Friday, February 13, 2009

Deliberations

DELIBERATIONS ARE UNDERWAY

After an hour delay, Judge Laura Hamilton has begun charging the jury.

Guilty of Capital Murder of Thurston Turner and Tank Beavers.

If they do not find him guilty of capital murder, they can then consider the two deaths seperate and come to different verdicts concerning the death of each man.

In regard to the death of Tank Beavers, the jury can return a verdict of guilty of:

Intentional Murder

Reckless Murder

In regard to the death of Thurston Turner, the jury can return a verict of guilty of:

Intentional Murder
Reckless Murder

Attempted Murder......I suppose this is if the jury feels the ER actually killed him????

In regard to the shooting of Tory Rogers, the jury can return a verdict of guilty of:

Attempted Murder

Assault


In regard to the shooting of Tim Reliford, the jury can return a verdict of guilty of:

Assault

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Testimony, Day Nine

Larry Morgan has withdrawn from Jamal Woods defense team. The defense has reopened their case and Larry Morgan is their witness.

Morgan has taken the stand to rebut what he says Dr. Adel Shaker told him over the phone that was different from what Shaker supposedly said on the stand.

Morgan says he called Shaker on Saturday, Feb. 7. He says there were "red flags" in Shakers testimony.

Concerning observations during the post mortem of Turner. He talked about the immobilisation, the process to stop flow of blood from turner. Shaker noted that in his examination that he discovered small metal coils with fabric in the coils that were put in Turners neck to stop the bleeding. He says Shaker told him a better way to have done that would be with a suture. He says a intern would have known to use a suture instead of a metal coil. He says Dr. Shaker told him that the ER doctors had written turner off and were treating him like they would a dead horse.

He says that Dr. Shaker indicated to him, that the procedures done at Huntsville Hospital, were a contributing factor to Thurston Turner's death. He says Dr. Shaker told him that the gunshot to Mr. Turner would not necessarily be fatal to Turner.

He says Dr. Shaker changed his testimony, because he was afraid the state would be mad at him.

His is under cross examination.

Morgan says he just wants to represent his client. It doesn't matter if he wants to get him cleared of the charges or not.

The prosecution has begun their closing arguments.

Larry Morgan, who had been one of Jamal Woods' attorneys, is now sitting in the back of the courtroom as a spectator.

Also, the charges have been ammended. The attempted murder charge involving the shooting of Tim Reliford, has now been changed to first degree assault.

Shauna Barnett is doing the closing argument for the prosecution.

She has finished. Alan Mann is now doing the closing argument for the defense.

Mann says that his job is not to make the jury like Jamal Woods. It is to tell them that the state has not met it's burden of proof to prove capital murder. Murder maybe, but not capital murder.

Rizzardi says beware of traveling salemen who try to sell you snake oil. The defense is selling you a bill of good.

The prosecutor says the Defense tried to pick on the victims.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Testimony, Day Eight

Glenn Vickery is on the stand. He is the headcoach at Daphne High School. He was the head football coach at Davidson High School in Mobile. Jamal Woods was one of his players.

Vickery says he came up on Jamal Woods who was in a fight. He says it took several coaches to separate them.

He says Jamal lost his temper several times. He says it pained him to see Jamal expelled because of his fighting. He says he and Jamal had a close relationship and that Jamal would drop and give him 10 pushups to this day if he asked.

Vickery says Jamal became violent when he found out he would not be allowed to graduate from high school because of too many absences.

Vickery says he tried to be a father figure for Jamal Woods. He also says that when Woods was expelled from Alabama A&M, that Woods called him to apologize.

Bart Sessions is now on the stand. He is a coach at Prattville High School. He was also once a coach at Davidson High School in Mobile. He was an assistant football coach when Jamal Woods was a student there.

Sessions says the fight he witnessed between Jamal Woods and another student was one of the most violent he has ever seen.

Investigator Kevin Turner is on the stand. Kind of a strange witness for the defense, because he works for the DA's offfice. The reason he is on the stand is that he deals with gang activity.

