to the Court at the conclusion. So, they're in the evidence box right now, Your
19 Honor.
20 THE COURT: Okay.
21 MR. BUSBY: She's going to identify them, sponsor them, and they
22 will be entered into the Court's possession at the conclusion of the video.
23 THE COURT: Okay. So, it's not me.
24 MR. BUSBY: Would you like them now?
25 THE COURT: Well --
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1 MR. BUSBY: Well, right now, it didn't pop up. So, Mr. Cicchini
2 saved me. But in the video itself, would you like an explanation of exactly what
3 happened procedurally for the record?
4 THE COURT: I just wanted to augment the record a little bit,
5 because I think I was out of town. But I think I was also receiving emails and
6 calls. The sheriff -- a sheriff's employee at one time said that you needed a
7 court order in order to stay here after 4:00. And I told staff issue whatever you
8 have to.
9 And then, word came back that because it was not a regularly
10 scheduled court session, it was a deposition, that to hell with the court order,
11 they couldn't stay here after 4:00.
12 MR. BUSBY: So, we continued --
13 THE COURT: At that point, you folks made the executive decision
14 to release Mr. Taylor, let him go back with the deputies, and proceed on your
15 own?
16 MR. BUSBY: So --
17 THE COURT: Is that correctly stated for the record?
18 MR. BUSBY: That's correct, Your Honor. And that's why the
19 procedure in that video changed from walking the witness through the crime
20 scene to getting all the evidence in on the record before Mr. Taylor was required
21 to leave the room. Mr. Taylor then waived his presence as Mr. Casanova stated
22 on the video. And we went back and now, we're going to walk through the
23 evidence, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Is that the record as you recall it, Mr. Casanova?
25 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, Judge. I met with Mr. Taylor, and we
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1 MR. BUSBY: We can do it after break. That's fine.
2 THE COURT: Okay.
3 When we have jury trials, I try to take comfort breaks every 90
4 minutes for the jurors. We're way past 90 minutes. I'm going to recommend
5 we take a recess now. Last one was ten minutes, and we lost half our gallery
6 for another five minutes. So, why don't we come back at quarter to 4:00.
7 MR. CICCHINI: We can do that, Judge.
8 THE COURT: Then, we'll see you all then.
9 I'm sorry. Ray, this is a picture of what?
10 MR. CASANOVA: Kyocera cell phone found at --
11 THE COURT: Okay. Say that very slowly, so they can pick it up.
12 MR. CASANOVA: It's a picture of a Kyocera touch screen cell
13 phone found at 5636 Brendan Way.
15 We’ll be in recess.
18 THE COURT: And we are back on the record. State of Indiana v.
19 Larry Taylor. Cause Number 19 -- I'm sorry, Cause Number 15-041732. Both
20 teams of counsel are here. And we are publishing Exhibit 44.
21 (State's Exhibit's 41-43, 44, 68-82, 162-171, 174-180, and 172 & 173
22 admitted into evidence)
23 MR. CICCHINI: Correct, Judge.
24 Court's ready?
25 THE COURT: Ready.
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1 that weren't that way when I had left the previous night.
2 Q What about your dog? Was anything different about him when you left?
3 A Yeah. He was -- as I said he was out of his crate when I left the night
4 before and he was in his crate when I returned.
5 Q And was the door closed?
6 A It was.
7 Q Okay. I'm now going to show you State's 20. Is this the three-season
8 room you were describing?
9 A It is.
10 Q And is there anything unusual or distinctive about anything we seen in
11 State's 20?
12 A The screen there that's kind of in the middle is ripped considerably more
13 than it was when I had left the night before.
14 Q So there was a little bit of damage, but a lot more now?
15 A Yeah.
16 Q State's 21. Is that a closeup of that screen damage?
17 A It is.
18 Q State's 22. Where are we in your house?
19 A That's in my kitchen.
20 Q And what do we see on the floor there?
21 A That is a broken bottle of beer and an open bottle of wine.
22 Q Was it like that when you left the house?
23 A No. Both had been in the refrigerator when I left.
24 Q States 23. Where are we in this photo?
25 A That's my bedroom.
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1 Q And was it in this condition at the time you left?
2 A No.
3 Q Were you able to take an inventory of your bedroom to see if anything
4 was missing?
5 A I definitely noticed immediately that the TV that was on top of that
6 dresser was missing.
7 Q Okay.
8 A And that's probably the only thing that I really noticed at the time that I
9 had been gone.
10 Q Did you later learn that anything else from your bedroom was missing?
11 A I later learned that a sweater was gone as well as some sheets.
12 Q Can you describe that sweater?
13 A Yeah. It was a pink cardigan, three-quarter length sleeves.
14 Q And --
15 A It's from Talbots.
16 Q Okay. And did you notice it was missing because you -- kind of a
17 favorite sweater.
18 A It was my favorite sweater. I didn't notice it until the detectives showed
19 me a picture of it. But I was pretty confident it was mine because my tag was
20 half off and half on. And that's the way it was in the photo.
21 Q And in the photo that the police showed you, you did recognize it as
22 yours?
23 A I did. And I noticed that I didn't have it anymore after that.
24 Q Anything else from the bedroom area that you noticed either that day or
25 later that was missing?
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1 A Not that I recall.
2 Q States 24. Where are we?
3 A That's the guestroom upstairs on the second floor.
4 Q And we see a number of items strewn about. Was it like that when you
5 left?
6 A No, it was not.
7 Q Did you notice anything either immediately or later that was missing
8 from that room?
9 A There was definitely a television that was in there that was gone as well.
11 A That's where the television should have been in that guest room.
12 Q Across from the day bed?
13 A Correct.
14 Q State's Exhibit 26. What room are we in here?
15 A That's the loft that's just upstairs from the living room.
16 Q And is anything missing from this room?
17 A Yes. There's a TV missing from there as well.
18 Q Finally, State's 27. Where are we here?
19 A That's back in my bedroom.
20 Q And we see a number of items strewn about on the ground. Was that
21 like that at the time you left?
22 A No. Most of those items were in that chest that had been taken out after
23 I left home that night.
24 Q The number of items taken were their approximate value all together
25 have exceeded $750?
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1 A Yes, just the televisions alone, plus there was a MacBook that was
2 missing as well.
3 Q Okay. Any other items that you recall? Jewelry or anything like that?
4 A No. I initially thought that there was a pearl necklace that was missing.
5 But I later found it.
6 Q Okay. We talked a few minutes ago about surveillance video in your
7 home. Did you have an opportunity to review that after the break in had
8 occurred?
9 A I did. And I was able to see someone come in and knock the camera
10 over. And then I think it was unplugged because it went black after that.
11 Q And the image that you saw, there was nobody in that image. The --
12 A There was --
13 Q -- camera (inaudible) was down.
14 A I'm sorry. There was a person, but it was indistinguishable. You could
15 just see the hand.
16 Q And then the camera goes black and there's nothing else.
17 A Yeah.
18 Q And it did not record any audio.
19 A No.
20 Q All right. I'm going to ask you about a couple of folks. Let me know if
21 you know any of these individuals. Do you know anyone by the name of Jalen
22 Watson?
23 A No.
24 Q Diano Gordon?
25 A No.
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1 Q Larry Taylor?
2 A No.
3 Q Would anybody have had permission to go into your house and take any
4 of the property that we discussed that was missing?
5 A No.
6 Q More specifically, would anybody have your permission to go in through
7 the screen to gain access to your home and take any of the items that we
8 discussed?
9 A No.
10 Q And finally, one other question, ma'am. I want to take you back to the
11 kitchen. Was there anything from the refrigerator, other than the wine and the
12 beer bottle that we saw on the floor, that you noticed was missing?
13 A Yes, there was. After we talked about those two items being on the floor,
14 the detectives asked if they could look in the refrigerator. When they opened
15 the refrigerator, I said my oranges are missing. There was a bag with three
16 oranges. And there was -- you know, the bag that you get at the grocery store
17 all tied up in a knot. It had been in the crisper drawer and it was no longer
18 there.
19 Q Kind of like the mesh bag?
20 A Yeah, just the cheap plastic bag that you can't ever get apart in the
21 grocery store. Yeah.
22 Q Anything else you notice missing?
23 A No.
24 MR. CICCHINI: Thank you, Judge. I have no other questions.
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1 ///
2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 MR. CASANOVA: Yes.
4 BY MR. CASANOVA:
5 Q Ms. Becker, you gave a statement to detectives about this case, correct?
6 A I did.
7 Q You gave a statement to a Detective Kepler (phonetic).
8 A I did.
9 Q And you gave that statement on November of -- November 17th of 2015.
10 A I believe that's correct. Yes.
11 Q And in that statement, you were shown some photos of the pink sweater.
12 A Okay.
13 Q Do you -- is that correct?
14 A I don't remember the date that I was shown those photos. They were
15 emailed to me later. And he came to my office and we had that conversation.
16 Q But in that statement that you gave on the 17th, you identified the
17 sweater in those photos as being yours.
18 A I can't say it was November 17th. I can say I identified the sweater as
19 being mine.
20 Q Okay. Let me show you a copy of your statement from November 17th of
21 2015. If you just want to look at -- read down through the middle of the page,
22 read that over to yourself.
23 A Okay.
24 Q Have you had a chance to read that?
25 A Uh-huh.
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1 Q And so when you gave that statement on November 17th of 2015, you did
2 identify that sweater as being yours?
3 A I did.
4 Q And at that time during that statement on November 17th of 2015, the
5 Detective Kepler mentioned a name to you, a name Jalen Watson, correct?
6 A I don't know. I did not read that in what you showed me.
7 Q Sure. Let me show you again. And this is page 4 over to 5. Just look at
8 the bottom of page 4. And then over to about a quarter way down on page 5.
9 A Okay.
10 Q So on the 17th, Detective Kepler did mention the name Jalen Watson to
11 you?
12 A He did.
13 Q And he also showed you some photos, correct?
14 A I'm sorry, I didn't read that part of the statement. I apologize. I saw it
15 switch to the discussion about to the remote control.
16 Q I'm sorry, but he did mention the name of Jalen Watson?
17 A He did.
18 Q And that's the only name he mentioned to you on that occasion?
19 A According to what I just read there. Yes.
20 Q Okay. So on the 17th, the only name that was mentioned to you with
21 regard to this investigation was Jalen Watson?
22 A Based on what I just read.
23 Q Okay.
24 A Yes.
25 MR. CASANOVA: Nothing further, Judge.
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2 MR. CICCHINI: A couple questions, Judge.
3 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
4 BY MR. CICCHINI:
5 Q You just mentioned the remote control, ma'am, and I think I forgot to ask
6 you. Were you missing any of your television remote controls when you took
7 stock of your home?
8 A Yes, I'm sorry. I'm not sure what room it was from, but I was missing
9 one of the AT&T universe remote controls.
10 Q Okay. In your home in November of 2015, was that located here in
11 Marion County?
12 A Yes, it was.
13 MR. CICCHINI: No other questions, Judge.
14 THE COURT: Cross on that?
15 MR. CASANOVA: I have no cross on that, Judge.
17 MR. CICCHINI: Yes, Your Honor.
18 MR. CASANOVA: Yes.
19 THE COURT: Thank you, ma'am. You're free to go. Watch your
20 step.
22 MR. CICCHINI: Jacola Searsbrook, Judge.
23 THE COURT: Good morning.
24 MS. SEARSBROOK: Good morning.
25 THE COURT: Please watch your step. Before you sit down, would
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REDIRECT EXAMINATION ALISON BECKER
1 you please raise your hand.
2 JACOLA SEARSBROOK, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Jacola Searsbrook.
6 S-E-A-R-S-B-R-O-O-K.
7 THE COURT: I'm going to ask you to spell that first name for me.
8 THE WITNESS: J-A-C-O-L-A.
10 Mr. Cicchini.
13 BY MR. CICCHINI:
14 Q Good morning, Ms. Searsbrook.
15 A Good morning.
16 Q I'm just going to ask you a few questions. Do you live here in the city?
17 A I do.
18 Q You don't have to share exactly where.
19 A I'm sorry?
20 Q You do live in the city?
21 A Absolutely.
22 Q And what do you do for a living?
23 A I work for Xfinity.
24 Q And how long have you worked for Xfinity?
25 A Over 13 years.
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1 Q I want to take you back, ma'am, to November 2015. Where were you
2 living at that time?
3 A I was living in the Cottages Apartments on San Clemente Drive.
4 Q Do you recall the address?
5 A 5756 San Clemente Drive.
6 Q I'm going to show you what's been marked for identification as State's
7 Exhibit 125. Do you recognize that?
8 A Absolutely.
9 Q And is that a map of the location at which you were living in November
10 2015?
11 A Yes, it is.
12 Q Does it provide a little bit of orientation as to where that is in the city?
13 A Yes.
14 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, I move to admit State's 125.
16 THE COURT: Show 125 admitted without objection.
18 MR. CICCHINI: And if I may publish, Judge.
20 BY MR. CICCHINI:
21 Q Ms. Searsbrook, we're looking at State's 125. Is that the 5756 San
22 Clemente Drive or Lane, excuse me. Is that where you were living at the time?
23 A It is.
24 Q And you said that is in what apartment complex?
25 A It was then called The Cottages.
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1 Q All right. And what side of town is that located on?
2 A That is on the east side.
3 Q Is that located here in Marion County?
4 A Yes.
5 Q I'm going to show you what's been marked for identification as 127
6 through 132.
7 A Um-hum.
8 Q Take a minute and look at those, please. Do you recognize State's 127
9 through 132?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Do those truly and accurately depict the exterior and interior of your
12 apartment on San Clemente Lane?
13 A Yes.
14 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, I move to admit State's 127 -- or
15 excuse me 127 through 132. Yes.
21 BY MR. CICCHINI:
22 Q Ms. Searsbrook, we've got 127 on the monitor here. Which apartment is
23 yours?
24 A Mine is 5756, the one with the beautiful flowers in the front.
25 Q Smack dab in the middle?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q All right. Can you explain for the Judge, please? We walk in that front
3 door. Can you orient us to the apartment?
4 A Yes. When you walk into the front door, to the right is a small -- well, I
5 shouldn't say small, but it's a walk-in closet. To the left is the kitchen. And
6 that's where you see the window right there. That's the window that sits into
7 the kitchen. And it has a table and you can walk through and see straight to
8 the back from the kitchen or even in the hallway you can see straight to the
9 back.
10 Q Are there more than one level?
11 A It is three levels. It's a basement where my room is located and a
12 restroom. And then in the middle level where you enter in, it's just the closet,
13 the kitchen, the walkway and the seating area. And then on the top level is
14 three other bedrooms and two other bathrooms.
15 Q Was anybody else living with you at the time?
16 A Yes, it was. My daughters.
17 Q Okay. How many?
18 A Three.
19 Q Three daughters.
20 A Three daughters.
21 Q Now, I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 128. Where are we looking at
22 here?
23 A We're looking at the back patio that's on the second floor. Because it's a
24 tri level. I have two patios, one on the bottom. And then that one is on the
25 second floor.
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1 Q I'm going to show you State's 129. Is this standing on your patio?
2 A That is standing on my patio.
3 Q Can you tell us what we see is in terms of that screen door on the side.
4 A Never would stay up. But that's my screen door over to the side. A
5 tomato bin the middle. And that goes into that seating area that I was telling
6 you about.
7 Q On the second floor?
8 A On the second floor.
9 Q I want to ask you a couple of questions about that sliding door. Did it
10 have a lock on it?
11 A It did.
12 Q Did that lock work all the time?
13 A I would think it did.
14 Q Would you keep it locked all the time?
15 A Probably not.
16 Q Okay. In addition, sometimes on sliding doors, people will put a piece of
17 wood or some object to prevent the door from sliding. Do you recall if you had
18 one of those at the time?
19 A I do have one.
20 Q Did you then?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Okay. And do you recall if it was there on --
23 A It was not.
24 Q It was not there on November 10th, 2015?
25 A No.
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1 Q In addition to the photos we're looking at here, did you have a
2 surveillance system inside your home?
3 A I did.
4 Q And was that a camera?
5 A Yes, it was an alarm system with motion detectors and cameras.
6 Q That alarm system with -- that included the camera, would that camera
7 take video or just kind of like still snapshots?
8 A It will take still snapshots. It takes video, but I did -- it doesn't record
9 them. So if I was to go and look at it live, I could see the actual moving video.
10 But I had it set to take a snapshot every time a door opened or one of the
11 sensors was triggered.
12 Q And in that way, was it motion activated?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Then State's Exhibit 130 -- well, I'm going to go back. When you went to
15 bed on November 9th, 2015 and woke up November 10th, 2015, was anything
16 different about the condition of your home?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Can you tell the Court about that?
19 A So when I went to -- when I went to bed, you know, I didn't set the
20 alarm, but everything was, you know, okay. When I wake up throughout the
21 night, I have a tendency to be late for work. So like I sleep with my phone on
22 my bed or underneath my pillow. So and every time I wake up I always -- I
23 have a check -- to check it to make sure that it's charged and that it is going to
24 wake me up when my alarm goes off. Because I only had a couple of points
25 left.
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1 So when I went to the bathroom one time, I looked at the phone. I had
2 plenty of time to go back to sleep. Wake up closer to the time for me to get up,
3 my phone is gone. And so when my phone is gone, I'm like, I couldn't, you
4 know, remembering I could have sworn I just checked my phone last time I
5 went to the restroom. So in a frantic I go upstairs, because I want to make -- I
