Opinion ID: 2973739
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Challenged testimony

Text: Petitioner challenges the trial court’s admission of Rory Groves’ and Valena Jordan’s preliminary examination testimony. The preliminary examination was held on February 12, 1998, (JA 446), and Groves and Jordan testified as follows: Direct examination (Rory Groves): Q: Tell us your name, sir. A: Rory Groves. Q: Are you also known as Rory Grove Williams, or is that part of your name at all? A: No, it’s not. Q: So, it’s Rory Groves? A: Yes. -10- Q: Thank you. Mr. Groves, are you familiar with the address of 2753-2755 Buena Vista in the City of Detroit? A: Yes. Q: Back on January 10, 1998, did you live there? A: Yes. Q: Did you live in the upstairs or the down – did you live in the downstairs or the upstairs? A: Upstairs. Q: Were you upstairs on January 10th, 1998, at about 11:00 p.m.? A: Yes. Q: Do you own a dog? A: Yes. Q: What kind of dog? A: A Pit Bull mixed with German Shepherd. Q: Was that dog in the upstairs on that date and time? A: Yes. Q: Did something happen between your dog and the defendant in this case, Aubrey Winn? A: Yes. Q: What did you see happen between the defendant and your dog? A: My dog was barking at him, and he started choking my dog. Q: When the defendant started choking your dog, how did you react? -11- A: I got up and asked him to quit choking my dog, and I grabbed at his shoulder, and he punched me. Q: After you did that, what happened? A: We started tussling. I fell to the floor, and he started strangling me. Q: Were other people upstairs then, if you know. A: Yes. Q: While this was going on, what happens next? A: After he strangled me, we both got up and I heard four gunshots. Q: Could you tell me where the gunshots were coming from? A: Yes. Q: Where were they coming from? A: They were coming from Aubrey Winn. Q: Where was the gun pointed at at that time? A: It was pointed at me. Q: How far away from you was he? A: Two feet. Q: Did you have any sort of weapon at all? A: No. Q: Then where were you struck by the bullets? A: I was struck in the collar bone, the bottom part of my stomach, and two in my chest. Q: When you were shot, did you lose consciousness? A: No. -12- Q: After you were shot those times, what do you remember happening next? A: I remember my girlfriend coming in and asking me if I was all right. I told her, “yeah.” After she asked me that, I heard three gunshots downstairs. I came out, I went outside my room, and Aubrey Winn came back upstairs saying that Carlos was dead. I was telling Aubrey Winn not to shoot him. Q: What did the defendant do then? A: He left. He ran. Q: Were you taken to the hospital? A: For a week. Q: Do you have any permanent effect from those bullet wounds? A: No. I just be itching where I was shot at. Q: Thank you. Cross-examination (Rory Groves): Q: Mr. Groves, I understand that there was a struggle, right, and you indicated that at some point Mr. Winn was on top of you and he was choking you? A: Yes. Q: What were you doing? A: Trying to get loose. Q: How were you trying to get loose? A: I was grabbing his hands, punching him. Q: Okay. This was a fight, right? A: Yes. I was trying to save my life. Q: While you were fighting, you were made (sic), weren’t you? -13- A: Yes, because it didn’t have to happen. Q: But you were angry, right? A: Yes. Q: Were there any words being exchanged between you and Mr. Winn? A: No. Q: You didn’t say anything? You didn’t say, “Let me up,” or anything like that? A: No. Q: You were just punching and – A: Trying to get loose. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t breathe. Q: So, he let you up, right? A: No. His family got him off. Q: But he let you up. He physically released himself from you, correct? A: Yes. Q: And you were on the mattress at that point? A: Yes. Q: And you moved to the sofa, right? A: After I was shot, yeah. Q: You turned towards the soft (sic), is that correct, sir? A: After I was shot, yes. Q: You do carry a .38, don’t you? A: No. Q: Sir, on January 1st, on New Year’s Eve, weren’t you at the house firing shots with a .38? -14- A: No. Q: You got shot in the shoulder? A: Yes. Q: In the thigh – I’m sorry, the stomach? A: In the stomach. Q: Thank you. Direct examination (Valena Jordan): Q: Tell us your name, ma’am. A: Valena Jordan. Q: Ms. Jordan, are you familiar with the address 2753-2755 Buena Vista in the City of Detroit? A: Yes. Q: Were you at that address on January 10th, 1998, at around about 11:00 p.m.? A: Yes. Q: Do you know a person by the name of Aubrey Winn? A: Yes. Q: Earlier that evening, had he taken you to the store? A: Yes. Q: After he brought you to the store, did you go back to the address on Buena Vista? A: Yes. Q: Were you in the upstairs or the downstairs? -15- A: The downstairs. Q: Were you still around the house around 11:00 p.m.? A: Yes. Q: Were you awake or asleep at the time? A: Sleep. Q: Did something wake you up? A: Yes. Q: What woke you up? A: Jackie said – Q: So, you heard Jackie’s voice? A: Yes. Q: Based on hearing her voice, did you do anything? A: I got up and I went to Mika’s room. Q: Where is Mika’s room? A: In the back by the bathroom, across from Akeva’s room. Q: Is it in the upstairs or the downstairs? A: The downstairs. Q: While you were doing that, did you hear any other noise? A: No. Q: Did there come a time when you heard shots? A: Yeah. Q: Where were the shots coming from as best you could tell? A: Upstairs. -16- Q: When you heard shots, what did you do? A: I walked – I stepped out of Mika’s room and was going towards the kitchen. Q: What happened then? A: Darry ran past me. Q: What is the person’s full name? A: Darry West. Q: So, then, when you saw Darry West, he went past you, you said? A: Yeah, he was running past me. Q: Did you continue to look in his direction when he went past you? A: Yes. Q: Did you see anything happen to Darry. A: I seen him fall to the ground. He was shot. Q: He fell to the ground when he was getting shot? A: He was getting shot, but he said “No!” Then he got shot, then he fell to the ground. Then I ran back to Mika’s room. Q: Could you tell where the shots that Darry suffered were coming from? A: The dining area. It was like the kitchen and the dining area. Q: Did you see anybody with a gun? A: No. Q: After Darry fell, what did you do? A: I ran in Mika’s room? -17- Q: Thank you.12 The prosecution introduced the transcript of this testimony at Petitioner’s trial.