Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-826_p702.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

2 

BROWN v. DAVENPORT 

Opinion of the Court 

angry during the trip and tried to grab the steering wheel 
from him while he was driving.  Then she pulled out a box 
cutter  and  cut  his  arm.  Mr.  Davenport  responded  by  ex-
tending  one  arm  and  pinning  Ms.  White  against  the  pas-
senger side of the car, with his hand under her chin.  Even-
tually,  she  stopped  struggling.   On  discovering  that  Ms.
White  was  no  longer  breathing,  Mr.  Davenport  panicked 
and left her body in a field.

The prosecution offered a very different version of events. 
It  stressed  that  Ms.  White  was  5’2”  tall,  103  pounds,  and 
had a broken wrist, while Mr. Davenport was 6’5” tall and
weighed nearly 300 pounds.  The prosecution presented ev-
idence that Mr. Davenport had bragged to others before the 
killing  that,  if  he  had  a  problem  with  someone,  he  would 
choke the person.  Days before Ms. White’s death, Mr. Dav-
enport had done just that—strangling another woman until
she lost consciousness and urinated on herself.  Nor, on the 
prosecution’s  account,  were  Mr.  Davenport’s  actions  after 
Ms. White’s death consistent with his claim of self-defense.  
Instead of contacting the police, he not only abandoned his
victim’s body.  He also fled the scene and later visited Ms. 
White’s home where he stole electronics and food.  He told 
a witness, too, that he “had to off ” Ms. White. 

The  prosecution  offered  additional  proof.    When  police
questioned Mr. Davenport, he gave differing accounts and
initially  denied  any  involvement  in  Ms.  White’s  death.
While authorities did locate a box cutter in the car, they did 
not find it inside the cab of the vehicle but in the trunk and 
untainted  by  blood.  Also,  a  forensic  pathologist  testified 
that  Ms.  White  died  of  manual  strangulation.    The 
pathologist  explained  that  a  victim  of  strangulation  may 
lose consciousness after 30 seconds, but that death does not 
occur until the victim is without air for at least four to five 
minutes.  After Mr. Davenport testified that he merely ex-
tended  his  arm  across  Ms.  White’s  neck  to  keep  her  from
cutting him, the forensic pathologist offered his view that