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State v. Garrett12/1/2005
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Bobby Alcorn stayed home from school that day to be with his mother, who was distraught about the fire and the victim's death. During the day, he talked with the defendant and attributed the following statement to the defendant:
["]I know they think I done it,["] and he was referring to the police. And he said, ["]I know they think I done it. If I would have done it, I'd have to go around back and get a gasoline can, go to the car and syphon it out, and then I'd had to pour it around on the love seat, I mean on the couch and around the door facing and I would have had to light it.["]
Bobby Alcorn testified that during the day of February 24, the defendant never spoke of the victim; the defendant was "nervous" and "acted different." He testified that the defendant would peep out the windows of the Alcorn home and would retreat to the bathroom if someone turned into the driveway.
On cross-examination, Bobby Alcorn acknowledged that in his prior statement, he did not mention the defendant's squatting beside the tree.
The forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on the victim testified that the victim died from inhaling smoke and noxious gases, probably succumbing within 10 to 30 minutes after she began to breathe smoke. The victim's blood alcohol level was .06 percent. The physician testified that the victim had burns on her head and left arm and that the burns probably resulted from heat build-up in the utility room where the victim was found. Other than the burns, the victim's body had suffered no other trauma. The physician opined that fire victims will frequently retreat to a room away from the fire and have been known to burrow under objects to protect themselves.
The doctor visited the crime scene and looked at a bar latch on the outside of the utility room door. She testified that the victim was five feet, six inches tall, weighed 135 pounds. She opined that had the victim been inside the utility room with the latch engaged, she should have been able to break through the latch from the inside of the utility room.
Otis Jenkins testified that he was a Metro fire department captain in 1992 and responded to the fire at the victim's and the defendant's house. He "came upon a door that had a locking mechanism of some sort on it, got the door open, went inside." He recalled that the door "resisted" and that he had "to work it." He found the victim in the room behind the door; she was lying on the floor between the washing machine and the wall. On cross-examination, Mr. Jenkins testified that the door was "latched or locked. I don't recall exactly what." He did not recall telling Detective Miller that the door was not latched, maintaining that he had always believed that the door was latched when he discovered it. He testified that although he wore thick gloves, he worked the mechanism on the latch to open the door. Because the alarm on Mr. Jenkins' self-contained breathing unit sounded, he left it to other firefighters to remove the victim. Later, while outside, he saw the defendant try to enter the house before being escorted away by two firefighters.
Terry Nickens, another Metro fire department captain, testified that he arrived at the fire scene at 5:15 a.m. When he heard that a person remained inside the house, he accompanied firefighter Patrick Hunt on a search and rescue mission inside the house. When the victim was found inside the utility room, Mr. Nickens entered the room. The victim's legs were tangled in tricycles, toys, and other objects. Mr. Nickens and Mr. Hunt carried the victim out of the house at approximately 6:03 a.m. Mr. Nickens noticed that the defendant " eemed rather calm for the situati
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