Opinion ID: 3163494
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Elvans Road Incident

Text: On the night of June 17, 2012, Stefanie Harrington (“Harrington”) and her friend Robert Teamer (“Teamer”) were having drinks together in Harrington‟s apartment, located in the 2500 block of Elvans Road, Southeast. Later that evening, Teamer and Harrington left the apartment and went outside to spend time with her neighbors. At approximately 11:00 p.m., Teamer went back inside the building without Harrington, and fell asleep in her apartment. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on June 18, 2012, Harrington saw her boyfriend and female friend outside and went out to engage them in conversation. While she was outside, Harrington testified that she saw Burns standing by her car and overheard her stating loudly that someone had flattened the tires of her car. Burns then went inside Harrington‟s apartment building and walked upstairs. Not long thereafter, Rollerson came out of the apartment and approached Harrington and her friends. Rollerson addressed Harrington‟s boyfriend first and asked him who had flattened their car tires. Harrington‟s boyfriend stated that he did not know who had done it, to which Rollerson responded, “[O]h, you don‟t know, all right, I‟m going to be back with the pump,” which Harrington understood to be “his gun.” 6 Harrington walked back inside the building and continued upstairs to her apartment. When she entered the building, she saw Burns coming back down the stairs and the two made eye contact. Harrington testified that Burns walked so close to her that she almost bumped into her. When Harrington stopped and turned around, Burns moved on but stated, “they better go in the house,” which Harrington perceived as a threat. After hearing Burns‟s statement, Harrington testified that she went into her apartment and put a kitchen knife and an empty half-pint liquor bottle into her purse for her protection. While inside the apartment, Harrington told Teamer, who had been asleep, that she thought “there was about to be something” and wanted him to come outside to be a witness. Harrington left her apartment, followed by Teamer, and saw Burns coming back up the stairs to the top level of the apartment where Harrington lived. Harrington approached Burns and said, “. . . so [w]hat you think I flattened your tires.” Burns replied, “yeah” and stated that because she and Harrington were involved in verbal altercations in the past, Harrington may have been responsible for the damage to her tires. Burns and Harrington continued to argue until Rollerson came upstairs and intervened in the argument. At some point during the altercation, Harrington, Teamer, Burns, and Rollerson exited the apartment and moved outside 7 to the apartment parking lot.2 Harrington testified that after Rollerson saw the knife she had placed inside her purse earlier that evening, he asked her, “[W]hat you going to do with that?” Harrington instructed Rollerson to back away from her and he complied. When Rollerson retreated, Harrington tossed the knife down by a car. After Harrington threw the knife to the ground, Rollerson retrieved it and approached Harrington with it. Rollerson continued to approach Harrington, until a man stopped him and held him back before he could reach her. Harrington testified that Rollerson threw the knife at her, which hit her in the arm. While Burns and Harrington were arguing, Teamer overheard Rollerson say, “[F]orget this, I‟m about to go get that.” Teamer informed Harrington that he believed Rollerson intended to get a weapon, and the two left and walked up to Harrington‟s apartment. Harrington and Teamer entered the apartment and locked the bottom lock on the door. Harrington then went into her bedroom to look for another weapon. Teamer testified that shortly thereafter, the man who he had just seen earlier that night in the parking lot, “busted inside the door.” According to Teamer, Rollerson entered the apartment and stated, “I‟m going to blow a hole in you guys,” but was restrained again by the same person who had held him back earlier that night. 2 The transcript does not clearly reflect how this transition occurred. 8 Harrington testified that she heard a “big boom, like somebody busting in [her] door,” and when she stepped out of her bedroom, she saw “Omar [Rollerson] with a shotgun.” Harrington stated that she heard a noise, “like the impact of somebody being hit,” and a scream. Harrington went into the living room and saw that Teamer‟s face was bruised, and Rollerson had left the apartment. Teamer testified that before Rollerson left, he had “poked” him in the face with the shotgun. Harrington and Teamer called the police following the incident. Harrington told police about the altercation and identified Rollerson as the man who entered her apartment with the shotgun. On cross-examination, Teamer testified that the man he saw in the parking lot was the same person who had come to the apartment door, but then indicated that Rollerson (as he appeared in the courtroom at trial) did not look like the same man who came to Harrington‟s door the night of the burglary.