Opinion ID: 2148857
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Witnesses for the State

Text: A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE nurse) who examined B.B. in the early afternoon on July 16 testified that she found bloody discharge on B.B.'s cervix, suggesting an injury consistent with rough or forced sexual intercourse. A woman who was staying with her daughter in Foster's apartment building at the time of the murder testified that she saw B.B. leaving with Clark and mouthing the words Help me. The woman's daughter testified that she and several other persons were gathered on the front steps of the apartment building when she saw Clark and B.B. emerge on the morning of July 16. The daughter said that she told Clark to let B.B. go. She also said that she saw Clark leave the scene in a white truck. A forensic scientist from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension testified that Clark's DNA was not found on evidence seized from the crime scene, including washcloths, bed sheets, a condom wrapper found in the bedroom, semen stains on the pants B.B. was wearing before and after the rape, and B.B.'s driver's license. The scientist also testified that Clark's DNA was not found on biological samples taken from B.B. by the SANE nurse. Several witnesses testified that they saw Clark in the Lake Harriett area of Minneapolis on the morning of the next day Sunday, July 17. One of these witnesses saw Clark in a parking lot near the Lake Harriett concessions building, looking lost or confused. This witness observed Clark standing about 30 yards from a white truck, which was the only vehicle in the parking lot at that time. Another witness, who resided in the area, testified that Clark drove a white SUV into his driveway and onto the yard of a neighbor. While the witness was talking with Clark, the neighbor emerged from her house and said that she had called the police. Clark then sped from the scene in the SUV. One of Clark's cousins testified that Clark visited her that Sunday, and he was driving a white truck that she had never known him to drive. The cousin noticed that Clark had a nice amount of moneymore than she had ever seen Clark carry. A Washington County police officer testified that one week later, in the early morning hours of July 24, Clark was arrested after he drove a station wagon in the wrong direction on a highway exit ramp and then failed to pull over for the police. Clark ultimately crashed into some large cement barriers and was taken to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center. A Minneapolis police officer testified that during the evening of July 24, the police responded to a radio call indicating that a body had been discovered near some railroad tracks in southeast Minneapolis. The body was ultimately identified as Foster's. Two of the responding officers testified that they observed beaten-down vegetation near the body, indicating that a vehicle had driven in the area. A forensic pathologist with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office testified that Foster's body was partially buried under a pile of fresh dirt that clearly didn't belong there and was not part of the native landscape. The body was packaged in a laundry bag and two plastic bags covered Foster's head. A ligature surrounded Foster's head, holding a gag in place, and other ligatures bound his wrists and ankles. The pathologist told the jury that in his opinion, Foster's death was a homicide. He said that Foster died of asphyxia, which could have been caused by someone placing bags over Foster's head or obstructing his pharynx. A University of Minnesota botanist testified that four plant fragments obtained from the undercarriage of Foster's truck were fragments of species present at the scene where Foster's body was found. The botanist said that two of the four species are not commonly found in the southern part of Minnesota.