6 want to lay back down, but I want to make sure that I can wake back up.
7 Looking for my phone and when I come to the middle area, I don't see it and
8 then I feel a draft because it's cold. I feel a big draft like whoo, and since my
9 heat had stopped working before, the first thing I did was check the
10 thermostat. When I checked the thermostat, I mean, a goosh and then I looked
11 and my blinds is open.
12 Q Is that how they were when you went to bed?
13 A Well, they were moving.
14 Q Okay.
15 A So I can tell the door was open. And no my door wasn't open when I
16 went to bed. So that's the first indication that something was wrong. I
17 immediately ran to the kitchen because that's where I keep my purse. Of
18 course that you usually (inaudible) -- but with my blinds, you can see it from
19 the window. So anybody that stays probably over there knows where all my
20 stuff is at.
21 Q A couple questions. Just let me jump in real quick, ma'am. You
22 mentioned that you woke up, felt for your phone and it was there. Do you
23 recall approximately what time that was?
24 A I believe that probably would have been around I want to say 5-ish, 4-
25 ish. I'm not for sure.
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1 Q Early morning hours.
2 A Early morning hours.
3 Q And that second time you woke up and you couldn't find your phone.
4 A Oh, no. The first time I woke up and I had the phone.
5 Q Yes, ma'am.
6 A That was about 2.
7 Q 2:00 in the morning.
8 A Yeah, that was 2.
9 Q And then you said so it was 4 or 5:00 in the morning when you realized
10 you did not have your phone?
11 A I did not have my phone.
12 Q All right. You're missing your phone. The sliding door is open. Do you
13 notice anything else at that time as you go to the kitchen?
14 A I go to the kitchen. My purse is gone. Soon as my purse -- I realize my
15 purse was gone I open the blinds and my car was gone.
16 Q All right. A couple more questions. State's Exhibit 130. Is there
17 anything in this photo that is different or disturbed as in here than it was when
18 you went to bed?
19 A Yes, all those plants were outside.
20 Q And you did not bring them inside?
21 A No.
22 Q State's Exhibit 131. What are we seeing here?
23 A What we're seeing here is my dining room table.
24 Q And then State's 132. Where are we in your home in this photo?
25 A That is of the bedroom. Where I slept in the basement.
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1 Q And where would your phone would have been in State's 132?
2 A In the bed.
3 Q On the left-hand side there?
4 A Yes.
5 Q I'm going to take you back to the surveillance camera. I'm going to show
6 you State's Exhibits 133 through 137. Take a look at those, please.
7 A Um-hum.
9 A Yes, that's the hallway area.
10 Q And are those true and accurate still photos taken by your surveillance
11 system the night of the break in?
12 A They are.
13 Q And when did you receive those, and in what way did you receive them?
14 A They're saved on my app on my phone. So immediately --
15 Q Did you get an email alert or anything like that?
16 A Do I get email alerts? No. Because the alarm wasn't actually set.
17 MR. CICCHINI: Okay. Your Honor, I move to admit State's 133
18 through 137.
22 MR. CICCHINI: May I publish?
24 BY MR. CICCHINI:
25 Q Ms. Searsbrook, we've got State's Exhibit 133 on the monitor. Where are
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1 we in your home?
2 A So right here we are in the living area or the sitting area in the mid-level,
3 which is the main floor that you enter in on.
4 Q And the individual we see in the middle in the lighter colored hoodie.
5 What is just in front of that person?
6 A The stairs or the TV?
7 Q Asking about the stairs.
8 A The stairs.
9 Q To go down and to go up?
10 A To go down and go up.
11 Q States 134. That's another image captured that night?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And all the images 133 through 137, are all of those taken from the same
14 camera?
15 A Um-hum.
16 Q That's a yes?
17 A Yes.
18 Q State's 135. Are we --
19 A Yes.
20 Q -- still in the same area?
21 A Um-hum.
22 Q State's 136.
23 A Yes.
24 Q And finally State's 137, we're in the same spot.
25 A Yes.
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1 Q I want to ask you about the items that were taken from your home. So
2 far, you've mentioned your purse and your phone. What kind of phone did you
3 have at the time?
4 A iPhone.
5 Q And from your purse, what was missing from there?
6 A And they took the entire -- well, they took my keys. No, they didn't take
7 my purse. They took my keys. My -- all of my wallet. Everything was gone.
8 Q The amount of items stolen from your home, would that have exceeded
9 $750?
10 A The amount of items. Yes. No, it wouldn't have -- not from my home.
11 No, not including my car.
12 Q All right. And so let's talk about that. What kind of car did you have at
13 the time?
14 A I had a Chrysler Sebring.
15 Q Do you recall what color it was?
16 A Silver.
17 Q And how many doors?
18 A Four.
19 Q Where was that car parked in relation to your home?
20 A It was parked directly in front of that window that we saw earlier.
21 Q And would you keep your registration in the glove box?
22 A Yes.
23 Q That kind of thing? Did -- I'm going to ask you about a couple of
24 individuals names. Let me know if you recognize them. Do you know anyone
25 named Jalen Watson?
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1 A No.
2 Q Diano Gordon?
3 A No.
4 Q Larry Taylor?
5 A No.
6 Q Would any of those people or anyone else for that matter have had your
7 permission to go into your home and take those items?
8 A No.
9 Q So nobody had permission to take your phone, anything from your
10 purse, keys, or your car?
11 A No.
12 Q Did you -- were there any other electronics missing from your home?
13 A I believe some Beats headphones. I think a laptop. I don't think it was
14 working. But that was basically all I can really remember.
15 MR. CICCHINI: No other questions, Judge. Thank you.
17 MS. MARTIN: Thank you.
18 CROSS-EXAMINATION
19 BY MS. MARTIN:
20 Q Ma'am, once you saw that your patio door was open and some things
21 were missing, you went and checked on your daughters, right?
22 A Um-hum.
23 Q And they've been asleep.
24 A Yes.
25 Q And they were okay.
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1 A Um-hum.
2 Q Is that a yes?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Okay.
5 A I'm sorry.
6 Q No, you're good. And nothing seemed to be missing from their room; is
7 that right?
9 Q And so you call the police.
10 A I did.
11 Q And I want to talk a little bit more about your surveillance system, your
12 security system. You looked at the video that day; is that right?
14 Q And you later gave police that video through email?
15 A Absolutely. Yes.
16 Q And I think you said your surveillance system you had set up that every
17 time the door would open or shut it would take a picture.
18 A Yes.
19 Q But it wasn't continually running or recording that you could go back
20 and see a full stream.
22 Q Is that right? And that camera, it timestamps the photos?
23 A It does.
24 Q Okay. And so before you turned over the surveillance photos to police,
25 you looked at some of the still shots, right?
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1 A Um-hum. I did.
2 Q Okay. And in some of them you saw three people.
3 A Yes.
4 Q And in some of the shots you specifically remember seeing four?
5 A I saw a shadow. I thought I saw a shadow in one of the -- in the door.
6 Q Okay. And you said that you specifically remember seeing that fourth
7 person kind of standing outside your doorway?
8 A When I looked at the photos it did look like it could be possibly a person
9 or something was outside of the -- out of these same photos.
10 Q Okay. And you recall giving a statement about what you saw that day --
11 A Yes.
12 Q -- to other attorneys?
13 A Um-hum.
14 Q And in that statement, you were asked -- I'm on page 18, lines 23 to
15 24 -- specifically, how many people -- specifically how many individuals, and
16 you answered -- come up here. Some of the pictures I seen three on one
17 picture. I specifically remember seeing four.
18 A Um-hum.
19 Q Did I read that correctly?
20 A You did.
21 Q Okay. And you didn't recognize any of those individuals that you saw in
22 the stills. You didn't recognize --
23 A No.
24 Q -- any of them?
25 MS. MARTIN: I don't have any other questions.
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1 THE COURT: Mr. Cicchini?
2 MR. CICCHINI: Nothing else, Judge. Thank you.
3 THE COURT: Can I see the pictures 31, 33 through 137, please.
4 MR. CICCHINI: They're over here, Judge. The surveillance photos,
5 Your Honor?
6 THE COURT: They're over where?
7 MR. CICCHINI: They're over here.
8 THE COURT: Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to -- are these the
9 pictures in which you saw a shadow and a fourth person?
10 THE WITNESS: Yeah. They're the same pictures.
11 THE COURT: Show me those -- show me that picture.
12 THE WITNESS: I'm getting ready to try. Because of course when I
13 look back I didn't -- I think this is the one.
14 THE COURT: What's the picture number?
15 THE WITNESS: Oh, the number.
16 THE COURT: Give me the number.
17 THE WITNESS: Oh, 136.
18 THE COURT: 136?
20 THE COURT: Okay. So 136 is the picture where you think you
21 saw four people --
23 THE COURT: -- or you saw three and the shadow?
25 THE COURT: Okay. Questions on my questions.
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1 MR. CICCHINI: No, Your Honor.
2 THE COURT: Questions on my questions?
3 MS. MARTIN: No, Your Honor.
6 MS. MARTIN: Yes, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am. You're free to go.
9 MR. BUSBY: The State calls Angela Knox, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: Good morning.
11 MS. KNOX: Good morning.
12 THE COURT: Come around there and watch your step, ma'am.
13 Before you sit down, would you raise your right hand.
14 ANGELA KNOX, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
17 THE WITNESS: Angela Knox, K-N-O-X.
19 Mr. Busby.
20 MR. BUSBY: Thank you, Your Honor.
22 BY MR. BUSBY:
23 Q Ma'am, I'd like to direct your attention to November of 2015, specifically
24 the morning of November 10th, 2015. Where were you living at that time?
25 A 2933 Sunnyfield Court.
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1 Q And is that in Indianapolis, Indiana?
2 A It is.
3 Q Marion County?
4 A Yes.
5 MR. BUSBY: We would ask the Court to put the exhibit on the
6 State's computer, State's Exhibit 4, please publish that to the witness. Thank
7 you.
8 BY MR. BUSBY:
9 Q Please direct your attention to the screen in front of you.
10 A Yes.
11 Q You just stated that you lived on Sunnyfield Court. And on the map in
12 front of you, can you indicate for the -- or indicate for the Judge where that is
13 in terms of this map?
14 A Where my house was?
15 Q Where your house was? That's right.
16 A Okay. I think it's -- should I touch it? Will it touch over there?
17 THE COURT: It won't do it.
18 THE WITNESS: Is this a touch screen?
19 MR. BUSBY: You just tell the Judge roughly.
20 THE WITNESS: So I lived --
21 THE COURT: See the red dot there?
22 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I see the red dot. That's in the cul de sac. I
23 lived further north of that. And on the west side.
24 MR. BUSBY: So just for the benefit of the Court, Your Honor. I'm
25 familiar with your residence.
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1 ///
2 BY MR. BUSBY:
3 Q You live in this area; is that correct?
4 A Correct.
5 Q So in this sort of bend, where Sunnyfield Court goes from a north south
6 street, east to west; is that correct?
7 A Correct.
8 Q And sort of across from that big open area across the street; is that
9 right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q So the morning of November 10th, 2015, you probably remember that
12 morning --
13 A I do.
14 Q -- because of events that happened afterwards; is that right?
15 A I do.
16 Q How did your morning start that morning?
17 A It was a good morning. I would rise about 6 a.m. to prepare to get ready
18 for work. Let the dogs out. Open up the garage to put my computer bag in the
19 trunk of the car. And I heard a voice. A very strong voice across the street.
20 Q Okay. So as you indicated, you live sort of in that bend there on
21 Sunnyfield Court.
22 A Correct.
23 Q And you heard a voice. What did you do after you heard that voice?
24 A I looked up.
25 Q And did you see the person making that voice?
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1 A I did.
2 Q And where were they when you looked up?
3 A In that grassy area, but on the sidewalk.
4 Q So again, this grassy area here?
5 A Correct.
6 Q It's sort of wedge -- that pie-shaped wedge near the letter S? Is that
7 right?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Okay. But they're on the sidewalk?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Was the sun up yet?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Could you see what they were wearing?
14 A All black.
15 Q Could you make any facial characteristics or see their face specifically?
16 A I could not.
17 Q Did you hear the specific words they were saying?
18 A I could not.
19 Q Were you able to draw any conclusions about their mood or their
20 demeanor based on what you could hear?
21 A The voice was strong enough to grasp my attention. No one's usually up
22 making that type of sound or that type of speaking in that manner in that
23 morning -- in the mornings like that.
24 Q So it's fair to say you didn't know the person that was speaking what
25 they normally speak like; is that correct?
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1 A Correct.
2 Q How did you interpret the way they were speaking?
3 A I interpreted that the person was irritated, agitated, on the telephone.
4 They sounded to me like they were hollering.
5 Q And you stated you were putting things in the back of your car. What
6 did you do after you saw the person?
7 A I watched him. I watched him until he went outside of the cul de sac
8 down the street.
9 Q So he left Sunnyfield Court; is that correct?
10 A Correct.
11 Q Is that the last time you saw him that morning?
12 A No.
13 Q So after you saw him walk away, what did you do?
14 A I put the rest of my stuff in the trunk of the car and I backed out of my
15 garage, shut the garage door and proceeded to go up north on Sunnyfield Court
16 and turn right on Sun Meadow, is that Sun Meadow Way.
17 Q Okay. Did you see them again?
18 A I did.
19 Q Where were they at that time?
20 A Up on the right-hand side on the sidewalk walking between my cul de
21 sac and the next cul de sac.
22 Q Were they heading towards Kessler or away from Kessler?
23 A Away from Kessler heading towards the next cul de sac.
24 Q All right. So when you say the next cul de sac, they were heading down
25 Sun Meadow Way away from the entrance to Sunnyfield Court?
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1 A Correct?
2 Q And did you follow them or talk to them or anything?
3 A No, I went ahead and turned in that direction on Sun Meadow Way. And
4 I was about to pull over and ask him if he needed some help, because he was
5 obviously not in -- from my neighborhood. We pretty much know everyone
6 that's down in the cul de sac.
7 Q So it was a person you didn't recognize.
8 A Correct.
9 Q Were you able to tell what race they were as far as --
10 A African American.
11 Q So you said you were going to speak with them or going to offer them a
12 ride, but you did not.
13 A I did not.
14 Q What did you -- why did you not offer them a ride?
15 A I saw another garage door open and thought there's a man. We'll let that
16 man handle it. And I went ahead to work.
17 Q And then subsequent to that, when you received, I guess an email
18 looking for possible witnesses; is that correct?
19 A Correct.
20 Q Is that how you became involved in this case and you spoke to the
21 police?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Is there anything else from that morning that you remember specifically
24 about that man that I failed to ask you?
25 A Sure.
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1 Q What else did you notice about that man?
2 A I noticed the clothes that he had on. I noticed that he seemed -- well, I
3 guess he did. He seemed agitated. He seemed irritated. He seemed out of
4 place.
5 MR. BUSBY: Okay. I'll pass the witness for cross examination,
6 Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Cross?
8 MS. MARTIN: Thank you.
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10 BY MS. MARTIN:
11 Q Ma'am, when you first saw the individual, you estimated he was about
12 20 to 30 feet away from you?
13 A Yes. I would imagine, yes.
14 Q And talking about you said he was wearing all black. You estimated his
15 weight to be about 160 to 190 pounds.
16 A I would say he was about 150 to anywhere to about 190 pounds. Yeah.
17 Q Okay. And you thought he had a man's physique, not a boy's.
18 A Correct. Well, I could tell he probably played sports. By the way he was
19 dressed, I wouldn't say that he was a man. I would say he was more youthful
20 in the way he was dressed.
21 Q Okay. You previously gave a statement to some attorneys in this case.
22 A Yes.
23 Q And they asked you about kind of what he looked like and what he was
24 wearing, that kind of stuff, right?
25 A Yes.
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1 Q And to those attorneys you said that he had a man's physique not a
2 boy's, right?
3 A Well, his clothes were sagging on him. So according to the way he was
4 dressed, that's why I say he was more of a boy. I could tell he was athletic in
5 his built, but not a full grown 30-year-old man.
6 Q Down here at the bottom.
7 A Um-hum.
8 Q Your answer is, "But he had a man's physique and not a boy's." Is that
9 right?
10 A I'm saying he's -- yes, that's what it states there.
11 Q Okay.
12 A Yes.
13 Q And you estimated him to be about 22 to 25 years old?
14 A Correct.
15 Q You mentioned on direct he was talking loud, but you couldn't
16 understand anything he said; is that right?
18 Q You didn't know what he was talking about?
19 A Correct.
20 Q And you never spoke to him.
21 A I did not.
22 Q You spoke with police on more than one occasion, right?
23 A Correct.
24 Q And at some point, they showed you what we call photo arrays --six
25 photos on a piece of paper, right?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And you weren't ever able to identify anybody in those photo arrays; is
3 that correct?
5 MS. MARTIN: I don't have any other questions.
7 MR. BUSBY: No further questions for the witness, Your Honor.
9 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor.
10 MS. MARTIN: Yes, Your Honor.
11 THE COURT: Thank you. You may step down. Do you have a 20-
12 minute witness or is it lunch time?
13 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, I don't think that we have a witness
14 queued up in the 20 minutes, Your Honor.
15 THE COURT: Okay. In the discussion we had over the weekend, a
16 discussion I made, the email back and forth, I suggest that we plan on going till
17 about 6:00 each night. It is lunchtime. I think we have the truck outside. Hot
18 Diggity Dogs, or something like that, if you're into it. If not, it's the less healthy