Turner is talking about the gang activity in L.A. He says that if you were a member of one gang and went into the turf of another gang, you could be beaten or even shot.

Turner says that showing disrespect was a very big no no among gangs and could lead to violence.

Court is in recess for lunch while the defense waits on one last witness.

After a very long break, testimony has begun again. Dr. Joseph Ackerson is on the stand. He is a psychologist at UAB. He is expected to be the defense's last witness.

Dr. Ackerson performed a mental evaluation on Jamal Woods.

He says Woods has anti-social personality disorder. Among the criteria are a failure to conform to the norms of lawful behaviour, deceitfulness and reckless disregard for the well-being of himself and others.

The doctor says Jamal's main role model growing up was the head of a gang and that is what he learned from.

Dr. Ackerson says Jamal Woods is very intelligent.

The defense has rested. Closing arguments will begin at 10am in the morning.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Testimony, Day Seven

We are back in the courtroom this morning. Currently we are waiting on Judge Hamilton to enter the courtroom. The defense will continue its side of the argument. Attorney's Larry Morgan and Alan Mann are trying to keep Jamal Woods from getting the death penalty. We have heard that Jamal Woods might take the stand in his own defense. But from other trials I've covered, that tends to be a decision made at the last minute, depending on how other things in the trial are going.

Wanda Jackson is now on the stand. She is his aunt and lives in Los Angeles.

Jackson took care of Jamal while his mother went to school.

Wanda Jackson says that a very young age, Jamal became exposed to gang activity. That it was just a way of life living in L.A.

Wanda Jackson is now under cross-examination.

Jackson says that in addition to doing drive by shootings, that the gangs in L.A. would also have picnics.

Jamal Woods in on the stand in his own defense.

Woods says he has not seen his father since he was 12. But that when he was 2, his father, Roy Woods, came by his house to say he would not be coming by anymore. Jamal says he didn't understand why.

Jamal Woods says he saw his father again when he was 12 or 13. During that meeting the two got into a fight. His father took a swing at him with a belt. He has not seen his father since.

Woods says he moved around to several schools in L.A. Then the family moved to Mobile. He ended up in Huntsville after enrolling at Alabama A&M University.

Jamal Woods says gangs provided the only father figures he ever had. He says he was fascinated with them.

He says he saw his aunt's boyfriend get shot. He says he also saw a lot of fights. Woods says he also saw drive-by shootings.

He says his uncle became a big influence in his life. His uncle was also a part of a gang. Woods says the uncle told him that boys don't cry and they don't let other people disrespect them.

Woods is now talking about fist fights he got in while in school.

Woods says he enrolled at A&M and wanted to become an attorney one day.

We had a break. Alan Mann is still questioning Jamal Woods. Woods is talking about how his mother taught in the value of money.

He says he was expelled from A&M because of fighting. He and another student got into a fight in a cafeteria on campus.

Woods is now describing how he met his wife Tesia at A&M.

Jamal and Tesia had two sons together.

Woods says he sold drugs. He also used pot to excess. He says that he was forced to sell drugs to support his wife and two sons.

Woods is describing what happened to cause a fight in the Madison County jail, since his arrest. He says while his mother was visiting him, another inmate took off his pants and began to masturbate. He says when the guards would not let him fight the inmate, he began to fight the guards. The guards had to taser Woods to get him under control.

Alan Mann is now asking Jamal Woods about the night of the shooting.

Woods, Chauncey Davis, Brandon Rucker and his wife left their home on Blue Springs and went to TGI Friday's.

Woods says Tank Beavers was disrepecting him inside the restaurant. His wife told him that she only knew Tank Beavers through school. But Woods says he thought maybe the two of them were having some type of relationship.

Woods says Tank Beavers shot him a bird. Beavers was sitting at the bar area of the restaurant. Woods and his party were at table. Woods says either Thurston Turner or Tory Rogers seemed to be encouraging Beavers to continue to try and make contact with Jamal Woods' wife.

