 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Garrett12/1/2005
on at hand."
Patrick Hunt testified that he was a firefighter and an emergency medical technician in 1992 when he arrived at the fire scene, where he saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the front door. The defendant approached him and told him that his girlfriend was inside the house. The firefighters were able to "knock down" the fire quickly, and Mr. Hunt began searching for the victim. Before the victim was found, Mr. Hunt's breathing unit became depleted of air, and he returned to the fire truck for a new one. The defendant approached him again and said, "I know where she's at. She's in the back of the house through a door in the kitchen." Mr. Hunt re-entered the house, and he and Mr. Nickens went to the utility room door that Mr. Jenkins had just opened. The victim was lying prone on the floor under a folding chair and some toys. She had no life signs. He opined that he and Mr. Nickens removed the victim at about 5:42 a.m. He recalled that Mr. Jenkins had told him that Jenkins had to unlatch the utility room door. He acknowledged on cross-examination that it is not uncommon for someone being suffocated to retreat and burrow under objects.
Another Metro fire department captian, William McCormick, testified that he supervised the fire scene and did not enter the house. During the firefight and rescue operation, the defendant went to the front of the house and looked into the windows. Mr. McCormick and another firefighter escorted the defendant away from the house. The defendant told Mr. McCormick that the person inside the house was his sister. The defendant was agitated and smelled of alcohol, although his speech was not slurred, and he did not stagger. When the victim was placed in the ambulance, the defendant climbed onto the running board and tried to look inside the ambulance. Mr. McCormick agreed that Mr. Jenkins had told him that the utility room door was latched when he found it.
David Miller testified that he investigated the fire in his capacity as a Metro homicide detective . He and Detective Mike Roland arrived at the scene at 6:20 a.m. on February 24, 1992. After Kenneth Porter told him that the fire was started with an accelerant, Mr. Miller met with the defendant, obtained the defendant's clothing, and requested the defendant to render a hand-swab sample, which the defendant declined.
That evening, after obtaining a search warrant, Mr. Miller accompanied Agent James Cooper in recovering material samples from the burned house. He testified that in the kitchen, they found a bedspread on the floor, lying beneath the refrigerator and "all the way around out towards the [utility room] door." He testified that the bedspread appeared to be soaked in some kind of accelerant, that he could smell an accelerant, and that he found a plastic container nearly full of what appeared to be kerosene on the floor near the utility room door. He testified that Otis Jenkins had told him that the utility room door was latched. Mr. Miller testified that he tested the latch by going inside the utility room and being unable to push his way out through the door after Agent Cooper experimentally engaged the latch. Mr. Miller acknowledged, however, that he did not "put his shoulder into it." Mr. Miller found a smoke detector lying on either the washer or dryer in the utility room. The detector had neither a covering nor batteries. Mr. Miller testified that Mr. Cooper collected material samples and gave them to him, that he placed them inside airtight metal containers, and that later he delivered them to the TBI laboratory.
Mike Roland testified that, as a homicide detective, he assisted David Miller in investigating the victim's death. He initially interviewed membe
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 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|