19 stuff in the snack bar. When should we start up so that we can complete your
20 compliment witnesses at or near 6:00?
21 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, we've managed to work out stipulations
22 and trial depositions for several of the witnesses, so that will help --
23 THE COURT: Not my question.
24 MR. BUSBY: -- a lot. Your question being, can we wrap up by 6. I
25 think we can wrap up by 6. And just to let the Court know the timing, I think
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1 we're going to finish Wednesday whether we go to 5 or to 6 just the way the
2 witnesses are going to work out with the transport order and two of our
3 witnesses availability. So I think we've got good wiggle, room but we're going to
4 push for 6 every day, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: Very good. So when should we come back after
6 lunch?
7 MR. BUSBY: How long does the Court need?
8 THE COURT: I just want to keep the case moving.
9 MR. BUSBY: We'll be ready at 1, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: Does that give the gallery enough time,
11 understanding that you might just have water for lunch. She giggles with no
12 pain.
13 MR. BUSBY: We can ask for an hour if the gallery needs an hour,
14 Your Honor.
15 THE COURT: All right. I'm afraid to suggest where they might go
16 to eat.
17 MR. BUSBY: I think the court staff would prefer an hour. So an
18 hour would be fine, Your Honor.
19 THE COURT: The Court's staff would like an hour. We'll be back
20 at 1:15.
25 Taylor Jr. Cause Number 15-041732. Mr. Taylor's here with Mr. Casanova,
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1 Ms. Martin. State with Ms. Snyder, Mr. Cicchini, Mr. Busby.
2 Are we ready to keep going, everybody?
3 MR. BUSBY: We are, Your Honor.
4 THE COURT: Call your next.
5 MS. SNYDER: The State would call Amanda Cummings.
6 THE COURT: Mr. Busby, you were saying that you might have
7 some stipulations that will cut down the number of witnesses?
8 MR. BUSBY: We have both stipulations and trial depositions that
9 should help streamline things quite a bit, Judge.
10 THE COURT: Good afternoon. Before you sit down, would you
11 raise your right hand.
12 AMANDA MARIE CUMMINGS, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
13 THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.
14 Would you please state your full name and spell your last name?
15 THE WITNESS: Amanda Marie Cummings, C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S.
17 Ms. Snyder.
19 BY MS. SNYDER:
20 Q Ms. Cummings, what do you do for a living?
21 A I'm a social worker. I own a mental counseling organization.
22 Q Okay. Do you currently live in Indianapolis?
23 A I live in Zionsville.
24 Q You live in Zionsville? Okay. Back in November 2015, were you living in
25 Indianapolis at that time?
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1 A Yes, I was.
2 Q Do you remember what your address was?
3 A It was 2821 Sunnyfield Court. Do you want me to give you the rest of it?
4 Q Was it in Marion County?
5 A It was Marion County, yes.
6 Q And who was living with you in that home?
7 A My daughter.
8 Q Okay. How old was she at the time?
9 A She was six.
10 Q And at the -- at that time in November, did you know a Blackburn
11 family?
12 A Yes, I did.
13 Q Who did you know in that family?
14 A I know -- I mean, all three of them. Amanda, Davey, and Weston.
15 Q Okay. Were you a part of their church?
16 A Yes, I was.
17 Q That was Resonate?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And what would you -- how would you describe your relationship with
20 the Blackburn's?
21 A Well, it started out just as neighbor's and then, when I started to go to
22 their church, we became friends after that as well. I wouldn't say that I was
23 close friends with them, but I knew them, and their family and we talk on a
24 regular basis.
25 Q And how far did they live from you?
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1 A They were -- lived on the same street. Pretty much diagonal from me
2 about three houses down.
3 Q Okay. Could you see their house from your house?
4 A Yes, I could.
5 Q Okay. I want to take you to the morning of November 10th, 2015. Did
6 something happen the night before of significance?
7 A I spoke to Davey the night before everything happened.
8 Q Okay. And then, I guess, where was your daughter overnight?
9 A Oh, she stayed the night at the neighbor just next door to me, 2815.
10 Q So, and was that right next door to you?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Okay. And so, she had stayed the night there the night before?
13 A Yes.
14 Q What time did you wake up on November 10th?
15 A I woke up at about 6:15 that morning, and I didn't get out of bed until
16 about 6:45. My bedroom was in the back of the house. So, I came to the front
17 of the house at about 6:45, because I was waiting for her to come home shortly
18 after that.
19 Q So, you go out to wait for your daughter? Are you looking out the
20 window at all?
21 A A little bit. As it got closer to 7:00, she was supposed to come home right
22 after 7:00. So, I started to look for her at that time. She didn't end up coming
23 home until closer to 7:15 that morning or 7:20, I think.
24 Q Okay. Before she came home or as she's coming home, do you notice
25 anybody outside?
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1 A I did see Davey pull up about that -- right before she got home. I think it
2 was around 7:15 that morning. I saw his car, you know, drive by my house
3 and pull up to his house.
4 Q And then, your daughter comes home at some point?
5 A Yes.
6 Q At about, what time did you think?
7 A Probably by -- no later than 7:20 that morning.
8 Q Did she still need to get ready for school --
9 A Yes.
10 Q -- after she came home?
11 A Yes. So -- and as soon as she came home, she was running a little bit
12 late, because I was expecting her to come home a little early. So, I had her get
13 ready as soon as she got home.
14 Q And then, do you leave your house that morning?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Do you remember about what time you left?
17 A I do remember, because I had to take the kids next door to school as
18 well, and we were running late. And so, I remember looking at the clock when I
19 was pulling out of the driveway, and it was 8:09 a.m.
20 Q Okay. Before you left that morning at 8:09, did you see what Davey was
21 doing?
22 A Yeah. When he came home, he got out of his car, and he was standing
23 in the driveway. It appeared that he was on his phone, and he stayed on his
24 phone -- he was still on his phone when we left at 8:09.
25 Q And did you know that to be part of his routine?
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1 A Yes, he had a call with a -- I think it was a leadership team at our church
2 every Tuesday. I think that was a Tuesday morning. It was every Tuesday
3 morning. And based off of -- I don't know if Amanda or Davey had told me, but
4 he would stay outside so that he wouldn't disturb Weston in the morning and
5 he would take that call outside in the driveway.
6 Q And did you at any point speak to Davey that morning?
7 A Yes, I spoke to him briefly when we were leaving. I had forgot my garage
8 door opener, so I had to get back out of the car. And he, you know, waived to
9 me and said, 'Have a great day' and I said, 'You, too.' My daughter also spoke
10 to him that morning as well.
11 Q Was there anything out of the ordinary that you noticed about Davey
12 when you -- before you left?
13 A No, everything seemed completely normal at that time.
14 Q All right. And then, after you left to take them to school, what did you do
15 after that?
16 A I had a meeting for work. So, I went directly to go meet with one of my
17 employees to go have that meeting.
18 Q So, you didn't come right back home?
19 A I did not come right back home, no.
20 Q Later in the day you came back home?
21 A I came back home after I found out what had happened. As soon as my
22 meeting was over, I came back home.
23 Q Okay.
24 MS. SNYDER: That's all I have for this witness, Your Honor.
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2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. CASANOVA:
4 Q Ms. Cummings, you said you woke at 6:15 a.m. on the morning you
5 discovered Amanda Blackburn killed?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And you waited in your bedroom until about 6:45 a.m.?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And during that time, you didn't hear anything out of the ordinary?
10 A No, I did not. My bedroom is in the back of the house. So, it would have
11 been difficult for me to hear anything that was happening out on the street.
12 Q Nor did you see anyone out of the ordinary in the neighborhood?
13 A No, I did not.
16 MS. SNYDER: No redirect, Your Honor.
20 THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am. Free to go.
23 MS. SNYDER: We call Tammy Wolverton.
24 THE COURT: Good afternoon. Please watch your step.
25 THE WITNESS: Thanks.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION AMANDA CUMMINGS
1 THE COURT: Before you sit down, would you raise your right
2 hand, please?
3 TAMMY ANN WOLVERTON, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
4 THE COURT: All right. Please have a seat. Would you please
6 THE WITNESS: Tammy Ann Wolverton, W-O-L, V as in Victor, E-
7 R-T-O-N.
9 Ms. Snyder.
10 MS. SNYDER: Thank you.
12 BY MS. SNYDER:
13 Q What do you do for a living?
14 A Currently, I am a nurse practitioner.
15 Q Can you briefly explain what that means?
16 A I'm a family nurse practitioner working in a mental health and addictions
17 facility in Anderson, Indiana. So, I care for chronically mentally ill patients and
18 those struggling with addiction.
19 Q All right. Back in November 2015, what was your position?
20 A So, in -- at that period of time, I was a forensic nurse examiner in the
21 emergency department at Methodist and I also worked as a case manager.
22 Q Okay. What is a forensic nurse examiner do?
23 A So, we respond and take care of patients that have been involved in
24 physical assault, sexual trauma. And at Methodist, they were doing domestic
25 violence and other traumas.
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1 Q Okay. Is it fair to say, an array of traumas?
2 A Uh-huh.
3 Q Okay. That morning on November 10th, were you working?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And did a person by the name of Amanda Blackburn come in?
6 A Yes.
7 Q You didn't know her at the time, correct? You learned her identity when
8 she came in?
9 A Correct.
10 Q And how did Amanda Blackburn come in that morning?
11 A She came in her ambulance as a trauma one.
12 Q What is typically done when somebody comes in as a trauma?
13 A So, they're taken into one of two traumas booth. Present are the doctors,
14 nurses, technicians. They're put in there, placed on the monitor, IV started,
15 orders placed for labs, and medical imaging.
16 Q And for Amanda Blackburn specifically, was she cleaned off when she
17 brought in?
18 A So, typically, when people are first brought into the trauma room, their
19 clothes are taken off, they're put on the monitor, IVs are started, a catheter is
20 placed in. So, when -- typically when you put in a catheter, you -- you might
21 swab off with some Betadine. But as far as, like, physically washing everything
22 else, all that's not done in the trauma room, no.
23 Q Okay. What was done specifically for Amanda Blackburn?
24 A You mean in the trauma room?
25 Q Yes.
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1 A So, I was standing outside of the trauma room. So, it was just the
2 typical, you know, it's almost kind of choreographed. It's, like, people on this
3 side might put them on the monitor. Put on the other side of the room might
4 start the IV, fluids, and put in the catheter. And then, there's a nurse that's
5 documenting.
6 Q Okay. And was Amanda Blackburn catheterized?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And what does that entail?
9 A So, a catheter comes in a kit and there is some Betadine soup and the
10 catheter, typically when that's put in, they swab the vaginal area around the
11 urethra. And then, they put the catheter in and inflate a little balloon and
12 then, that holds the catheter in place.
13 Q And when you say swab, what does that mean?
14 A Clean off.
15 Q Cleaned off?
16 A It's, like, a giant Q-Tip, only it's got Betadine on it, which is, like, Iodine
17 antibacterial solution.
18 Q Okay. Did you ultimately do an exam?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And can you explain to the judge what your exam consisted of?
21 A So, she was already in the critical care unit when I went up there. So, I
22 took the rape kit up there --
23 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, I'm going to object to it being described
24 as a rape kit.
25 THE WITNESS: Oh, sure. Sorry.
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1 ///
2 BY MS. SNYDER:
3 A It is a sexual assault exam kit.
4 THE COURT: I'll sustain it. Okay.
5 THE WITNESS: I mean, that's just what the kits called. And in it
6 is everything that you would collect for that. But then, our role is expanded to
7 also do the, you know, regular trauma, knife, gunshots, and stuff like that. So,
8 I had my camera with me. There was a physician and a nurse in the room, so
9 they help me kind of position her. And then, I collected evidence. I swabbed
10 around her hair, around her mouth, her nails, took photographs, and then, I
11 swabbed her rectal area and her vaginal area.
12 BY MS. SNYDER:
13 Q And at the time you did the swabs, had her body been cleaned off?
14 A So, usually when somebody comes into the ICU, there's a group of
15 nurses that kind of all work together. Same as in the trauma room. Everybody
16 work together to stabilize the patient. And typically, at that time, they do wash
17 people off with the Hexedine solution.
18 Q Okay. And you had mentioned that the catheter, that is also swabbed.
19 So, would the vaginal area, would that have all already been cleaned by the
20 time you took -- attempted to take DNA swabs?
21 A Correct.
22 Q Okay.
23 A The outer vaginal area.
24 Q The outer vaginal area.
25 A The vulva, yeah.
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1 Q Okay. Was there anything in particular about when you were taking the
2 swabs, photographs, was there anything in particular about this case with your
3 exam?
4 A Well, I knew at the time, I mean, she did not look well. I mean, she
5 looked like she was going to die. And I wanted to make sure that I did a
6 thorough pit. But I also wanted the family to be able to come in and see her
7 before that happened.
8 Q Okay. I'm showing you what's been marked as State's Exhibit 11. Or
9 excuse me, Exhibit 111. Do you recognize State's Exhibit 111?
10 A (Witness reviews document) Yes.
11 Q Okay. And what is 111?
12 A So, this is a sexual assault evidence collection kit.
13 Q And is this what you took from the hospital?
14 A This --
15 Q Would have gone inside this box?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Okay. And then, you can tell it's that by the writing on there?
18 A So, that's my writing and my signature, correct.
19 MS. SNYDER: State would move to admit State's Exhibit 111.
20 MR. CASANOVA: No objection to 111, Judge.
23 MS. SNYDER: Judge, do you want it or --
24 THE COURT: Are you going to have to go into it all?
25 MS. SNYDER: Yeah. Not right now. Later.
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1 THE COURT: Okay.
3 THE COURT: Cross?
5 CROSS-EXAMINATION
6 BY MR. CASANOVA:
7 Q Ms. Wolverton, you talked about the examination that you did of Ms.
8 Blackburn when she arrived at your unit, correct?
9 A Uh-huh. Yes.
10 Q In that examination, you didn't observe any entries to her labia majora?
11 A No, I did not.
12 Q You didn't observe any injuries to her labia minora?
13 A No, I did not.
14 Q You didn't notice -- you also didn't notice any cuts, bruises, or
15 abrasions --
16 A Correct.
17 Q -- to that area? And in fact, her vagina had a normal appearance?
18 A Correct.
19 Q So, you said you did observe a small amount of mesenchymal tissue,
20 correct?
21 A Correct.
22 Q But not the result of injury?
23 A Correct.
24 Q You also didn't observe any injuries to her anus?
25 A Correct.
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1 Q You did a -- you examined her clothing under a UV light?
2 A I don't know. I don't remember if I did that. I'd have to look at my notes.
3 I remember taking her shirt and putting it in an evidence bag. I don't
4 remember. I'd have to look at my notes.
5 Q Okay. Basically, you didn't observe any injuries to her vagina consistent
6 with a sexual assault?
7 A Correct. But sometimes, there isn't any injury.
8 Q But I understand. But --
9 A Uh-huh.
10 Q -- from your examination, you did not notice any injuries consistent with
11 a sexual assault?
12 A Correct.
13 Q You also didn't notice any injuries to her anus consistent with a sexual
14 assault?
15 A Correct.
16 Q And if you did any examination of her clothing through her UV light, that
17 would have been to see if you could identify any bodily fluids --
18 A Yes.
19 Q -- correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And the identification of that bodily fluid may be something that could
22 suggest a sexual assault?
23 A Correct.
24 Q But there's nothing in your report to indicate that you found anything
25 consistent with sexual assault?
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1 A I don't think I did. I think I just put it in a bag and gave it to the
2 detective after I saw it.
3 Q Okay.
4 A Again, I'd have to look at my notes for sure.
5 Q But the basic result of your examination is you didn't find any physical
6 signs --
7 A Uh-huh.
8 Q -- consistent with a sexual assault?
9 A Correct.
12 MS. SNYDER: Nothing on that, Your Honor.
17 THE COURT: Thank you very much, ma'am.
19 Counsel, approach please.
21 THE COURT: We're going to have much more testimony about the
22 appearance of the body and the treatment of the body, you might want to see if
23 he wants to leave the room for a little bit.
24 MR. BUSBY: We've warned him a head of time about --
25 THE COURT: You can warn him, but he's not going to know
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1 what's --
2 MR. BUSBY: I'll be calling Doctor Cavanaugh tomorrow morning.
3 THE COURT: Okay.
4 MR. BUSBY: The crime scene photos are up next. I'll let them
5 know right now.
6 THE COURT: All right. Thanks.
7 (Sidebar ends at 1:42 p.m.)
8 THE COURT: Witness? I thought you went out to get a witness.
9 MS. SNYDER: Oh, huh-uh. Our --
10 MR. CICCHINI: Judge, our witness is a witness who's unavailable
11 for trial today. But this is the trial deposition we conducted. The --
12 THE COURT: The long one or the short one?
13 MR. CICCHINI: It's the same.
14 THE COURT: Okay.
15 MR. BUSBY: Well, it's in two parts, Your Honor.
16 Your Honor, at this time, the State would move to publish State's
17 Exhibit 305, which is the trial deposition taken of Colleen Brandyberry on
18 September 9th, 2022.
19 During the course of the trial deposition, the State moved several
20 pieces of evidence -- or items into evidence without objection from Defense
21 counsel. Among those items of evidence are the crime scene video, Exhibit
