 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
patrol car.
When Deputy Stein asked defendant to be seated in the patrol car, defendant replied: "Can't I just stand here? I'm just scared. I'm not really a bad guy. You can ask Bill, the guy I shot. He can tell you I tried to help him. It's just that when I entered the house he startled me, so I shot him."
Defendant asked how "the officer" was doing. When Deputy Stein did not reply, defendant asked: "How's the officer I shot." Deputy Stein replied that the officer had been taken to the hospital.
Defendant then told Deputy Stein that "he had to do it, he didn't want to go back to jail." DEFENDANT SAID: "I've been there too many times before. When I took off and he caught me, all I could think about was getting his gun and shooting him so he couldn't arrest me. I took his gun and shot him. . . . Then I got scared and I started running." Defendant added that "some other cops started chasing him so he shot at them so they would stop chasing him." Defendant said that when he reached that area (that is, the area near the Haverstick house) "he heard someone shout, 'Police, freeze.' " Defendant said "he didn't want to get hurt, so he dove through a window, . . . Bill [Haverstick] startled him so he shot him." After persuading defendant to take a seat in the back of the patrol car, Deputy Stein wrote down on a steno pad the statements he had just heard defendant make.
As Deputy Stein was driving defendant to the Rialto police station, defendant asked if they "couldn't just go straight to [the county jail] because he had shot one of their officers and they would want to hurt him."
At the police station, defendant received medical treatment for minor scratches on his chest and left calf. He had no other injuries. In defendant's clothing, police found a set of keys belonging to William Haverstick.
Sergeant Wolfley was taken from the scene of the shooting to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:10 a.m. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the face, the bullet shattering the left side of the jaw at the angle and completely severing the external carotid artery, causing profuse bleeding, immediate loss of consciousness, and a rapid decline in blood pressure. Apart from the gunshot wound, Sergeant Wolfley suffered minor cuts and scrapes on his face and knees consistent with collapsing and falling face forward onto an asphalt or concrete surface after being shot.
Sergeant Wolfley's hands were tested for gunshot residue. The test showed "very low levels of antimony." These levels were consistent with having handled a firearm but were inconclusive as to whether Sergeant Wolfley had been holding a firearm when it was fired.
Dr. Irving Root, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Sergeant Wolfley, testified that in the area around the gunshot wound he found no evidence of gunpowder residue or of skin damage of the kind that gunpowder residue causes. Residue from a handgun travels a distance of 27 to 36 inches, depending on the particular characteristics of the gun and the ammunition. Although the residue itself may be washed or wiped away, it would normally leave visible damage to the skin, in the form of stippling or tattooing, except at the very outer limit of the range of travel. He did not believe that the shot could have been fired from as close as 18 inches without leaving any residue or residue damage, but a test firing of the same gun with the same ammunition would be needed to reach any certain Conclusion.
Sergeant Wolfley's gun was test-fired by Norm Wallis, a criminalist employed by the San Bernardino Sheriff's crime laboratory. The test was conducted by firing the gun at 1
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|