Jamal Woods yelled across the restaurant, "you need to turn the F*ck around." Woods says they laughed at him.

Woods says he left the restaurant to go to his car to get an I.D. so he could get a drink. But he noticed that his gun was not under the seat of his car. He says when he realized that the gun wasn't in the car, he went to his apartment and got a 9mm pistol.

Court is in recess for lunch.

Court is back in session. Alan Mann is still questioning his client, Jamal Woods.

Woods says he went to get a gun, just as a precaution and never intended to kill anyone. He says he came back to his table. He says he looked back up at the bar area, and Tank Beavers was still smiling. Woods then asked his wife again, "are you sure there is nothing going on between yall?"

Woods went up to the bar and told Beavers he had no right to be talking to his wife.

He said Beavers stood up, and so did the other people with Beavers, at that point Jamal Woods said he pulled out his pistol and started shooting. He said he didn't care if they had guns or not. It was just three against one.

Woods says at the moment of the shooting everything went in a slow motion. Then as soon as it was over, everything started going fast. After he stopped shooting, he ran out of the restaurant and went and got in his car.

Woods says he went to his apartment and watched the news to see what kind of description they had of him.

Woods says he is sorry for what happened. He apologized to the victims and the family members here in the courtroom. None of the victims or their family looked at Woods while he apologized.

Woods is now being cross-examined.

Woods says he wrote to a girlfriend, Tara Blackmon, while he was in jail. In the letter he told Blackmon that she was just as special as his wife. But Woods said he told her that, so that she would continue to sell his "dope" and get the money to his wife and kids.

Woods wrote in one letter a song to his girlfriend that read something like, "I bet your husband didn't shoot like me. I shot one, I shot two, I shot three."

The prosecution is entering more letters that were written by Jamal Woods to his girlfriend. In the letters he tells Tara Blackmon that she can become Mrs. Woods.

Woods is continuing to be cross examined. He says he wasn't thinking when he shot.

Jamal Woods has finished his testimony.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Testimony, Day Six

Testimony got underway late today, because the courtroom was being used for jury selection for other trials. We are underway now. One juror has been dismissed because she has come down with a cold. So one of the four alternates has been picked to serve.

Bill Hancock, one of the Madison County Jail administrators is on the stand.

Hancock says that in November 2007, Jamal Woods had an altercation with jail guards, because Woods' mother was not allowed to visit.

There is a problem in the courtroom. The defense says they may call one of the prosecutors, Shauna Barnett to testify. They believe that the proper chain of custody for letters and documents Jamal Woods wrote while in jail were not properly followed. They claim Barnett had custody of the letters when she should not have had custody of them. So Larry Morgan has asked the judge for a mistrial. Judge Hamilton has left the courtroom, while she makes her decision.

Sorry for the delay. Judge Hamilton has ruled that letters supposedly written by Jamal Woods while in jail, cannot be entered into evidence. The prosecution's last witness was to be a hand writing expert, so he is not testifying. Instead, the prosecution is showing the jury the security camera video from the store. So far the video hasn't even gotten to the shooting portion. It's not clear why the prosecution wants the jury to see all of this, rather than just the shooting itself.

The state has rested its case. We are now waiting for the defense to begin.

The defense calls Dr. Adel Shaker. He also testified for the prosecution.

Friday, February 6, 2009

testimony Day 5

I am having internet problems this morning. I'm having to post this with my blackberry. So far two people have testified. Another police officer and a woman who says she bought cocaine from Jamal woods.

Kemeyttya(sp) Summers took the stand to say that she met up with Jamal Woods in the hours after the shooting to purchase cocaine from him.

Currently Norman Rogers is on the stand. He was with Jamal Woods, when police arrested Woods in the early morning hours of December 18, 2006. Rogers asked to hear his taped interview with police. So the jury has been sent out of the courtroom.

Jury is now back. Norman Rogers is testifying again. He says Jamal Woods told him that he had shot some people that night. At that point, he says he told Woods to not tell him anymore.

