Opinion ID: 2322590
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellant Curtis

Text: Curtis's underlying convictionsattempted murder in the first degree, assault, and related handgun offensesarose out of the shooting of James Sanders on the evening of November 22, 1994. On that night, Sanders was hacking [4] for a drug dealer, Nike. Sanders dropped Nike off at the home of another individual, Dray. While Sanders waited in his car for Nike to return, an individual approached Sanders's car and shot at Sanders three times, in the shoulder and head. Sanders told police officers that a man named Tony, who lived on Richwood Avenue, shot him. He also picked Curtis's face out of a photographic lineup. [5] During a turn-up at Curtis's last known address, an officer spoke with Curtis's grandmother, Margaret Adkinson. He wrote her name on his report, as well as the name Margaret Eri. Among other witnesses, Wayne Miles testified for the defense as an eyewitness. [6] Miles testified that he was in Dray's house when he heard two shots. He immediately went outside and saw a light-skinned man, not Curtis, fire a third shot into Sanders's car. He testified that he was not acquainted with Curtis. The State impeached Miles's credibility by asking how he came to testify in the case. Miles responded that the day after the shooting, a friend of mine named Aaron came . . . [and] asked me did I know anything about [the shooting, and] I told him I seen [sic] the whole thing. [7] Miles then explained that Aaron came back a month later and like he asked me my name, my name and stuff, because I guess he wanted me to help out with the case. On the last day of trial, during rebuttal, the State asked a detective about someone named Airy. The detective responded: The name came up in a turn up . . . at [Curtis's grandmother's address]. Margaret Airy. The name was written on the report when they tried to do the turn up. The State argued during closing that Miles's friend Aaron was really a friend of Curtis's named Airy, or Eri, drawing an inferential relationship with Margaret Eri, the name the officer had written on the report from the turn-up at Curtis's grandmother's address. The State argued that Airy (or Aaron or Eri) coerced Miles to testify on Curtis's behalf. During deliberation, the jury asked two questions: 1) Can we have clarification on who [Miles] said came to his house to talk to him about the shooting? 2) Who is MARGARET ERI? The court denied the defense's request to play back the videotape of Miles's testimony because the jury had to rely on its own memory. The court allowed each party one minute to argue to the jury a theory as to the identity of Margaret Eri.