Opinion ID: 2314684
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Defense Cases

Text: None of the appellants took the stand. Greene called Grinnage's aunt, Rosetta Ross, as a defense witness. Ross testified that she and her daughter, Rositta, attended a 1978 Christmas party at the office of Dr. William Dixon, and that Mary Bedney was at the party. Rosetta Ross stated that she had heard Bedney say to Rositta, Let's not argue about this; your family get $3000 together and I will free him. [15] The prosecutor attempted to impeach Rosetta Ross with a certified copy of a robbery conviction of Rosetta Ross. Greene's counsel intervened, advising the court that Rosetta's daughter, Rositta, had been convicted of robbery but that he had no information showing that Rosetta, the mother, had a conviction. The prosecutor replied that he had a good faith basis for asking the question; he possessed a certified copy of a conviction in the witness' name. The court allowed him to ask, [Are you] the same Rosetta Ross who was convicted of robbery? The witness answered, No. My daughter, not me. Greene also called Edward O'Connor, Jr., a former Metropolitan Police officer, who testified that he had investigated the shooting of Fulton's wife, Mattie Brown, in May 1978. When O'Connor arrived on the scene, he found Brown dead, and her brother and her sixteen-year-old son, Marvin Young, in the room with the body. The brother told O'Connor that John Fulton had shot Brown. The son was distraught and, at one point, picked up a gun from the dining room table, waved it threateningly, and walked toward the doorway. O'Connor took the gun away from the boy. John Fulton later was arrested for his wife's murder. [16] Finally, Greene called Detective Dwight Veasey, who testified that he had prepared in the normal course of duty a police report (PD-123) which had recorded certain relevant information called into the station. The report revealed that at 4:05 A.M. on June 28, 1978, Officer Steven Smith had stopped William Duncan, who lived in the apartment building across the street from Fulton's, in the vicinity of the murder. Duncan was black, eighteen years old, 5'7 to 5'8 tall, and wearing a red short-sleeved shirt with white stripes and blue cut-off shorts. [17]
Grinnage called three alibi witnesses. His sister, Francine Grinnage, testified that she and her friends, Alberta Johnson and Pat Jackson were all with Grinnage at her home from 9:00 P.M. on June 27, 1978, until after 1:00 A.M. on June 28. Francine Grinnage said that appellant slept at her house and that she had awakened him at 7:00 A.M. on June 28 before she left for work. [18] Alberta Johnson testified that she had been at Francine Grinnage's house on the evening of June 27 and that appellant Grinnage was there when she went to sleep at 10:00 P.M. and was sleeping on the living room couch when she awoke at 5:30-5:40 A.M. Pat Jackson testified that she had been with appellant Grinnage from 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. on June 27 until about 1:00 A.M. the next morning, first at her home and then at his sister's home. On cross-examination, Jackson admitted that Francine Grinnage had helped her remember the events of June 27. According to Jackson, [Francine Grinnage] said I was there the 27th, and that was the only time I was at her house. Jackson herself could not remember whether she had been with appellant the evening of June 27 or of June 28.
Parks presented no evidence. His counsel proffered investigator Douglas Wood as a witness, claiming Wood's testimony would show  and his notes would confirm  that Grant picked No. 15 both times Wood showed him the lineup photo and did not mention No. 1 (Parks), even tentatively. Parks' counsel also proffered that Wood would deny he snatched the photo away from Grant. Greene objected to Wood's evidence, however, on attorney work-product grounds. The court declined to examine Wood's notes in camera and sustained the objection, excluding Wood's testimony and notes. Parks then moved to sever his trial from the others, but the court denied the motion. [19]