22 Number 44. The remaining items that are introduced into evidence are in this
23 binder, Your Honor. Roughly in the order in which they're introduced. There's
24 no objection from the Defense counsel. It may just be easiest if the Court
25 keeps this and flips through it as the number's referred to. If you prefer me to
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1 hand them to you, I will.
2 THE COURT: If they're in the order in which they're referred to --
3 MR. BUSBY: They're in numerical order, Your Honor.
4 MR. CASANOVA: And Defense has no objection to the trial
5 deposition, Judge.
6 THE COURT: And you've seen the --
7 MR. CASANOVA: 305, I'm sorry.
8 THE COURT: -- exhibits? 28 through -- well, there's 150 here.
9 You've seen all the exhibits? You have no objection to those either?
10 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, 28 through 84, I believe. And 181
11 through --
12 MS. SNYDER: Oh, sorry. It's 145.
13 THE COURT: I've got 28 through 67, 144 --
14 MR. CASANOVA: 181.
15 THE COURT: -- through 161.
16 MS. SNYDER: So, I think the rest will be physical evidence.
17 THE COURT: These are all pictures and diagrams.
18 MR. CASANOVA: Well, Judge, we didn't object to those items as
19 they were introduced and during the trial deposition. We don't have any
20 further objection to them at this point.
21 THE COURT: Are you going to play the deposition and --
23 MR. BUSBY: And Your Honor, for the benefit of the Court and the
24 record, it was the State's intent originally to present this statement in two parts
25 due to limitations of building and staff. This includes both the crime scenes at
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1 XXXX and XXXX. And Detective Lynn will later testify subsequently that there
2 was a car that was processed. It's going to be referred to the Sebring. That
3 was processed later by the same evidence tech. So, these are both presented in
4 this testimony, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: And 44 is?
6 MR. BUSBY: The crime scene video.
7 THE COURT: Which will be played during somebody's testimony
8 or --
9 MR. BUSBY: It will be sponsored by the witness. We will play it --
10 THE COURT: Then I'll watch it --
11 MR. BUSBY: -- after.
12 THE COURT: Okay.
13 MR. BUSBY: Or as you see fit. I believe Mr. Casanova would
14 prefer to have it played in front of his client.
15 THE COURT: It'd be awfully nice if we could get a list of the
16 numbers of the exhibits to which you're all stipulating, in case we skip over
17 one.
18 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor. I'll have a copy to you shortly.
20 MR. BUSBY: And these will also be included. This is a collection
21 of the latent prints and the print images taken from both scenes that are
22 covered in that deposition, Your Honor. Sponsored (inaudible) during the
23 course of the deposition.
24 THE COURT: It'd be easier if we could have done a jury trial,
25 wouldn't it?
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1 You're starting out with 305?
2 MR. CICCHINI: Correct.
3 THE COURT: Okay.
4 Colleen Brandenberry (sic), did you say?
5 MR. CICCHINI: Brandyberry, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Brandyberry.
7 MR. BUSBY: Formally Colleen Clark, Your Honor.
9 (Whereupon, a video recording, State's Exhibit 305 was played in open
12 MR. BUSBY: Judge, can you hear that, okay?
13 THE COURT: Oh, yeah.
14 MR. BUSBY: Okay.
16 THE COURT: Is that saying 33?
17 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor. Would you like me to pause it?
19 MR. BUSBY: I've handed the witness a physical item of evidence
20 and that's 43. So, she's referring -- or 44. She's referring -- she's looking at
21 34, but off camera, she's sponsoring 44 into evidence -- or 43 into evidence.
22 We'll hand it to you at the close of her testimony. So, you'll received the
23 physical evidence after the deposition's been played.
24 THE COURT: Yeah, but the picture is Exhibit 33.
25 MR. BUSBY: Yes, that's correct.
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1 THE COURT: And that makes sense?
2 MR. BUSBY: We hadn't advanced the slide. We didn't have a
3 picture of 43.
4 THE COURT: Okay. So, I'm not confusing myself. I'm getting
5 help.
6 MR. BUSBY: You're not. This is -- we used Zoom to do this, given
7 the limitations in the courtroom to get picture and picture. It was the only we
8 could --
9 THE COURT: Yeah.
10 MR. BUSBY: -- make it work. So, this is the best way we could
11 figure, but it's a work in progress, Your Honor.
12 THE COURT: Okay. Let me know in advance when that's going to
13 happen, would you please? I'm talking to you; you should see what they're
14 looking like.
15 MR. BUSBY: I can only imagine, Your Honor.
16 THE COURT: They're trying to pass you notes. Can you fix that?
17 MR. BUSBY: Understood.
18 THE COURT: Please continue.
21 MR. BUSBY: And so, Your Honor, I've just handed the witness
22 Exhibit 84, which is in front of the Court. So, off camera, she's looking at that
23 particular envelope and about to sponsor into evidence, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Okay.
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2 THE COURT: Was that --
3 MR. BUSBY: There was no objection to those three exhibits, Your
4 Honor.
5 THE COURT: 45, 63, 64, no objection.
9 MR. BUSBY: And Your Honor, again, these are items being
10 reviewed offscreen by the witness. At this point, we realized we only had about
11 15 minutes left to work with Mr. Taylor present in the room and we were trying
12 to make sure we got everything in. So, I apologize for the format, again.
13 THE COURT: I'm sorry. Some of the items just referenced aren't
14 here. This stops at 67.
15 MR. BUSBY: In which? In the --
16 THE COURT: Book.
17 MR. BUSBY: Sorry. These are physical items that will be handed
18 to the Court at the conclusion. So, they're in the evidence box right now, Your
19 Honor.
20 THE COURT: Okay.
21 MR. BUSBY: She's going to identify them, sponsor them, and they
22 will be entered into the Court's possession at the conclusion of the video.
23 THE COURT: Okay. So, it's not me.
24 MR. BUSBY: Would you like them now?
25 THE COURT: Well --
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1 MR. BUSBY: I can definitely get them for you now. They're on the
2 grid. So, the Court should be able to track them. But if you prefer, we can
3 enter them in in real time after she sponsor's them, we can do that as well. I
4 thought it'd be simpler for the record.
5 THE COURT: Right now, you're just being -- she's just being super
6 thorough?
7 MR. BUSBY: That's correct, Your Honor.
8 THE COURT: If there are some items that are a particular note, be
9 sure to highlight them.
10 MR. BUSBY: Absolutely, Your Honor.
11 THE COURT: Because I'll be fussy by the time you get to them.
12 MR. BUSBY: We'll discuss it in closing, Your Honor. Make sure
13 it's tied in together.
14 THE COURT: Very good.
15 MR. BUSBY: Then, we also have the witnesses that process it,
16 they'll explain the significance as well at that time as well so --
17 THE COURT: Let's hope.
18 MR. BUSBY: Thank you, Your Honor.
20 THE COURT: Can you pause that, please?
23 MR. BUSBY: Would you like an explanation of what just
24 happened, Your Honor?
25 THE COURT: You couldn't find the pause button?
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1 MR. BUSBY: Well, right now, it didn't pop up. So, Mr. Cicchini
2 saved me. But in the video itself, would you like an explanation of exactly what
3 happened procedurally for the record?
4 THE COURT: I just wanted to augment the record a little bit,
5 because I think I was out of town. But I think I was also receiving emails and
6 calls. The sheriff -- a sheriff's employee at one time said that you needed a
7 court order in order to stay here after 4:00. And I told staff issue whatever you
8 have to.
9 And then, word came back that because it was not a regularly
10 scheduled court session, it was a deposition, that to hell with the court order,
11 they couldn't stay here after 4:00.
12 MR. BUSBY: So, we continued --
13 THE COURT: At that point, you folks made the executive decision
14 to release Mr. Taylor, let him go back with the deputies, and proceed on your
15 own?
16 MR. BUSBY: So --
17 THE COURT: Is that correctly stated for the record?
18 MR. BUSBY: That's correct, Your Honor. And that's why the
19 procedure in that video changed from walking the witness through the crime
20 scene to getting all the evidence in on the record before Mr. Taylor was required
21 to leave the room. Mr. Taylor then waived his presence as Mr. Casanova stated
22 on the video. And we went back and now, we're going to walk through the
23 evidence, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Is that the record as you recall it, Mr. Casanova?
25 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, Judge. I met with Mr. Taylor, and we
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1 discussed this, and he agreed --
2 THE COURT: Okay.
3 MR. CASANOVA: -- to waive his presence.
4 THE COURT: Just wanted to not leave that part out about I did
5 order it.
6 MR. BUSBY: No, I appreciate it, Judge.
7 THE COURT: Okay.
8 MR. BUSBY: So, that is the reason for the disjointed nature of
9 this. We had to change our plan at the last moment and it (inaudible) but it'll
10 be smoother going forward, Your Honor.
11 MR. CICCHINI: Judge, do you want me to back it up at all?
12 THE COURT: We didn't miss much.
13 MR. CICCHINI: No, I don't think we did.
14 THE COURT: Okay. Go ahead.
16 (Video paused at 2:54 p.m. and not transcribed.)
17 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, Defense has a hard copy of
18 Defendant's A.
20 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, we'd move to publish State's Exhibit 44
21 at this time. The crime scene video.
22 THE COURT: How long is it?
23 MR. BUSBY: Couple minutes, I think. Do you want to do it after
24 break?
25 THE COURT: (Inaudible).
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1 MR. BUSBY: We can do it after break. That's fine.
2 THE COURT: Okay.
3 When we have jury trials, I try to take comfort breaks every 90
4 minutes for the jurors. We're way past 90 minutes. I'm going to recommend
5 we take a recess now. Last one was ten minutes, and we lost half our gallery
6 for another five minutes. So, why don't we come back at quarter to 4:00.
7 MR. CICCHINI: We can do that, Judge.
8 THE COURT: Then, we'll see you all then.
9 I'm sorry. Ray, this is a picture of what?
10 MR. CASANOVA: Kyocera cell phone found at --
11 THE COURT: Okay. Say that very slowly, so they can pick it up.
12 MR. CASANOVA: It's a picture of a Kyocera touch screen cell
13 phone found at 5636 Brendan Way.
15 We’ll be in recess.
18 THE COURT: And we are back on the record. State of Indiana v.
19 Larry Taylor. Cause Number 19 -- I'm sorry, Cause Number 15-041732. Both
20 teams of counsel are here. And we are publishing Exhibit 44.
21 (State's Exhibit's 41-43, 44, 68-82, 162-171, 174-180, and 172 & 173
22 admitted into evidence)
23 MR. CICCHINI: Correct, Judge.
24 Court's ready?
25 THE COURT: Ready.
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1 (Pause)
2 MR. CICCHINI: That concludes 44, Judge.
4 MR. CICCHINI: We're ready for our next witness.
6 MR. CICCHINI: Thomas Clark, Judge.
7 THE COURT: Counsel approach real fast, please. Counsel.
9 THE COURT: There was a Count XIV, but it was mislabeled. But
10 that's it. I don't know if it's been dismissed or not. It's not part of the -- the
11 one we printed out today. But there you go.
12 Can you check and -- just thought I'd show it to you.
13 MR. CASANOVA: Okay.
14 MR. CICCHINI: Okay.
15 THE COURT: I mean, I'm not sure it's on file still.
16 MR. BUSBY: Okay. Thank you, Judge.
18 THE COURT: Thank you. Sir, if you would, please.
19 THOMAS CLARK, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
20 THE COURT: Thank you very much. Please have a seat.
21 Would you please state your full name and spell your last name?
22 THE WITNESS: Thomas A. Clark, C-L-A-R-K.
23 THE COURT: Thank you, sir.
25 THE COURT: Mr. Cicchini.
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1 ///
3 BY MR. CICCHINI:
4 Q Mr. Clark, how are you employed?
5 A I'm employed with the Indianapolis Marion County Forensic Service
6 Agency, otherwise known as crime lab.
7 Q What is your present assignment?
8 A I am the supervisor of the forensic evidence technician and illustration
9 section.
10 Q And is that work at the coroner's office primarily?
11 A That -- that work itself is. Correct.
12 Q In 2015, were you also employed by the Marion County Forensic Services
13 Agency?
14 A I was.
15 Q And what was your position at that time?
16 A At that time, I was employed at our crime scene section as a crime scene
17 specialist.
18 Q Very briefly, can you tell the Court about your training to become a crime
19 scene specialist and kind of an overview of what you do?
20 A In 2015, upon being employed by the crime lab, I underget -- underwent
21 their standard crime scene training program, which included crime scene
22 processing, videography, photography, latent print processing, as well as
23 evidence recovery, scene sketching, etc., swabbing for DNA, etc., and other --
24 other processes.
25 Q All right. I'm going to take you back to November 2015, were you
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DIRECT EXAMINATION THOMAS CLARK
1 working as a crime scene specialist with the Marion County Forensic Services
2 Agency at that time?
3 A I was.
4 Q And did you have an occasion to go out to XXXX Sunnyfield County in --
5 A I did.
6 Q -- Marion County?
7 A I did.
8 Q And on what date was that?
9 A That was November the 11th, 2015.
10 Q What was the purpose of you being called out to that scene?
11 A I was called to the scene by detectives in reference to a follow-up
12 investigation.
13 Q And specifically, what were you tasked with looking for at that time?
14 A Upon arriving, I was advised there was an area of concern within the
15 kitchen of the residence where there are some -- there were some holes in the
16 ceiling that they wanted to investigate.
17 Q I'm going to ask you a couple questions about your search of that
18 kitchen.
19 A Uh-huh.
20 Q What did you -- what steps did you take to determine whether the holes
21 in the kitchen were potential bullet strikes?
22 A We examined them closely, as well as we did some photography to follow-
23 up with that. But upon looking at all of the holes that we identified in the
24 kitchen sealing, each one of them had a very unique characteristic, which
25 displayed three striations and all of them were identical. And we believed
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1 based on that, that they were kind of a grommet plug that had been previously
2 used to attempt to attach something to the ceiling.
3 Q And after that visual examination, did you take further steps to be sure?
4 A Yes.
5 Q What did you do?
6 A We -- using a cutting tool, we opened an access to the ceiling of that area
7 and looked inside to make sure that the holes in question in the area had not
8 actually involved anything, like, gunfire.
9 Q And when you physically looked inside the ceiling, you didn't notice
10 anything consistent with bullet strike damage?
11 A No, we did not.
12 Q Did there come a time during that visit on the 11th where you did notice
13 suspected bullet strike damage in a different part of the home?
14 A Yes, during a curacy search of the remainder of the house, myself and
15 units on the scene, located a hole on the trim, the staircase adjacent to the
16 front door.
17 Q I'm going to show you what's been marked for identification as State's
18 Exhibit 85 through 91. If you would, sir, take a brief look at those and let me
19 know when you're done.
20 A (Witness complies)
21 Q Do State's Exhibit 85 through 91 truly and accurately depict the location
22 of the bullet strike as well as efforts you took to retrieve the bullet?
23 A Yes, they did.
24 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, I'd move to admi State's 85 through
25 91.
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1 MR. CASANOVA: Defense has no objection to State's 85 through
2 91.
4 (State's Exhibit 85 through 91 admitted into evidence)
7 BY MR. CICCHINI:
8 Q Okay. Showing you State's Exhibit 85, where are we in the home at this
9 point in time?
10 A We're standing just off of the front door kind of in the living room at this
11 point.
12 Q And can you indicate where you saw that suspected bullet strike? You
13 can draw right on the screen actually.
14 A Oh, okay.
15 Q You can put a circle around it.
16 A All right. In this area right here.
17 Q And you've drawn a blue circle on the railing or on the stairway going up
18 to the second floor; is that correct?
19 A Correct.
20 Q All right. I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 86. Is this a closeup of
21 that?
22 A Yes, it is.
23 Q What characteristics of that strike suggested to you that it was indicative
24 of a potential bullet strike?
25 A The cleanness of the hole itself. The perimeter seemed indicative of the
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1 bullet strike to me.
2 Q State's 87, what do we see here?
3 A This is the area beneath the drywall and the trim just behind that.
4 Q And are you the one or are you and your team, are you removing that
5 part of the trim to verify that it is indeed a suspected bullet strike?
6 A I, myself, did remove the trim.
7 Q Based on what you removed there, were you able to visual enough to
8 determine if there was a bullet inside?
9 A Yes.
10 Q State's 88, what do we see here?
11 A This is a close up of a shot that was taken of that same spot. My belief
12 was that the bullet grazed the two before and then impact to the wall behind it.
13 Q And in the same process we used before, would you circle that area
14 suspected damage?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And that's two blue circles. One at the bottom of a piece of wood and one
17 at the bottom of the cutout area of the drywall and trim?
18 A Correct.
19 Q State's 89, what are we looking at here?
20 A This is a view of the beneath area under the staircase itself. I had to
21 open that hole up larger to gain access to it.
22 Q State's 90, what do we see?
23 A You're looking at an evidence cone that was placed next to a fired bullet
24 that was observed on the area beneath the staircase.
25 Q And if you could with that blue circle one more time, sir, indicate where
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1 that bullet was located. And that's a blue circle in the upper lefthand area of
2 State's Exhibit 90 to the upper top left of the cone; is that right?
3 A Correct.
4 Q And finally, State's 91. Is this just a closeup of that bullet?
5 A It is.
6 Q Did you collect that bullet?
7 A I did.
8 Q And when you collect a bullet, where did you take it?
9 A It was taken by myself to our crime lab location where it was processed
10 as evidence.
11 Q I've handed you what's been marked for identification as State's Exhibit
12 92. Is that your item 39?
13 A It is.
14 Q And is your item 39 the bullet we see in State's Exhibit 91?
15 A It is.
16 Q Is State's 92 in the same or substantially the same condition as when
17 you collected it in November of 2015?
18 A It is.
19 MR. CICCHINI: Your Honor, I move to admit State's 92?
23 BY MR. CICCHINI:
24 Q And other than retrieving the bullets, taking the photographs, and
