Steve Bennett, a detective with the Cleveland Police Department, testified that he assisted with the search of the crime scene and the defendants' car after they were apprehended. At the scene of the shooting, the police found five .22 shell casings. Inside the car, the police discovered two boxes of .22 rimfire ammunition, a black stocking-type mask, a cap, and articles of clothing. Two days later, on Interstate 75, northbound, the police also discovered the three guns involved in the crime: a .22 caliber revolver pistol, a Phoenix .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and a Haskell .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. Two of the weapons were wrapped in a black shirt, and the third was laying close by. The particular type of .22 revolver discovered on the interstate can hold six rounds in its chamber, and it contained five rounds when the police found it. The Phoenix .22 semi-automatic is capable of holding eight rounds, fully loaded, and it had five rounds remaining in the clip. (Bennett was not questioned about the status of the .45 weapon upon discovery.) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab matched the five casings recovered from the crime scene to the Phoenix .22 semi-automatic handgun.

Eric Benion, one of the victims, testified that he was with Kenneth Blair, Marcus Williams, and Charles Massengill, at 580 Dooley Street on May 22, 1998, when the shooting incident occurred. Benion and Williams had started the evening at Benion's house. When Benion's girlfriend became argumentative, Williams and Benion left to go to Williams' apartment. As they were leaving, Massengill also showed up and they invited him along. Blair arrived at Williams' apartment later on. The men spent the majority of the evening sitting on the balcony talking and joking and drinking a few beers. They noticed three black women with three black men in the parking lot downstairs. One of the men (the co-defendant, Malone) approached them, asking whether anyone had change for a fifty-dollar bill. They replied that they did not. Malone then asked whether they had an extra beer, but they did not have a spare beer either. Thereafter, Malone rejoined his friends, Sanford and Defendant, in the parking lot. It appeared to Benion as though they were leaving, but soon afterward they returned and ran up the stairs to where Benion and his friends were sitting on the balcony. Benion identified Defendant as one of the persons who ran up the stairs.

All three men--Defendant, Sanford, and Malone--had guns, and they ordered Benion and the others onto the floor. Benion did not obey right away, but ran back into the apartment. Malone found him and ordered him back outside with the others. Massengill was in a chair; the others were laying on the ground. With his gun pointed at Benion and Williams, Malone proceeded to look through their pockets for money. He took $28.00 from Benion. No one resis

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