Opinion ID: 2227991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Berry's Testimony

Text: Berry testified that, on the night of April 9, 1995, Keith and Sargent stopped by ACME Industries, Berry's and Doppler's place of work. ACME, a contract garment manufacturer, is located on the east side of Saint Paul. At the time, Berry and Doppler were playing a Nintendo video game. The four men then decided to go out together in Doppler's car. Berry testified that he was driving, Doppler was in the front seat, and Keith and Sargent were in the back seat. After they had been driving for a while, the four men stopped for munchies and pop. When they got back in the car, Berry still drove, but Keith sat in the front seat, and Doppler and Sargent sat in the back seat. Berry testified that, during the drive, he could not hear much of what was going on in the back seat because music was being played very loudly inside the car. Berry did remember that Sargent voiced his displeasure with Doppler's choice of music. Berry did not seem to think that either man was violent toward the other. After driving for a while, the four men decided to stop so they could urinate. Berry pulled off the highway onto a public access road to Little Blackhoof Lake. Little Blackhoof Lake is west of the city of Crosby and is approximately 130 miles from Saint Paul. When the four men exited the car, Berry turned off the headlights, but left the engine running. The music was still being played loudly. Although not positive about the timing, Berry testified that a couple of minutes later, just as he was starting to urinate, he heard a gunshot and then hit the ground. Next, he got up, turned around, and saw one flash going down toward the ground followed by a volley of three or more shots going forward. When the shots stopped, Berry ran back toward the car. Along the way, he heard Keith crashing through the woods up near the front of the car. When Berry reached the car, he saw Doppler standing in front of the car holding a gun in his hand. Berry testified that Doppler said Sargent had come at him with a knife, and that he had to shoot him. Berry testified that at that point he panicked and wanted out of there. The three men got into the car. Berry drove, Keith sat in the front seat, and Doppler sat in the back seat. Berry started to back down the access road toward the highway, but stopped when Keith asked him to stop the car so that Keith could check on Sargent. Berry stopped the car and Keith got out and returned to the car approximately 45 seconds later. Berry testified that he did not notice anything in Keith's hands when Keith returned and also testified that he did not see a knife at any time that night, either before or after the killing. Berry testified that the three men then drove back to the Twin Cities.