25 transporting State's 92, that spent bullet to the property room, did you have
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1 any other involvement in this case?
2 A No. I did not.
3 MR. CICCHINI: No further questions, Judge.
4 THE COURT: Any cross?
5 MR. CASANOVA: No cross, Judge.
6 THE COURT: May the witness be released from the subpoena?
7 MR. CICCHINI: Yes, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: Thank you very much, sir.
11 MS. SNYDER: The State calls Dan Recker.
12 THE COURT: Good afternoon, sir.
13 MR. RECKER: Hello, Judge.
14 DANIEL RECKER, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
15 THE COURT: Thank you. Please have a seat.
16 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Judge.
17 THE COURT: Would you please state your full name and slowly
18 spell your last name?
19 THE WITNESS: Yes. My name is Daniel Recker, R-E-C-K-E-R.
22 BY MS. SNYDER:
23 Q Thank you, Judge. What do you do for a living?
24 A I am a lease sergeant and latent examiner for the Indianapolis
25 Metropolitan Police Department.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION DANIEL RECKER
1 Q What does a latent examiner do?
2 A We receive all evidence from crime scenes that might contain evidence
3 that comes from the friction skin, which would be the underside of the hands
4 or underside of the feet. Our job is to analyze that evidence, compare it to
5 individuals, and try to make determinations about its source.
6 Q Can you briefly overlay the process that is taken at your lab in order to
7 identify or figure out if fingerprints can be identified?
8 A Yes. We use a process we call or methodology rather we call ACE-V. The
9 first letter and that acronym A is for the analysis portion. When we are doing
10 an analysis on friction ridge evidence, we're looking for features to be present
11 in the friction ridge impressions. We look for the quantity of those features.
12 The quality or the clarity of those features. And also, the specificity. And using
13 those three criteria we determine if the latent impression has value to go on to
14 the comparison phase of the methodology.
15 Q If it has no value, what is the protocol?
16 A If we determine that the latent impression has no value, then no further
17 work is done with that impression.
18 Q So no value, you can't do anything with those?
20 Q If there is value, what is the next step?
21 A The next step would be the comparison phase. That's where we would
22 take subject that we have reference prints or known prints for purpose of
23 recordings of the friction skin that we would use side-by-side to compare the
24 latent impressions to see if we can determine either -- make a conclusion
25 rather either identification where we say the latent impression originated from
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1 that source or exclusion where we say the latent impression did not originate
2 from that source.
3 Q And after a latent print examiner examines and identifies a print or
4 determines that a print is of no value, determines it is of value but not
5 identifiable, what is the next step for the latent print examiner to do?
6 A Every conclusion that we make is also verified by a second examiner. So
7 in cases where we make a value conclusion of no value, that would be verified
8 by a second examiner. And also, cases where we make identification
9 conclusions and exclusion conclusions, those would also be verified.
10 Q And how -- what are the different methods that you can receive print
11 evidence?
12 A We receive latent impression evidence two different ways. We receive
13 physical lift cards where the crime scene specialist would actually process the
14 surface, make a tape lift and place that on a card of a contrasting background
15 color, and we can see the actual lift on a card. The other way we receive them
16 is through digital evidence where the crime scene specialist would take the
17 photographs of the evidence in a laboratory environment and then they would
18 transfer the digital images to us through a secure server.
19 Q Thank you. Back in November of 2015, were you a latent print examiner
20 at that time?
21 A I was.
22 Q And how did you become involved in this case?
23 A I was initially the verifying examiner for Sergeant Michael Knapp
24 (phonetic) who was the assigned examiner in this case originally.
25 Q Okay. And has he since retired?
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1 A Yes. He retired.
2 Q Okay. But all of these, all of the evidence we're going to talk about today,
3 you did verify all of his conclusions at the time?
4 A That's correct. Back in 2015, yes.
5 Q Okay. So let's talk about this case. Can you tell the Court what
6 submissions your agency received?
7 A Yes. I got a total of nine different submissions. It was a combination of
8 the lift cards and the photographs. We talked about two submissions on the
9 11th of November of 2015 consisting of 16 cards, physical cards and seven
10 images. A submission on the 16th of November of 2015 of three digitals
11 images. A submission on November 18th of 2015 of three cards. A submission
12 on 11/30 of 19 digital images. A submission on 11/13 of two lift cards,
13 11/13/'15. Fifteen images on 11/18 of 2015. One digital image submission
14 on 11/24 of 2015. Nineteen images on 11/30 of 2015. And then 30 images on
15 February 5th 2016.
16 Q Okay. So you were receiving quite a few submissions over pretty much
17 the rest of November?
18 A Correct.
19 Q Okay. I'm going to show you or I'm handing you what's been entered into
20 evidence as State's Exhibit 84. If you'd like to take the contents out. Okay, so
21 each of those items has been sub-marked. Let's discuss 84A. What does 84A
22 show you?
23 A This is a latent lift from the refrigerator crisper bin pull handle at 2830
24 Sunnyfield Court with the markings indicating identification was made to the
25 latent impression.
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1 Q And who was the identification made to?
2 A It was Allison Becker.
3 Q Okay. And did you take -- did you receive elimination prints?
4 A Yes. There were a number of sets of elimination prints that were taken
5 by Sergeant Knapp in this case.
6 Q And what is the purpose of elimination prints?
7 A It's a purposeful recording of the friction skin that we use for comparison
8 to either eliminate as the name would suggest or in some cases identify the
9 subject to the latent impression evidence.
10 Q Okay. Now 84B, digital image of item 13. What was identified on that
11 image?
12 A That was also Allison Becker's. It was the right palm area.
13 Q Okay. Now let's go to 84C. Taken also from 2830 Sunnyfield Court in
14 the downstairs powder room sink edge. Was somebody identified on that?
15 A Yes. That was identified. Latent impressions on that on 84C were
16 identified to Bethany Nine-Lawson (phonetic).
17 Q And was that an elimination print?
18 A That was also from an elimination print, yes.
19 Q 84D and 84E, who is identified on those prints?
20 A Those are also latent impressions identified to Bethany Nine-Lawson.
21 Q And are those also from the downstairs powder room at 2830 Sunnyfield
22 Court?
23 A Yes, that's correct.
24 Q Okay, thank you. Let's move to 84F.
25 A This is marked bottom left area of TV at XXXX Sunnyfield and it's
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1 identified -- the latent impression on that on 84F is identified to Davy
2 Blackburn (phonetic).
3 Q And 84G?
4 A That's bottom right area of TV, XXXX Sunnyfield Court, also Davy
5 Blackburn.
6 Q 84H?
7 A Left side of TV, XXXX Sunnyfield Court, Davy Blackburn.
8 Q 84I?
9 A That is labeled as bottom left side of TV, XXXX Sunnyfield Court. Also,
10 latent impression on that was also Davy Blackburn.
11 Q And 84J?
12 A Is labeled as front of an open Swisher Sweets mini package, item 026.
13 The latent impression on that was identified as Davy Blackburn.
14 Q Okay. And is that -- from that packet, are those all the ones that were
15 identified?
16 A From that packet, yes that's correct. Those are all the latent impressions
17 that were identified.
18 Q Okay; 84K was?
19 A That was a lift from item 26 as well. That was of no value.
20 Q So no value, you stop there?
21 A Correct.
22 Q Okay; 84L?
23 A Lift from item 059. That was a no value lift.
24 Q And then let's do 84M and O, P, Q, R, S and T. Are those all also no
25 value prints?
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1 A Yes, that's correct. All those exhibits 84M through 84T were no value.
2 Q Okay. And then 84U?
3 A 84U was also -- it's a photograph of item 001. No value.
4 Q And 84B?
5 A 84B is a photograph. I don’t see the item number visible on there. But
6 inside of the tape roll it's no value.
7 Q And then finally 84W?
8 A 84W was from XXXX Sunnyfield labeled bottom middle TV screen living
9 room. There was one latent impression of value on that card. It was not
10 identified.
11 Q Okay. And when you say not identified, was that compared to a list of
12 names given to you as well as all the elimination prints?
13 A Yes, compared to all the subjects submitted as well as the elimination
14 prints.
15 Q Was there a set of elimination prints that you received that was not --
16 that you were not able to use to compare because it was not clear enough?
17 A Yes. It was an insufficient set of elimination prints on Amanda
18 Blackburn.
19 Q All right. So that is all for Exhibit 84. Now I'm going to hand you Exhibit
20 181, which has already been admitted. View those prints. Okay, 181A, were
21 you able to identify anyone from that, which is a photo of item 62?
22 A Yes. There was one latent impression identified on that to Jacola
23 Searsbrook.
24 Q Okay. And then 181A through 181F were all item 62. So let's look at
25 181B, 181C, 181D. Who was identified on those prints?
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1 A Latent impressions on those list of exhibits were identified to a subject
2 named Brittany York (phonetic).
3 Q Okay. And then 181E. Who was identified on that?
4 A It had a latent impression from Brittany York and then also two latent
5 impressions from Brian Gibson (phonetic). Bradley Gibson (phonetic), sorry.
6 Q And then 181F?
7 A Three latent impressions to Bradley Gibson.
8 Q Okay. Now let's talk about 181G, H, I and J.
9 A Those were all no value lifts and/or photographs.
10 Q Okay, 181K and 181L?
11 A 181K contained one latent impression of value that was not identified
12 and 181L contained two latent impressions. Both of value that were not
13 identified.
14 Q Okay. And were you given known prints of Larry Taylor, Diano Gordon
15 and Jalen Watson?
16 A I was, yes.
17 Q And were those excluded from the of value not identified prints?
18 A They were. Yes, excluded from the of value unidentified latent
19 impressions.
22 CROSS-EXAMINATION
23 BY MR. CASANOVA:
24 Q Thank you. So is it Sergeant Recker?
25 A It is.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION DANIEL RECKER
1 Q Sergeant Recker, just to kind of recap. Of the identifiable or the latent
2 prints of value that you identified, you excluded Larry Taylor from making any
3 of those prints?
4 A That's correct.
5 Q And from the digital images of prints of value that you received, you
6 excluded Larry Taylor from leaving any of those prints?
7 A That’s' correct.
8 Q You mentioned a couple of prints of value. Well, looking at, I believe this
9 would be a digital image from item 12, a Microsoft lift, front entry door interior
10 near window at 2830?
11 A Yes. The (inaudible), yes.
12 Q That was a print of value; is that correct?
13 A Yes. I believe that's correct.
14 Q And that would have been a print of value that you excluded Mr. Taylor
15 from leaving?
16 A Correct.
17 Q Okay. And then you also mentioned several other prints of value during
18 your recap of your work that you also excluded Mr. Taylor from leaving?
19 A Yes, that's correct.
20 Q Okay.
21 A Okay. So of all the prints of value that you received, Mr. Taylor was
22 excluded from leaving any of those prints?
23 A Yes, that's right.
24 MR. CASANOVA: I have nothing further, Judge.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION DANIEL RECKER
1 MS. SNYDER: No, Your Honor.
2 THE COURT: May the witness be released from the subpoena?
6 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Your Honor.
8 MR. BUSBY: State calls Detective Tom Lehn, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: Afternoon, sir.
10 MR. LEHN: Afternoon.
11 THOMAS LEHN, STATE'S WITNESS, SWORN
12 THE COURT: Please have a seat.
14 THE COURT: Would you please state your full name and spell
15 your last name?
16 THE WITNESS: It's Thomas H. Lehn, Jr. My last name is spelled
17 L-E-H-N.
18 THE COURT: Thank you. Mr. Busby.
20 BY MR. BUSBY:
21 Q Thank you, Your Honor. Sir, how are you currently employed?
22 A I am a civilian employee with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in
23 Florida.
24 Q And how long have you been so employed?
25 A For approximately one year.
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DIRECT EXAMINATION THOMAS LEHN
1 Q And prior to your employment there -- I'm going to direct your attention
2 to 2015. Where did you work in 2015?
3 A I was a homicide detective with the Indiana Metropolitan Police
4 Department.
5 Q And were you assigned the investigation in this case State v. Larry
6 Taylor?
7 A I was.
8 Q First of all, at that time you were in homicide, what were your
9 responsibilities in homicide?
10 A Homicide detectives in Indianapolis investigate all matters of non-natural
11 death, suspicious death, excluding motor vehicle accidents.
12 Q And what was your experience leading into 2015 working in that area?
13 A I had been a homicide detective with Indiana Police Department at the
14 time. Later INPD since January of 1999 until I retired in 2018.
15 Q And on Tuesday, November 10th, 2015, you were dispatched to XXXX
16 Sunnyfield Court; is that correct?
18 Q Will you explain the process that was used to dispatch you to that
19 location as far as why you were picked?
20 A I know that Detective Perkins was out on the scene of what was an
21 injured person or an assault of some time. I later learned that the injuries
22 were significant and were possibly life threatening. So I was requested by the
23 radio to respond to the scene by Detective Perkins.
24 Q And approximately what time were you called to the scene?
25 A I was called at 10:24 a.m.
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1 Q And what time did you arrive on scene?
2 A 10:40 a.m.
3 Q Was the victim of the assault on scene when you arrived?
4 A She was not.
5 Q Were you aware of where she was at that time?
6 A Yes. Ms. Blackburn had been transported to Methodist Hospital.
7 Q And who did you speak with on scene when you arrived?
8 A I talked to Detective Pete Perkins and Lieutenant Craig McHart
9 (phonetic).
10 Q And what did you speak with them about?
11 A Basically, the process of their investigation so far, what they learned, and
12 why I was now involved in the investigation.
13 Q Do recall approximately how many detectives were working that scene
14 that morning?
15 A We probably ended up with at least a dozen.
16 Q So the dozen of detectives working the scene, how were responsibilities
17 parsed out that morning?
18 A I had detectives who were canvasing, which were knocking on every door
19 in the neighborhood. I had detectives who were assisting with the crime lab
20 and working the evidence at the scenes. I had detectives typing search
21 warrants. I had detectives getting the process of cellphone evaluations. I had
22 detectives at the hospital assisting, and several at the scene with me.
23 Q And how were you keeping track of all that?
24 A You just take really good notes as it's coming towards you.
25 Q Did you have a chance to meet with Davy Blackburn?
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1 A That morning I did not.
2 Q When did you first meet Davy Blackburn?
3 A I believe it was actually the next morning.
4 Q So when you met with the detectives on scene, you spoke with Detective
5 Perkins you stated?
6 A Correct.
7 Q For purposes of your investigation, what information did you gather for
8 Detective Perkins at that time?
9 A He had additionally -- well, he notified that Amanda had been
10 transported to Methodist Hospital. He responded there in initially to see the
11 extent of her injuries. I eventually learned that she had been in fact shot in the
12 course of this and her injuries were severe, and she was not expected to
13 survive. We also learned that her husband Davy Blackburn was also at
14 Methodist Hospital, and he had already interviewed him about what he had
15 found that morning.
16 Q And he shared that information with you?
17 A He did.
18 Q And did you incorporate that into your investigation?
19 A I did.
20 Q So an additional location at XXXX Sunnyfield Court, were you made
21 aware of any other possible crime scenes related to the XXXX scene?
22 A Yes, sir. I was.
23 Q What other scene was that?
24 A It was a burglary that occurred at 2830 Sunnyfield Court.
25 Q And that was the testimony of Allison Becker earlier; is that correct?
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1 She's the homeowner there?
2 A That's correct.
3 Q And what time is that report?
4 A That was reported at approximately 8:17 a.m.
5 Q I'm going to show you several exhibits here Detective. I'm just going to
6 show you State's Exhibit -- proposed State's Exhibit Number 5, 5A, and 197.
7 Just beginning with Exhibit 5. What is that exhibit?
8 A State's Exhibit 5 is an ariel photograph of the neighborhood where this
9 incident occurred with a specific marking for XXXX Sunnyfield Court.
10 Q And Exhibit 5A?
11 A 5A is another ariel photograph of the area of Sunnyfield Court. This one
12 is labeled with names, names on the photographs of residences in the area.
13 Q And finally State's Exhibit 197.
14 A This is a photograph of Mr. Gary Huddleston who lived on Sun Meadow
15 Drive the next street, next street to the Court.
16 Q And State's Exhibit 5, is that a true and accurate copy to your knowledge
17 of the layout of Sunnyfield and Sun Meadow Court?
18 A Five; is that correct, sir?
19 Q That's correct.
20 A It is.
21 Q And 5A is a demonstrative exhibit that illustrates the names of the
22 persons in that neighborhood as far as where they live in the neighborhood; is
23 that correct?
24 A Yes, sir.
25 Q And finally, the last picture Mr. Huddleston, that is a true and accurate
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1 copy -- true and accurate picture of Mr. Huddleston; is that correct?
2 A Yes, sir.
3 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, at this time, the State would move
4 State's Exhibits 5, 5A, and 197 into evidence.
5 MR. CASANOVA: I show 5 has already been admitted. No
6 objection to State's 5. No objection to State's 5A for demonstrative purposes.
7 No objection to 197.
8 THE COURT: You agree that 5 has not yet been admitted?
9 MR. CASANOVA: I agree with that, Judge.
10 MR. BUSBY: And for the record, Your Honor, 5A misprinted this
11 morning. It's zoomed in and it shouldn't be. We'll have a properly spaced copy
12 for the Court tomorrow.
13 THE COURT: So am I being misled by this one?
14 MR. BUSBY: You are not. It's the same. It needs to be zoomed
15 out a little bit to get a better display of the neighborhood is all, Your Honor.
