Opinion ID: 2570544
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Wounding and Beating

Text: Once they arrived at defendant and Phillips's house, defendant continued to wield the gun and demand his property. When he received no satisfactory answers, he turned the radio to a very high volume and shot Uwe in the kneecap. Uwe moaned, and Michael stood up to protest but sat down again when defendant pointed the gun at him. Michael asked that L.R. and the children be released, but defendant refused. Defendant dragged Uwe downstairs and bound him to a chair with duct tape and rope. Defendant placed two D-cell batteries inside a gardener's glove and beat Uwe with it, hitting him in the head about 10 times. During this beating, defendant was yelling: Where's my TV and VCR? In the meantime, Phillips was in the living room demanding the return of their property from Michael, who repeated his plea that L.R. and the children be freed. Phillips told him no one would be leaving and that they were all going to die. After this beating, Uwe asked for some paper to write down directions to a location where defendant could find his property. Defendant and Michael left the house with the directions, while Phillips guarded the others. Uwe's directions turned out to be bogus, and defendant and Michael returned to the house, although defendant left again thereafter. At this time, Uwe was still bound to a chair, and Phillips was guarding Michael, L.R. and the children.