Opinion ID: 1793829
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Linking Appellant to March 17, 1996 Brick Throwing Incident

Text: At trial, the state's theory of the case was that appellant had killed Ms. Bauer and had attempted to frame Tran for the crime. In support of this theory, the state presented evidence that appellant, not Tran, threw the brick through Ms. Bauer's window on March 17, 1996. A handwriting expert from the BCA testified that while appellant could not be identified or excluded as the author of the note attached to the brick, it was probable that Tran did not write the note. The state also introduced two pieces of brick seized from the entryway outside of appellant's workplace that fit together like a puzzle piece with the piece of brick thrown through Ms. Bauer's window. State witnesses testified that as part of his job with the security staff at the school administration building in Saint Paul, appellant listened to a police scanner and was known to monitor calls dispatching emergency personnel to Ms. Bauer's house. Appellant was working on March 17 at the time police were dispatched to Ms. Bauer's house in connection with Tran's threatening phone calls. According to his work schedule for March 17, appellant got off work at 11:30 p.m., approximately 15 minutes before the brick was thrown through Ms. Bauer's window. Witnesses testified that it took from 10 to slightly over 15 minutes to drive from the school administration building to Ms. Bauer's house.