16 THE COURT: There's another layer to this division above here,
17 right?
18 MR. BUSBY: This is only intended to be lower division. That's
19 correct. So it's only a demonstrative exhibit to organize the names of the
20 residences in the neighborhood, Your Honor. I have a properly zoomed out one
21 that is black and white, Your Honor, that we can use in lieu of that if that's
22 Court's preference.
23 THE COURT: No. I prefer you just fix this one later.
24 MR. BUSBY: I will, Your Honor.
25 THE COURT: 5, 5A and 197 admitted without objection.
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1 (State's Exhibit 5, 5A and 197 admitted into evidence)
2 MR. BUSBY: I'm going to ask to publish these during the course of
3 the witness's testimony.
5 BY MR. BUSBY:
6 Q So Detective, just backing up a little bit to the initial steps that you take
7 when you arrived on scene. You stated that there was canvasing and you're
8 gathering basic information; is that correct?
9 A Yes, sir.
10 Q And when you arrived on scene had XXXX Sunnyfield Court been
11 secured prior to your arrival?
12 A Yes, sir. It had.
13 Q And when you arrive on scene and the area is secured, what is the next
14 step in your process as far as gathering evidence or processing the scene?
15 A At that point once I understand what the scene includes, I'm going to
16 start the process of basically -- I legally want to be where I'm trying to search or
17 send my crime lab people to work. So I wanted to obtain search warrants. I
18 wanted to obtain consent to search, whatever I needed to have the crime I'm
19 getting involved to begin their processing.
20 Q So you have two separate buildings, 2830 and XXXX: 2830 belonging to
21 Allison Becker. Did you seek a search warrant for Allison Becker's property?
22 A I did not.
23 Q Why not?
24 A I was able to obtain consent to search from her. I didn't think she was
25 involved in anything other than being a victim of a crime.
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1 Q And did you obtain a search warrant for XXXX Sunnyfield Court?
2 A I did.
3 Q And why was the reason for that?
4 A At that point, we didn't understand completely what Mr. Blackburn's
5 involvement in this is and I wanted to make ensure that I was on good legal
6 standing to be in the house to collect all the evidence that we needed.
7 Q And as you testified, Mr. Blackburn was not on the premises at the time,
8 correct?
9 A That's correct.
10 Q So after obtaining the warrant and consent to search those two locations,
11 what did you do next?
12 A I requested crime lab to respond.
13 Q And starting with 2830, Allison Becker's residence, did you meet with
14 Ms. Becker yourself or did you have another detective meet with her?
15 A I believe Detective Kepler met with her.
16 Q And on a scene like this, what direction is then given to the crime scene
17 specialist after that initial meeting?
18 A I'm sorry, what?
19 Q What direction will be given to the crime scene specialist based on that
20 conversation?
21 A Basically to process it as a major case. I want it to be fully processed for
22 video, photographs, prints, DNA, any physical search for any evidence that we
23 could recover. I wanted to treat it as a homicide scene.
24 Q And while processing the scene and speaking to Detective Kepler, for the
25 purpose of your investigation, what did you learn about the scene there at
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1 2830?
2 A We learned that during the course of the burglary, entry was made
3 through the back door, through the back screen door. And then as they
4 continued toward the front of the house, the suspects then disabled a camera
5 inside of the home.
6 Q And were you able to determine approximately what time that happened?
7 A Yeah. She could determine from the video that a hand pushed the
8 camera over at approximately 5:36 a.m.
9 Q Now Ms. Becker testified earlier today that she provided you with a list of
10 items that had been taken from her home; is that correct?
11 A Correct.
12 Q And what did you do with that list?
13 A Eventually, that was placed in the report and that was something I made
14 note of.
15 Q So initially when you first met with her, was she able to give you a
16 thorough list or just a partial list?
17 A Just a partial list.
18 Q And what was the partial list initially?
19 A I believe it was TVs, televisions mostly. And also, I didn't know much
20 more than that at that point.
21 Q Did you subsequently supplement that report?
22 A Yes.
23 Q How was that done?
24 A It was done by the reporting officer. It was supplemented to all items
25 that were taken and a follow up interview with Ms. Becker.
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1 Q I'm going to shift directions here and talk about the canvasing. I might
2 have published State's Exhibit 4, which you previously reviewed. Can you
3 explain what this is a picture of?
4 A This is an ariel photograph depicting the area of XXXX Sunnyfield Court
5 and Sun Meadow Way and Drive.
6 Q And XXXX is depicted in this particular map by that red dot on the
7 righthand corner; is that correct?
8 A Yes, sir.
9 Q And that's on Sunnyfield Court. And then the next street north of that is
10 Sunnyfield Way; is that right?
11 A Sun Meadow Way.
12 Q Sun Meadow Way. I'm sorry.
13 A Yes, sir.
14 Q Now proceeding through your investigation while you're canvasing the
15 neighborhood, are you making contact with neighbors?
16 A Yes.
17 Q I'm going to ask you about some names that you contacted through the
18 course of your investigation and ask you where they live for the purpose of sort
19 of explaining where everybody is. Did you meet with a Reginald and Raquel
20 Townsel?
21 A I did.
22 Q And where do they live?
23 A It's 2804 Sunnyfield Court.
24 Q And on this particular map, the addresses are very faintly -- so they were
25 at 2804 Sunnyfield Court; is that correct?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And then you met with an individual named Amanda Cummings?
3 A I did.
4 Q Where did Amanda Cummings live?
6 Q And then an individual named Natasha Jones?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And where did Natasha Jones reside?
10 Q An individual named Kurt Baker?
11 A Yes, sir.
12 Q And where did Mr. Baker live?
14 Q And then earlier today you had testimony from Angela Knox. At the time
15 this occurred, where did Angela Knox live?
17 Q Now during the course of your investigation, you also identified an
18 individual of interest that did not live on Sunnyfield Court, but lived on
19 Meadow Way; is that correct?
20 A Yes, sir.
21 Q Who is that person?
22 A Gary Huddleston.
23 Q And did you personally talk to Mr. Huddleston or was it part of the
24 canvasing after?
25 A It was part of the canvasing after when he was spoken to by Detective
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1 Dan Kepler.
2 Q I'm now going to show you what's been entered as State's Exhibit 5. This
3 is a blowup that shows these addresses on it; is that correct?
4 A Yes, sir.
5 Q No 5A shows the addresses labeled with the names of the person that live
6 in that house; is that correct?
7 A Yes, sir.
8 Q So Ms. Knox is living in the bottom lefthand corner across the street from
9 Mr. Baker for example?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And we see Jones Tank, Natasha Jones, also known as Natasha Jones
12 Tank; is that correct?
13 A Yes.
14 Q So just for purposes of further reference to understand where everybody
15 is in this neighborhood, this map would help clarify their location; is that
16 correct?
17 A Yes, sir. It would.
18 Q And finally you mentioned a person on Sun Meadow Way. That was a
19 Bruce Huddleston. Directing you to State's Exhibit 197. Is this Bruce
20 Huddleston?
21 A Yes, sir.
22 Q And can you please give us an update on Mr. Huddleston's, I guess,
23 current status? Lightly way of putting it.
24 A He died in April of 2021.
25 Q And prior to Mr. Huddleston passing away, you and your office contacted
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1 him and collected a security video from him; is that correct?
2 A Yes, sir.
3 Q And that security video showed Sun Meadow Way out in front of his
4 house; is that correct?
5 A It did.
6 Q In addition to Mr. Huddleston's residence, did you look at any other
7 security video in this neighborhood?
8 A There were a few others. Yes, sir.
9 Q And did that include Kurt Baker?
10 A Yes, sir.
11 Q And did you obtain that surveillance video from Mr. Baker?
12 A I personally did not, but I know we recovered it.
13 Q Which detective recovered it; do you recall?
14 A I recall if it was Kepler or Mann (phonetic).
15 Q Now, in addition to the surveillance cameras and initial conversation that
16 you had with Mr. Huddleston, and based on that conversation that you had
17 with Mr. Huddleston, you had a rough idea that you were looking for a specific
18 type of car; is that correct?
20 Q Can you explain sort of what you were told and what you were looking
21 for based on that conversation?
22 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, I'm going to object to this as being
23 hearsay.
24 THE COURT: Any reason why this isn't hearsay?
25 MR. BUSBY: It's not being offered for the truth of the matter
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1 asserted. More to show the direction the investigation took. Additionally, Your
2 Honor, you being a complex trier of fact, we wouldn't attempt this necessarily
3 in front of a jury, but I think you can balance the weight versus appropriate
4 value.
5 THE COURT: Best way to do it is simply say as a result of the
6 information received, what did you do next?
7 MR. BUSBY: I could ask that that way.
8 THE COURT: Is that satisfactory, Mr. Casanova?
10 BY MR. BUSBY:
11 Q As a result of the information received from Mr. Huddleston, what did
12 you do next?
13 A I began looking for a light-colored Chrysler Sebring.
14 Q And when you say you began looking, what process do you use to make
15 sure that everybody is looking for this car?
16 A It's by radio broadcast, by word of mouth, other detectives. You know, if
17 I get enough information, I'll enter the vehicle as a felony wanted in NCIC.
18 Q Now to who does that information go?
19 A As far as vehicles in NCIC?
20 Q Yeah.
21 A Anybody who would come in contact with that vehicle as far as a law
22 enforcement officer.
23 Q So if a law enforcement officer stops, sees a parked car, types in the
24 information of the parked car, that will pop up as an alert?
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1 Q Now directing your attention from 2830 to XXXX Sunnyside, the
2 Blackburn residence, did you personally walk through the crime scene at that
3 residence?
4 A I did.
5 Q And approximately what time did you do that?
6 A That was approximately 3:14 p.m.
7 Q And as you previously testified, the victim was no longer on the scene; is
8 that correct?
9 A That's correct.
10 Q So walk me through your initial thoughts when you walked on the scene.
11 There's been testimony that in the central area of the living room, there was a
12 pair of underwear found and blood and that Ms. Blackburn was found
13 unclothed. How did that shape your investigation going forward?
14 A I began to think about the process of a potential sexual assault
15 investigation to go along with the shooting at the scene.
16 Q And what does that lead to when you start considering sexual assault
17 and the steps that you take after that?
18 A I wanted to make sure that an exam was done on Ms. Blackburn.
19 Q And there's previous testimony from Tammy Wolverton that such an
20 exam was done; is that right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Okay. Additionally, we've had information presented about items
23 photographed that was collected at the house. Were there other items in the
24 house of interest to you as you walked through?
25 A There were several items of interest to me as I walked through. One in
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1 particular was Amanda Blackburn's cellphone, which I located next to the bed.
2 Q What did you do with Amanda Blackburn's cellphone when you located
3 it?
4 A I listened to a voicemail that was on her phone from Chase Bank about
5 suspicious activity on her debit card.
6 Q And did you make a recording of that voicemail?
7 A I did.
8 Q I'm going to hand you what's been marked as State's Exhibit 16 for the
9 purpose of identification.
10 THE COURT: Did you say 1-6?
11 BY MR. BUSBY:
12 Q 1-6, Your Honor. I'm handing you State's Exhibit 16, proposed State's
13 Exhibit 16. Can you take a moment to review that?
14 A (Witness complies) Yes, sir.
15 Q And what is that item?
16 A This is a CD which contains the voicemail from Chase Bank to Amanda
17 Blackburn's voicemail itself.
18 Q And you listened to this previously and initialed it with today's date?
19 A I did listen to it and those are my initials.
20 Q Thank you. Was this voicemail instrumental in your investigation going
21 forward?
22 A Yes, sir. Very much so.
23 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, at this time, State will submit State's
24 Exhibit 16 into evidence.
25 MR. CASANOVA: No objection, Judge.
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1 THE COURT: Show Exhibit 16 admitted without objection.
2 MR. BUSBY: Move to publish State's Exhibit 16.
4 THE COURT: It would be faster and more clear if you simply told
5 us what it said.
6 MR. BUSBY: I can do that, Your Honor. Sure. It's not very long,
7 Judge.
8 THE COURT: Okay.
9 (Whereupon, an audio recording, State Exhibit 16 was played in open
11 (Audio ended at 4:57 p.m.)
12 BY MR. BUSBY:
13 Q Detective, that message contains both a card number and a reference
14 number. How did you use the contents of that call in your investigation going
15 forward?
16 A I provided that information to Sergeant Eric Eads (phonetic) who is a
17 grand jury investigator for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department or
18 at least he was at the time.
19 Q And what's the significant of him being a grand jury investigator as far as
20 this particular act goes?
21 A He -- Sergeant Eads would have much quicker access to grand jury
22 subpoenas than I would as far as trying to recover full account activity on that
23 card itself and that reference number.
24 Q So you stated on that call that it was approximately 7:13 when you listed
25 to that message?
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1 A Correct.
2 Q How soon after that did you speak with Sergeant Eads?
3 A I spoke to him at approximately 7:48 p.m.
4 Q And was Sergeant Eads able to research the call that you provided
5 between that time?
6 A Yes, he was.
7 Q And for the purpose of your investigation only, based on your
8 conversation with Sergeant Eads at that time, what information did you
9 incorporate into your investigation going forward?
10 A I began following up on attempted bank withdrawals at Chase Banks.
11 One located at 1313 West 86th Street. Another one located at 6881 North
12 Michigan Road. And I asked him to follow up to try and obtain still
13 photographs from attempted ATM withdraws.
14 Q Now, when processing a crime scene I think between yourself and a
15 crime scene specialist brand new, there's a lot of information that can be
16 collected. In a situation like this, are you able to rush any of that information?
17 A I can request a rush and I chose to request a rush on the prints that had
18 already been recovered on the scene.
19 Q So you arrived on scene at 10:24 a.m. What time did you stop working
20 on November 10th, 2015?
21 A I stopped working at approximately 1:00 a.m. on November 11th, 2015.
22 Q And when did you get back to work on this case after that?
23 A Approximately 7:00 a.m. on November 11th. I'm sorry, yeah, 7:00 a.m.
24 Q When you picked back up at 7:00 a.m. on the 11th, what was your first
25 order of business?
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1 A I reviewed emails and updates from the -- from Sergeant Knapp at the
2 time who was the assigned latent print examiner and spoke with him about
3 prints on my rush request.
4 Q And was there any results of those rush requests at that time?
5 A Not at that point.
6 Q What did you do after speaking with Mr. Knapp or Sergeant Knapp?
7 A I went to Methodist Hospital and met with Dr. Timothy Ellender.
8 Q And for the purpose of your investigation, what did you learn about the
9 status of Amanda Blackburn at that time?
10 A He notified me that as of 7:55 a.m. on the 11th that Amanda had no
11 brain activity and was basically declared deceased.
12 Q What did you do after that meeting?
13 A I met with David Blackburn.
14 Q What was the purpose of your meeting with David Blackburn?
15 A To make sure I had all the information that I could regarding credit
16 cards, debit cards, banking information. I asked him to follow up on items that
17 may have been taken from the house that because we don't live there, we don't
18 know what could have been taken during the course of this burglary.
19 Q Can you characterize your interaction with Davy that morning?
20 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, I'm going to object to the relevance of
21 this.
22 MR. BUSBY: I can rephrase, Your Honor.
23 THE COURT: Show the question withdrawn.
24 BY MR. BUSBY:
25 Q Was Davy still a suspect at that point?
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1 A I didn't know at that point what his involvement was, but he was above
2 board cooperative and went above and beyond to do everything I asked him to
3 do.
4 Q So during the course of the investigation when you say everything you
5 asked, can you use an example of things you might ask a witness to do or
6 someone in Mr. Blackburn's position to do for you?
7 A He gave two separate statements to two different detectives. He provided
8 his DNA. He provided his clothing. He provided information about his
9 whereabouts that were easily verified. He displayed appropriate reactions of
10 grief. He -- again, anything I asked him to do in this investigation, he was
11 eager to help, eager to assist.
12 Q Thank you. Following your meeting with Davy Blackburn, according to
13 your notes, about 9:30 that morning you got a significant I guess lead for lack
14 of a better way of putting it, regarding your case. Now we did discuss there
15 were two scenes. One at XXXX and one at 2830. Were you made of another
16 scene that might be related to your case that morning?
17 A Yes, sir. I was.
18 Q Can you explain, based on that lead, how it affected your investigation?
19 A I began following up on a burglary that occurred at 5756 San Clemente.
20 During the course of that burglary, I learned that a light-colored Chrysler
21 Sebring had been stolen after the burglary had occurred that was registered to
22 that address.
23 Q And that was ultimately the residence of Jacola Searsburg who testified
24 earlier?
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1 Q Where was San Clemente drive in relation to the two scenes on
2 Sunnyfield Court?
3 A The Sunnyfield Court scenes are actually the near northwest side of
4 Indianapolis. San Clemente is located on the northeast side of Indianapolis in
5 the area of 56th Street and I-465.
6 Q What did you do with that information from that car in that location?
7 A I had enough information at that point to enter a felony wanted into
