DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. LEE:
Q. Officer, just before we recessed, I believe
we were discussing Exhibit 9 in evidence, the picture of
the paint store. Do you remember that that's where we
left off?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, there is a fancy restaurant almost
directly opposite that particular store.
A. Yes.
Q. Did you enter that establishment in the
course of your investigation?
A. Yes, I walked in the main entranceway, sir.
Q. You would then find yourself in the main
dining room area, would you not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And what did you first observe or what was
your attention attracted to upon entering the area?
A. I noticed some blood spots on the door.
MS. WHITE: I object to the characterization
of blood spots, your Honor. This witness, although
concedingly eminently qualified in his specialty, has not
been shown to be qualified or knowledgeable in this light.
THE COURT: Sustained. Strike it out.
Q. Just describe the spots.
A. There were some reddish stains on the inside
of the main door and the door casings and there were also
some brown marks on the floor.
Q. I show you People's Exhibit 11 for
identification and ask you if you recognize the scene
depicted there.
A. Yes, sir, I do. However, some of the
paraphernalia portrayed in that photo are not easily
discernible.
MR. LEE: I offer this in evidence your
Honor.
MS. WHITE: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
Q. Did you have or manage to observe any other
markings upon the door?
A. There were some drag or scuff marks from the
inner office into the second smaller dining room,
particularly in the alcove. There were also some marks
extending from there into the main dining room. I noted,
incidentally, that the telephone wire was cut in this
room. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was
a pay telephone.
Q. Anything else?
A. Well, the entire restaurant was in a rather
dismayed condition. There was a large quantity of pastry
in the room that had been prepared for a scheduled banquet
or wedding that day and that was strewn all about the
place. There was a fire extinguisher that had been played
about. The kitchen as well was really disrupted.
Q. Retracing ourselves for just a moment,
officer, what did you do after you made these observations
of the spots on the floor and the door?
A. I proceeded to the stairway that leads to the
basement and observed the body of a male person thereon.
I then went into a small barroom at west end of the
building and noted that a cabinet behind the bar had been
apparently forced open with some type of instrument.
MS. WHITE: I object that as a conclusion.
THE COURT: Yes, it is a conclusion. It will
be stricken and the jury instructed to disregard it. Give
him another question, counselor.
MS. WHITE: Thank you, your Honor.
MR. LEE: If your Honor please, may I have
permission for the jury to view the photographs that have
already been received in evidence? I think it might be of
some help to them while they are listening to the witness
describe the situation.
THE COURT: I think that is in order,
Mr. Lee. I might caution you in this respect, members of
the jury: Just look at the photographs and pass them
along. In other words, don't start to comment, at least
at this time, as to what might or might not impress you in
connection with the various exhibits.
Continue with your examination.
BY MR. LEE:
Q. I show you People's Exhibit 19 for
identification and ask you if you recognize that as the
oil tank located in the basement of that building.
A. Yes, sir.
MR. LEE: I offer that exhibit in evidence as
well, your Honor.
MS. WHITE: I object to its introduction or
reception in evidence, if your Honor please. I feel it
would be prejudicial to my client.
THE COURT: Overruled.
Q. Officer, what did you do when you observed
this body on the staircase?
A. I viewed the body and noticed slashing type
of wounds about the--
MS. WHITE: I object to the characterization,
your Honor.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MS. WHITE: And I ask that it be stricken.
THE COURT: Yes, strike it.
Q. Now, if you can tell us without
characterizing, officer, go ahead.
A. The man had died from other than natural
causes.
Q. Then what did you do?
A. Being concerned with the character of the
death, I contacted the County Medical Examiner.
Q. And did you in any way move or disturb the
body prior to the arrival of the Medical Examiner?
A. No, I did not, sir. That would have been
foolhardy.
Q. Please try to just answer the question,
officer. That way we will avoid too many objections.
Will you try to do that?
A. Yes, I'm very sorry.
Q. That's all right. The body of the victim,
then, was in the same position, I gather, when the doctor
arrived as it was at the same time you arrived upon the
seen?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. By the way, was that Dr. Green?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. After that doctor arrived, officer, what was
the next thing you did, if you are able to remember?
A. I waited, of course, for the doctor to finish
his examination.
Q. And then?
A. I'm sorry, counselor, I didn't hear you.
Q. Then what occurred?
A. We then removed the body from the stairway to
directly in front of the door on the main floor, and in
the doctor's presence we unclothed the body so that a
rectal temperature might be taken to determine the
temperature of the body at this time.
Q. By the way officer, I neglected to inquire of
you as to when the victim was pronounced dead.
A. May I refer to my notes to answer that?
Q. Yes.
A. It was 11:49 a.m.
Q. I'm going to leave this phase of your
investigation for the time being, officer, and take you to
the time that he was brought into the police station. Do
you have a vivid recollection of that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He was accompanied by several police
officers, wasn't he?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. How many, if you can recall?
A. Five, I believe. There may have been six.
That part of it is somewhat vague.
Q. It isn't of any significance, officer, did
you converse with him at all?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. What did you say to him?
A. I asked him why he had done it, what had made
him do such a thing.
Q. What did he say?
A. He just didn't know why. He couldn't
understand it.
MS. WHITE: I object, that certainly is not
responsive, your Honor, by any stretch of the imagination.
THE COURT: Sustained. Strike it out. The
jury is instructed to put it out of their minds
altogether.
Q. What were his exact words?
A. I asked him why he had done it. He said, "I
don't know, I just can't understand it."
MS. WHITE: I object to that entire statement
that the witness just made. I ask that be stricken.
THE COURT: On what ground do you object to
it?
MS. WHITE: On the ground, your Honor, that
there was a coercive atmosphere prevalent at the time.
THE COURT: The objection is overruled. The
answer may stand.
Gentlemen, it is getting close to our normal
midmorning recess time. Would you care to take it at this
point?
MR. LEE: Your Honor, I realize that the jury
has been sitting in the box for close to an hour and a
half. However, I would appreciate it very much if I might
be permitted to finish with this officer.
THE COURT: Very well, we will continue and
see what happens.
BY MR. LEE:
Q. Officer, my examination of you is practically
complete. I have just a few more questions and I will
take you back again to your investigation.
You assisted in removing the body from the
stairs and bringing it to the dining room, did you not?
A. Yes.
Q. Then what did you do?
A. We then completed our investigation at the
scene, put the body on a stretcher and took it to County
Car 60, the Medical Examiner's ambulance.
Q. Please step down to the diagram and point out
to the jury where you observed these particular pools of
blood, as you mentioned earlier in your testimony.
A. Approximately in this area, the upper left
hand corner of the diagram.
Q. And you say they were reddish in color?
A. Yes, a partially congealed fluid-type
substance in two pools inside the doorway toward the
center of the room.
Q. Did you take samples of that?
A. Yes, samples of this substance were taken and
encased in chemically cleaned plastic containers by the
doctor.
MR. LEE: That is all.
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