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People v. Kraft8/10/2000
ii, Taggs possessed some clothes with "Hawaii" printed on them and a Hawaii state identification card.
A body, later identified as Taggs, was found the next day several feet off a road a half mile east of Interstate 5 between Wilsonville and Canby in Oregon, less than a quarter mile from the location where Brian Whitcher's body had been found (see ante, at p.33). The words "Local Motion" and "Hawaii" were printed on the red shirt Taggs was wearing. There were no shoes or socks on the body, which had been ejected from a moving vehicle. The cause of death was asphyxiation from the obstruction of the airway by a foreign object (an orange sock had been stuffed down Taggs's throat). The waistband of the swimming trunks Taggs was wearing was unsnapped, and it appeared he had been redressed, as the inside of the swimming trunks was dirty. Taggs's blood contained alcohol (0.07 percent), diazepam and nordiazepam (a metabolite of diazepam).
Defendant claimed reimbursement from his employer , Lear-Siegler, for expenses incurred in Portland, Oregon, on December 8 and 9, 1982.
Taggs's tote bag and nunchakus were found in the search of defendant's house.
The prosecutor argued to the jury that the entry "PORTLAND HAWAII" on defendant's list referred to Taggs.
The defense tried to show that another person was responsible for Taggs's murder. Robert Hayes, the former proprietor of a security business in Wilsonville, Oregon, testified that in the early evening hours of December 8, 1982, he had encountered Taggs hitchhiking by the freeway near Wilsonville. Hayes told Taggs to get out of the area, as a couple of murders had occurred there. Some disreputable persons, including one Lloyd Hawes, frequented a rest stop south of Wilsonville. That same evening, Hayes saw Hawes and three other men near where Taggs had been hitchhiking. The next day, Hayes learned Taggs's body had been found between one and two miles from where Hayes had seen Hawes's truck. Thereafter, Hayes quietly approached Hawes's pickup truck through some woods. As he did so, he heard Hawes state: "That one sure bounced a long way last night, didn't he?" Later, Hayes, accompanied by a deputy sheriff, secretly searched under Hawes's camper shell, finding some clean Hawaiian shirts and a clean pair of blue jeans that would not have fit anyone in Hawes's group. These were unlikely items to find in Hawes's camper, as Hawes was a "cruddy, greasy, dirty-looking person" one could "smell . . . a block away."
10. Defense Penalty Phase Evidence
Forty-four friends, family members, former co-workers and former teachers of defendant's testified he was an intelligent, peaceful, caring person who should not be executed.
Four clergymen who interviewed defendant and his family believed the death penalty should not be imposed on defendant.
Thirteen correctional officers from the Orange County jail testified defendant had caused no problems at the jail.
Dr. Monte Buchsbaum, a professor of psychiatry, performed a positron emission tomography (PET) scan on defendant. The scan revealed abnormalities that could have been caused by a head injury or vascular problem. Similar results have been associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to members of defendant's family, when defendant was a child he suffered a fall on his head that rendered him unconscious.
Dr. Craig Haney, psychologist, testified defendant would make an excellent adjustment to prison if sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
II. Discussion
A. Guilt Phase Issues
1. Denial of Severance Motion
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