8 NCIC that I spoke to previously or testified to previously, so I put that
9 information into NCIC.
10 Q So in addition to knowing a possible make and color of a car, were you
11 able to enter identifiers to that car into the system?
12 A Yes. I was able to enter a plate number and a VIN number.
13 Q And that was obtained indirectly, I guess, from Ms. Searsbrook; is that
14 correct?
15 A Correct.
16 Q Ultimately, did that result in you locating a car of interest?
17 A We did.
18 Q Can you explain how that happened?
19 A Officer Elliot was called to 38th and Rookwood Drive where that vehicle
20 was found parked on the side of the road.
21 Q What did you do once that car was located?
22 A Initially, I just had it documented at scene. I had it towed. I'm sorry,
23 documented at the scene by the crime lab, including photographs of that
24 scene. I had it towed, and I had it secured so we could obtain either a search
25 warrant or a consent to search that vehicle.
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1 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, at this time, the State has an agreed
2 stipulation as to fact and some exhibits to publish through that stipulation.
3 State's Exhibit 138 agreed stipulation as to the fact of disability. And, Your
4 Honor, the exhibit is State's Exhibit 138, agreed stipulation as to fact,
5 admissibility is now offered into the record. Move to publish at this time.
6 THE COURT: Do you want me to read it out loud?
7 MR. BUSBY: Would you like me to read it out loud?
8 THE COURT: Or can I just read it to myself?
9 MR. BUSBY: Yeah, I think Mr. Casanova told you he prefers to
10 have it read into the record if we could.
12 THE COURT: 138. For the benefit of those in the gallery, there are
13 different kinds of stipulations that you sometimes find in courts. Sometimes
14 you'll agree that if a person were here, this is what he or she would say. This is
15 a stipulation as to fact, which means if you were to consider a person were
16 here, this is what he or she would say, but you don't have to agree that it's
17 true. The attorneys are agreeing that this is true.
18 "State of Indiana by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark
19 Busby and the Defendant by his Attorney Ray Casanova, hereby
20 notify the Court that they have reached the following agreed
21 stipulation as to fact and the admissibility of evidence, to wit;
22 number one, Steven Elliot is a sworn law enforcement officer
23 employed by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
24 Number two, on November 11, 2015 at 10:28 p.m., Officer Elliot
25 was dispatched to the 3800 block of Rookwood Avenue on a report
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1 of an abandoned vehicle. Number three, upon arrival at that
2 location, Officer Elliot located a silver 2007 Chrysler Sebring.
3 Number four, an overhead map of the location where the vehicle
4 was found is marked as State's Exhibit 139."
5 MR. BUSBY: (Inaudible), Your Honor. Have them ready to go.
6 THE COURT: "Photographs of that vehicle as it was found at that
7 location were taken and are marked as State's Exhibits 140 through 143.
8 Number six, the vehicle was essentially towed to a secure location for further
9 examination. Number seven, the parties stipulate to the admissibility of State's
10 Exhibits 139 through 143 and witness thereof.
11 "All parties to this stipulation hereby affix their signatures and
12 further agree and stipulate that upon signing this form it shall become final,
13 irrevocable, and binding upon them."
14 That's 139 through 143?
16 (State's Exhibit 139 through 143 admitted into evidence)
17 MR. BUSBY: Can I show the witness briefly?
18 THE COURT: (No audible response)
19 BY MR. BUSBY:
20 Q And, sir, I'm showing you State's Exhibits 139 through 143 inclusive,
21 which have been entered into evidence by agreement of the parties. 139 being
22 a map of the location where this -- generally where this car was located. And
23 State's Exhibits 140 through 143 being photographs of the Sebring located at
24 that time. And just for purposes of making a record, that is the car that you
25 were searching for based on the information from the system; is that right?
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1 A Yes, sir. That's correct.
2 Q And then this vehicle was ultimately towed and processed by Crime
3 Scene Specialist Brandyberry; is that correct?
4 A Correct.
6 BY MR. BUSBY:
7 Q Now at some point on the 11th, you received results from your latent
8 print request. What was the results of that request?
9 A We didn't have any evidence of value as a result of that request.
10 Q Now, you then subsequently returned to the Blackburn residence
11 sometime that day, correct?
12 A Yes, I did.
13 Q What was the purpose of returning to the residence at that time?
14 A Detective Kepler had noticed a couple of holes in the ceiling. I believe in
15 the kitchen area that he thought maybe got bullet holes. So we returned to
16 process that scene with Crime Scene Specialist Clark.
17 Q And that was the basis for Mr. Clark's testimony earlier today where he
18 discovered a bullet hole that was not in the ceiling but actually in the stairwell;
19 is that correct?
20 A Yes, sir.
21 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, may the parties approach briefly?
22 THE COURT: Say it again please?
23 MR. BUSBY: May we approach?
24 THE COURT: Yes.
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1 MR. BUSBY: This is where we planned on stopping with Detective
2 Lehn today with the allotted schedule. We have some stipulations we can read
3 in. He will be testifying two more times throughout the course of the trial, but
4 he got in rather late last night and I want to make sure he's (inaudible)
5 testimony.
6 THE COURT: You want him to stay sharp?
7 MR. BUSBY: Yeah, exactly. So we can get some stipulations
8 knocked out or a trial deposition knocked out just to use up the time left.
9 THE COURT: How long is the trial deposition?
10 MR. BUSBY: They're fairly short.
11 MS. SNYDER: It's maybe 30 minutes at the longest, but it's short.
12 MR. BUSBY: We've got one we can (inaudible).
13 THE COURT: Well, okay. How are you folks doing because it's
14 been a long day for you too and it's going to be a long one tomorrow? Are we
15 ahead of schedule?
16 MR. BUSBY: Yeah. I think so.
17 MS. SNYDER: Yeah, we're tracking along.
18 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah. We're right on pace.
19 MR. BUSBY: We're going to be Wednesday whether we rush it
20 right now or (inaudible).
21 THE COURT: I understand, but I don't want to (inaudible).
22 MR. BUSBY: What I do have to tell you is that I did receive an
23 email from a Grant Melton (phonetic). That is our computer expert. He says
24 he has a cold. He says he's been tested. It's not COVID. I just want it to be
25 known.
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1 THE COURT: Just put him five or six masks and --
2 MR. BUSBY: We'll figure something out.
3 THE COURT: He could be over there in the box instead of in the --
4 MR. BUSBY: I will get a scuba diving suit if that's what it takes.
5 We'll get him in a dry suit, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: How are you guys doing?
7 MR. CASANOVA: We're okay.
8 THE COURT: Okay. What would be the best order? A couple of
9 stipulations and then the deposition or the deposition first or what?
10 MR. BUSBY: The deposition we'll be reading into the record. I
11 misspoke when I said trial depositions (inaudible). We can play the one on disc
12 or we can read one. What would you prefer?
13 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It doesn't matter.
14 MR. BUSBY: We can play the one from the neighbor. That's pretty
15 short.
16 MS. SNYDER: Yeah. That one is probably going to be shorter.
17 THE COURT: Well, what's the best order for doing these things?
18 MR. BUSBY: We'll do Ms. Jones first and then we can do some
19 stipulations to fill some more time up.
20 MS. SNYDER: Yeah.
21 MR. BUSBY: And then we understand this has been disjointed. I
22 promise we'll clarify that.
23 THE COURT: (Inaudible).
24 MR. BUSBY: (Inaudible).
25 THE COURT: I can't read them, but I took them.
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1 MR. BUSBY: Sounds like my notes, Your Honor.
2 THE COURT: Okay. Let's go on with whatever your next step is.
5 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, Mr. Lehn will testify again later in the
6 trial. At this point, we do pass him for cross-examination on the subject
7 matters covered so far.
8 THE COURT: Cross?
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. CASANOVA:
11 Q Thank you, Judge. Detective, you mentioned becoming aware of Chase
12 Bank alert, correct?
13 A Yes. That's correct.
14 Q And as a result of that, you mentioned that you contact Sergeant Eads
15 with the grand jury?
16 A Yes, sir.
17 Q Because Sergeant Eads is in a better position to obtain records that may
18 help you investigate that Chase Bank alert?
19 A He can expedite it. That's what I was looking for. Yes, sir.
20 Q And is it correct that as a result of Sergeant Eads work you were able to
21 obtain some video from some of the ATM's, Chase ATM's?
22 A Yes, later on. Yes, sir.
23 Q And then you also mentioned that the burglary on San Clemente
24 involving Jacola Searsbrook's residence, that is another (sic) information that
25 you had that you felt was relevant to the burglaries on Sunnyfield?
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CROSS-EXAMINATION THOMAS LEHN
1 A Yes, sir.
2 Q Okay. And as a result of that, you were able to locate the Sebring,
3 correct?
4 A Yes, sir.
5 Q The Sebring on Brookwood?
6 A Yes, sir.
7 Q And as a result of locating that Sebring, you were able to find a sweater,
8 a pink sweater inside that vehicle?
9 A Yes, sir.
10 Q Okay. And that sweater was eventually tested for DNA, correct?
11 A Yes, sir. It was.
12 Q And as a result of that testing, led you to Jalen Watson; is that correct?
13 A Yes, sir.
14 MR. CASANOVA: I have nothing further, Judge.
15 THE COURT: Any further questions?
16 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, we will be addressing those issues later
17 in the trial, so no further questions on that. But I don't want to rest of the
18 issue if that's what the Court is asking me. I just have no questions to clarify.
19 THE COURT: So no questions?
20 MR. BUSBY: No, Your Honor.
21 THE COURT: I have a couple. 38th and Rookwood --
22 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
23 THE COURT: Is that kind of on the path from Ms. Searsbrook's
24 house to I believe --
25 THE WITNESS: It could be, Your Honor, if you're traveling on 38th
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1 Street.
2 THE COURT: Okay. And you mentioned two possible Chase Bank
3 branches in the area from which the card was stolen.
4 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
5 THE COURT: Is it near either of those?
6 THE WITNESS: 38th and Rookwood?
7 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
8 THE WITNESS: Those two branches are closer to the Blackburn
9 residence where everything occurred. In actuality, it's just a couple miles east
10 on 38th Street to get to Rookwood.
11 THE COURT: Okay. So get the card, go the bank, get some
12 money, heading back east, dump the car?
13 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir. I don't know how to say this without
14 being questioned about it.
15 THE COURT: If I'm wrong, just say I'm wrong.
16 THE WITNESS: No. That's part of it. But in the process, I think
17 somebody was picked up back in the neighborhood and then you proceed east
18 on 38th Street.
19 THE COURT: Okay.
20 THE WITNESS: In the neighborhood where it occurred at.
21 THE COURT: Questions on my questions?
22 MR. BUSBY: No, Your Honor.
23 MR. CASANOVA: No.
24 THE COURT: May the witness stand down for now?
25 MR. BUSBY: Yes.
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2 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Next?
4 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, at this time State's Exhibit 291, a
5 stipulation between the parties, so sponsoring State's Exhibit 192 into
6 evidence.
7 THE COURT: Did you say 291?
8 MR. BUSBY: 291, that's correct, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: That's the stipulation?
10 MR. BUSBY: That's the stipulation itself. It will be sponsoring
11 Exhibit 192.
12 THE COURT: This is a stipulation, so I assume there's no
13 objection?
14 MR. CASANOVA: Yes, involving Detective Gray obtaining the
15 buccal from Ms. Blackburn.
16 THE COURT: Okay. This is another stipulation as to fact?
17 Anybody?
18 MR. BUSBY: It is, Your Honor. It should be a stipulation as to
19 fact and admissibility.
21 THE COURT: "State of Indiana by its Deputy Prosecuting Attorney,
22 Mark Busby, and the Defendant by his counsel, Ray Casanova, stipulate to the
23 following information: Number one, Detective Stephen Gray (phonetic) was
24 employed as a homicide detective with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police
25 Department on November 11, 2015. Number two, Detective Gray responded to
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1 Methodist Hospital at approximately 10:45 a.m. on November 11, 2015. Three,
2 Detective Gray spoke with David Blackburn, husband of Amanda Blackburn
3 and obtained a buccal cell standard from David Blackburn, marked as State's
4 Exhibit 192. Four, David Blackburn's buccal cells standard was obtained
5 following the correct procedures. Detective Gray transported State's Exhibit
6 192 to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department property room where
7 State's Exhibit 192 was stored properly and securely.
8 "Number five, State's Exhibit 192 is in the same or substantially
9 the same condition as when Detective Gray obtained it from David Blackburn
10 and will be admitted into evidence." And here is 192 admitted by stipulation.
11 MR. BUSBY: Correct.
13 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, at this time, State offers State's Exhibit
14 93, agreed stipulation as to fact and admissibility. This document specifically
15 sponsors State's Exhibits 94 through 105.
16 THE COURT: Read the stipulation number again please.
17 MR. BUSBY: 93.
18 THE COURT: 93, not 193?
19 MR. BUSBY: Just 93.
20 THE COURT: And it sponsors?
21 MR. BUSBY: It sponsors two groups of evidence, Your Honor.
22 Exhibits 94 through 105, which are photographs.
23 THE COURT: And?
24 MR. BUSBY: And State's Exhibit 106 through 110 inclusive, which
25 are physical items collected at the autopsy of Amanda Blackburn.
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1 And, Your Honor, we'd ask the Court hold this under advisement
2 until Dr. Cavanaugh is ready to testify so we can handle that sort of all at once
3 given the sensitive nature.
4 THE COURT: That's fine. So we're not doing 93. It makes sense
5 to do it in his presence.
6 MR. BUSBY: I think we'll (inaudible), Your Honor. (Inaudible) the
7 record. We will proceed with 93. Hold this under advisement until the
8 morning.
9 THE COURT: There you go.
10 MR. BUSBY: Thank you, sir. Next is State's Exhibit 289,
11 stipulation as to fact. State's Exhibit 289 is a stipulation as to facts governing
12 witness Kurt Baker as sponsoring State's Exhibit 112, surveillance video taken
13 from Mr. Baker's residence.
15 THE COURT: Okay. This is another stipulation as to fact.
16 "The State of Indiana by its Deputy Prosecuting Attorney,
17 Mark Busby, and the Defendant by his counsel, Ray Casanova,
18 stipulate to the following information: On November 10, 2015,
19 Kirk Baker, lived at 2918 Sunnyfield Court, Indianapolis, Indiana
20 46228. Number two, Mr. Baker's residence at 2918 Sunnyfield,
21 had a surveillance video system that was motion activated and in
22 good working condition on November 10, 2015. Number three,
23 detectives with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
24 obtained a copy of the surveillance video from Mr. Baker's
25 residence marked as State's Exhibit 112. Four, Mr. Baker
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1 reviewed and initialed State's Exhibit 112 to confirm this exhibit,
2 that State's Exhibit 112 is a true and accurate copy of the
3 surveillance video at his home from November 10, 2015.
4 "Five, the timestamp on State's Exhibit 112 is accurate into
5 minutes. Number six, State's Exhibit 112 will be admitted into
6 evidence."
7 And this is Exhibit 112.
9 MR. BUSBY: Yes, Your Honor. May we publish at this time?
10 Thank you, Your Honor.
11 (Pause)
12 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, the disc contains three short videos.
13 They do play in accelerated format just due to what we're using now and what
14 we were using back then. So I'm going to play it once at normal speed and then
15 I'm going to scroll through a second time otherwise, something like Benny Hill.
16 THE COURT: Does that work for you, Mr. Casanova?
18 (Whereupon, a video recording, State Exhibit 112 was played in open
20 (Audio ended at 5:29 p.m.)
21 THE COURT: Do you have those three was the closest to real
22 time?
23 MR. BUSBY: Your Honor, when using the player, we set the
24 playback speed on slow. I think that's the only way to get them to play.
25 They're all three different timestamps, so they're three different separate videos.
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1 That's the significance.
2 THE COURT: Which one was closer to real time?
3 MR. BUSBY: I think they all run at the same speed unless you
4 adjust the playback speed to slower, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: Okay. Okay. Am I correct that we're slightly ahead
6 of schedule?
7 MR. BUSBY: We, Your Honor. You have -- State another witness
8 to play and that would be it, but we can do that tomorrow morning as well,
9 Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: You covered more than a third of your witnesses.
11 How long -- are you calling everyone on the list or have we --
12 MR. BUSBY: No, Your Honor. We are not.
13 MR. CICCHINI: There are going to be one or two, Judge, that we're
14 going to be able to take off the list. But we are moving along pretty well.
15 THE COURT: Defense, are you ready to continue or are you ready
16 to pack it in for the night?
17 MR. CASANOVA: I'm ready to call it a night, Judge.
18 THE COURT: When do we want to start again tomorrow?
19 MR. BUSBY: Does the Court have a calendar tomorrow that we
20 need to consider?
21 THE COURT: No.
22 MR. BUSBY: Okay.
23 THE COURT: We start at --
24 MR. BUSBY: We can be here at 8:30 or 9:00 o'clock. Up to the
25 Court, Your Honor.
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1 THE COURT: We started at about 10:00 o'clock this morning,
2 right?
3 MR. BUSBY: Yeah.
4 THE COURT: We got here. When I get in, there's going to be
5 something for me to do. It's just the nature of the beast. Let's aim for 9:00,
6 hope for 9:15.
7 MR. BUSBY: Will do, Your Honor.
8 THE COURT: Does that work for the Defense?
10 THE COURT: Deputy, does that work for you? Work for you folks?
11 Then we will be in recess until hopefully 9:00 o'clock tomorrow.
12 THE BAILIFF: All rise.
13 (Jury out at 5:32 p.m.)
14 THE COURT: Be seated.
15 (Proceedings adjourned at 5:32 p.m.)
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Transcript of Bench Trial For Larry Jo Taylor, Jr.

