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State v. Pyburn8/16/2004
n surface somewhere from zero to 12 inches." He testified that the bullet entered the victim's head "in the front part of the right ear" and exited the back of the head. According to Dr. Harlan, as soon as the victim was shot, he would have been rendered unconscious and would have lost voluntary control. Dr. Harlan recovered fragments of a bullet from the victim's brain.
Blood analysis revealed that the victim had a blood alcohol level of .16 percent, and a drug screen of the victim's urine tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC"), the active ingredient in marijuana. However, Dr. Harlan explained that urine could test positive for THC up to eight weeks after marijuana had been introduced into the body. When asked to view photographs of the crime scene, Dr. Harlan identified what appeared to be brain matter on the bed and blood spatter on the bathroom door and window blinds in the bedroom where the victim's body was located. However, Dr. Harlan testified that he was unable to determine from the photograph the species of the brain matter, and neither the brain matter nor the blood was submitted for testing. On cross-examination, Dr. Harlan acknowledged that black powder was not present around the wound because "the powder that was present in the material causing the stippling ha been totally consumed."
Prior to closing its case-in-chief, the State recalled Alice Rheal, the victim's grandmother, to determine if the victim was right-handed or left-handed. Mrs. Rheal testified that the victim was right-handed. On cross-examination, Mrs. Rheal acknowledged that she had "quite a bit" of contact with the victim from the time he was nine to seventeen years old.
Kathy Baggett, the appellant's girlfriend of sixteen years, testified on behalf of the appellant at trial. She related that in January 2001, she and the appellant were living in a mobile home in the Jesse James Trailer Park with her daughter and the victim. The victim had moved in shortly before Thanksgiving the previous year. Baggett testified that on the day of the shooting, she left the mobile home at 5:00 a.m. to visit her son. According to Baggett, " verything was normal when left." However, when she returned, the living room was in total disarray. Baggett testified that she had purchased the 30/30 rifle from her brother-in-law approximately two months prior to the shooting. She kept the rifle loaded and locked in a gun cabinet. Baggett testified that she had previously allowed the victim to borrow the rifle for hunting.
Baggett testified that between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2000, " here was a lot of friction" in the home. She explained that the victim often asked the appellant for money, and the appellant would tell the victim to "get a job." Baggett explained that the topic of employment was "a source of some disagreement between the two of them." Baggett stated that they also argued over the victim's drinking. According to Baggett, the appellant told the victim to move out "more than once," but the victim refused. However, the victim had lived with a neighbor for a short period of time.
Baggett testified that after Christmas, the relationship between the appellant and the victim worsened. Additionally, the appellant was "laid off." Baggett related that the appellant would often go to her sister's house because "the kids w starting to drive him crazy." Baggett testified that the appellant never discussed with her the details of the shooting.
On cross-examination, Baggett conceded that the appellant allowed the victim to consume alcohol on the day of the shooting. She further conceded that the victim lived with a neighbor after he and the appellant had a "heated argume
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