They are playing more of Rogers recorded interview with police. The jury has left again.

Norman Rogers has finished his testimony.

Investigator David Owens has been called back to the stand. No doubt to clear up some of the testimony of Normal Rogers for the prosecution.

Court is in recess until 1pm.

Bobby Berryhill, Madison County Coroner, took the stand for all of five minutes. He testified that he pronounced Tank Beavers dead at the scene on the night of the shooting.

Court is in recess until 2pm, while the prosecution awaits another witness.

Dr. Adel Shaker is on the stand. He works for the Alabama Department of Forensic Science. He performed autopsies on the victims. He first performed an autopsy on Tank Beavers on the morning of December 18, 2006.

The jury is about to look at pictures taken of Tank Beavers autopsy.

Shaker says Beavers was shot in the corner of his right eye. The bullet exited from the back of his head, traveled across the bar area of TGI Fridays and hit Tim Reliford in the face.

Shaker is now speaking about the autopsy performed on Thurston Turner. It was performed on December 27, 2006. Turner died at Huntsville Hospital.

The bullet that killed Thurston Turner entered near his mouth and exited his back. That bullet lead to brain death.

Tank Beavers blood alcohol level was .10 at the time of his death.

Court is in recess until Monday morning.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Testimony, Day Four

Testimony is underway again in the trial. Currently, Danny Lamont is on the stand. He retired from the Huntsville Police Department in October of 2008. He is a finger print expert. In fact, he worked for the FBI in the fingerprint division.

Lamont is speaking about the intricate details of how fingerprints work.

This could be titled, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Fingerprints, but Were Afraid to Ask."

Lamont is showing the jurors how he compared fingerprints in this case.

Lamont says fingerprints found at the scene and on the murder weapon, match those of Jamal Woods. The defense had no questions for Lamont.

Tosha Shoulders, the first cousin of Tank Beavers is on the stand.

She says Beavers wanted a career in the NBA. He also wanted to take care of his family.

Thurston Turner's father, Wyman Turner, is on the stand.

Thurston Turner died nine days after the shooting.

Turner was 27 at the time of his death. Wyman Turner says that he had conversations with his son while he was in the hospital. He says that Thurston only responded by moving his eyebrows.

He says Thurston reminded him of himself. Says he loved to played baseball and was good at almost every sport.

Mr. Turner says that at one time while he was speaking to Thurston, that a tear rolled down his face. He says he knows Thurston was hearing what they were saying to him. But toward the end he stopped responding when they spoke to him, so they asked doctors to remove the life support.

After a break, Jason Banks, a neuro-surgeon who treated Thurston Turner, is on the stand. He determined that he was clinically brain dead.

The defense just entered into evidence, a lab report that lists Thurston Turner's blood alcohol level as .161 at the time of the shooting. The legal level is .08.

James Rucker, HPD officer with the K-9 unit is on the stand. The prosecutor and Mr. Rucker are going over the qualification process for dogs in the K-9 unit, including his dog.

Officer Rucker responded to the scene of the shooting. He used his dog to start tracking suspects.

Court is in recess.

HPD Officer Chad Bryant is on the stand. He assisted James Rucker on the night of the shooting.

Chauncey Davis is on the stand. He went to TGI Fridays with Jamal Woods on the night of the shooting.

Davis is under cross examination. Larry Morgan is asking him if he remembers conversations that took place in the moments before the shooting.

Rotesia Woods, the wife of Jamal Woods is on the stand.

She was with Jamal the night of the shooting. She is the person Tank Beavers reportedly waved hello to in the restaurant.

She says Jamal asked her why Tank was waving. She said that she told Jamal that she knew them from school. She says Jamal yelled at Tank Beavers to turn the f*ck around.
She says Jamal did not understand why they were waving at her.

She says she did not see Jamal pull a weapon, and was instead trying to get his friends to go up and get Jamal. She says she then hear four or five gunshots.

Rotesia says that Jamal had a girlfriend at the time of the shooting.