Opinion ID: 1713477
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: 9:00 p.m. onward

Text: ¶ 17. It is disputed what occurred between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on the evening of June 23, but trial testimony clearly shows that around 10:00 p.m., Armstrong, May, and Kamps ended up in May's apartment and watched part of the 10:00 p.m. news together while using cocaine. Both May and Armstrong testified that Kamps left May's apartment at about a quarter to 11:00 p.m. and that Armstrong left about 15 minutes later. ¶ 18. A friend of Kamps, Michael Erdenberger, testified at trial that Kamps called him at his apartment at 10:52 p.m. on June 23. Erdenberger said that Kamps was looking for Dillman. He also said that during their two-minute conversation, Kamps did not seem excited. ¶ 19. May spoke with Kamps by telephone at some point between 11:00 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. to discuss plans to go water-skiing the next day. May's phone call was the last time any witness admitted to having contact with Kamps. ¶ 20. Dillman testified that he tried to reach Kamps several times between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. on June 24 but received a busy signal. Dillman called again between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. with the same result, and finally called May at about 12:15 p.m. to ask her to stop by Kamps' apartment. ¶ 21. May testified that at about 12:40 p.m., she discovered Kamps' body, noticing that the telephone receiver was off the hook, as if it had been intentionally placed aside. May then ran back to the Pipefitter and had one of her coworkers call the police.
¶ 22. Armstrong testified that at about 9:00 p.m., while he, Kamps, and May visited his apartment to drop off his brother, Steve, he telephoned Brent Goodman at 153 Harding Street, Madison, Wisconsin, to inquire about buying more cocaine. Goodman testified that he had sold cocaine to Armstrong earlier that afternoon and corroborated the 9:00 p.m. telephone conversation with Armstrong, in which Armstrong said that he would stop by Goodman's house in a half-hour. ¶ 23. Armstrong testified that he, Kamps, and May left Armstrong's apartment and dropped May off at her apartment. In the parking lot behind May's apartment building, Armstrong said that he and Kamps switched from his to Kamps' vehicle, which was parked in the same lot. ¶ 24. On the way to Goodman's house, Armstrong testified that Kamps invited Armstrong up to her apartment for a beer sometime between 9:15 and 9:25 p.m. Armstrong accepted, and he said he had a half-glass of orange juice and a can of beer. He also testified that he had to move a glass bong off a table so that he could put his drink down, explaining why his fingerprint was found on the bong in Kamps' apartment. Armstrong said he played some music on the stereo and talked with Kamps for a short while before the two continued on to Goodman's. ¶ 25. At Goodman's, Armstrong testified that he and Kamps purchased about 0.4 grams of cocaine and then returned to May's apartment between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m., where Armstrong, May, and Kamps used the cocaine and watched television. ¶ 26. Armstrong testified that Kamps left at about 10:45 p.m., and Armstrong said that he left about 15 minutes later to return to his apartment to visit with his brother. Armstrong stated that after he arrived at his apartment, he made several phone calls, attempting to find a different source for more cocaine, but was unsuccessful. Armstrong said he then tried to phone Kamps to let her know that he was unable to find more cocaine but received a busy signal. ¶ 27. Armstrong said he then drove back to May's apartment and estimated that he arrived at about 1:00 a.m., judging from the bar traffic around State Street. Armstrong testified that when he returned to May's apartment, he entered through the fire escape at the back of the building, not the front staircase. Armstrong explained that he would generally enter the building using the fire escape, because he did not have a key to get through the front door. [4] ¶ 28. May testified that she estimated the time Armstrong returned to her apartment for the evening was around 1:00 a.m., judging from the noise outside resembling bar time. However, May admitted stating at the John Doe hearing that Armstrong's return could have been as late as 3:00 or 3:30 a.m. Also, May acknowledged that she told two coworkers the next morning that Armstrong was not with her that night, later explaining that it was a false comment, a flip remark.
¶ 29. The State presented testimony that the distances between May's, Kamps' and Goodman's apartments were too great for Armstrong's version of events to be plausible. Madison Police Detective Theodore Mell testified that he drove the routes between the various apartments at five to ten miles per hour faster than the speed limit and stated that the time between Armstrong's apartment at 5572 Guilford and May's apartment at 519 State Street was ten minutes and 27 seconds. He further testified that the driving time between May's apartment and Goodman's, located at 153 Harding Street, was ten minutes and 22 seconds. ¶ 30. As noted above, Emmerich testified that she visited Armstrong in his apartment a few minutes after 9:00 p.m. Goodman testified that Kamps and Armstrong stopped by at about 9:30 p.m. Goodman did not note the precise time but estimated that Armstrong and Kamps left his home between 9:35 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Armstrong and Kamps returned to May's apartment at about 10:00 p.m. The State argued that given the driving times, Armstrong could not have visited Kamps' apartment at the time Armstrong stated  around 9:30 p.m.because Goodman placed Armstrong and Kamps at his house ten minutes away, at the same moment. [5] ¶ 31. To refute Armstrong's story that he returned to May's apartment at about 1:00 a.m., the State presented two residents of May's building who the State argued would have seen or heard Armstrong if he had entered at that hour. Terry Fink testified that the musician Jackson Browne was making a promotional film on State Street, including filming outside the Pipefitter. Fink stated that from five or ten minutes before 1:00 a.m. until 1:45 a.m., she was on the sidewalk within ten feet of the front apartment door, observing the film crew and chatting with friends. Fink testified that she never saw Armstrong in the area or enter the apartments during that time. ¶ 32. Jeff Zuba was the resident manager for the apartments directly above the Pipefitter. Zuba testified he was in his apartment at 9:00 p.m., waiting for the film crew to contact him about turning on the store's lights, and remained in his apartment with the door open throughout the evening. The front door of the apartment building had a security lock but was propped open with a brick that night for the benefit of the film crew. Zuba testified that his apartment door was opposite the door at the top of the front staircase and that he could hear anyone entering or leaving the building. ¶ 33. Zuba stated that between 10:00 and 10:15 p.m., Kamps poked her head in to say hello. Zuba also heard Armstrong's voice in the stairway but did not see him. ¶ 34. Zuba said he went downstairs to the sidewalk in front of the Pipefitter three times that evening to check on the crew's progress, but he claimed he did not wander far from the apartment's entrance. Zuba returned to his apartment for the last time about 12:45 a.m. and kept his apartment door open until he went to bed at about 1:15 a.m. He did not see or hear Armstrong leave or return to the building. ¶ 35. With regard to Armstrong's testimony that he returned to May's apartment at about 1:00 a.m. through the fire escape at the back of the building, Zuba admitted that he would not have heard someone entering or leaving by the back stairway. ¶ 36. A Madison Police Officer, Vivian Beckwith, testified on behalf of the State during rebuttal. She issued a ticket for Armstrong's vehicle shortly before 11:00 a.m. on June 24 for parking in the private lot adjacent to the Pipefitter. The State argued that the ticket was concrete evidence that contradicted Armstrong's testimony that he parked in the lot behind the building that made his entry through the back door much less likely.