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Received: 5/24/2023 1:41 PM

APPELLATE NO. 22A-CR-02615

LARRY J. TAYLOR, JR., ) APPEAL FROM THE MARION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:

VALERIE K. BOOTS THEODORE ROKITA

BEFORE THE HONORABLE GRANT W. HAWKINS

JUDGE OF THE MARION COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

DATE: SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Court Reporter: Nneka Shaheed

Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording;

ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF, STATE OF INDIANA

ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT, LARRY J. TAYLOR, JR.

2 (Called to order at 9:47 a.m.)

3 THE COURT: It looks like we're ready. State of Indiana v. Larry J.

5 read you the cause number.

6 Would you do me the honors, Mr. Casanova?

7 MR. CASANOVA: It's 49D31-1511-MR-041732.

9 MR. CASANOVA: That's correct, Judge.

10 THE COURT: Is that your understanding, counsel?

12 included in it. Yes, Your Honor.

14 MR. CASANOVA: There are multiple counts under that cause

15 number including murder. Yes, Your Honor.

17 If that's the question.

18 THE COURT: I wanted to make sure we had a clean record on it.

22 as assisting witness at times. Mark Prater (phonetic) with the Indianapolis

23 Metropolitan Police Department is here helping us with the evidence as Mr.

24 Lehn is retired, but he will not be a witness in the matter.

25 THE COURT: Are you folks ready?

2 THE BAILIFF: Yeah, we do care, sir.

3 THE COURT: Oh, you do care?

4 THE BAILIFF: We need him only dressed and uncuffed (inaudible)

6 THE COURT: Can we go ahead and dress him --

7 THE BAILIFF: (Inaudible).

15 until after your until after you testify.

17 can be moved or is it required to stay where it is?

18 MR. BUSBY: That can't be moved.

19 THE COURT: Well, the simple answer is I get in trouble if you

20 move it and break it.

21 MR. CASANOVA: Understood.

22 THE COURT: I don't want to get in trouble.

23 MR. CASANOVA: I don't want to move it and break it. As far as

4 Unless it's the (inaudible) violator.

5 Mr. Busby, is there something you wanted to use the machine to

12 MR. CASANOVA: Judge, we'll be using that to show exhibits.

13 THE COURT: Thankfully it's a court trial and we won't need it as

17 now it's less reliable.

18 MR. CASANOVA: So we can move it if we don't break it.

19 THE COURT: I'm giving you up in a minute, if you move that

20 table. We're under instruction not to move it.

21 MR. CASANOVA: Understood, Your Honor.

22 THE COURT: State, by any chance do you have a list of witnesses

23 and perhaps the order in which they'll be called?

25 you like me to email you a copy as well?

2 stumble their way up.

3 THE BAILIFF: Yes, sir. I wasn't asked or inquired about the

5 THE COURT: Judges weren't asked about the design of the

7 Did you see the jury rooms?