Opinion ID: 1953051
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Presented by the Government

Text: The charges arose out of events which occurred on the morning of December 22, 1999 on the campus of Georgetown University. The complaining witness, Kenneth Ames, Jr., who worked for the university, testified that he was driving to his parking space when he noticed a vehicle close behind his. Ames testified that the driver of that vehicle, later identified as Alcindore, flashed his lights, honked his horn and made gestures at him. According to Ames, he came to a crosswalk, and Alcindore started to go around him, but Ames pulled out, blocked him and stopped to allow a student to pass. Afterwards, Alcindore pulled around him, yelled and gave him the middle finger. Ames followed Alcindore, and Alcindore stopped his taxicab. Ames then went up to Alcindore's cab and said to him, I don't know if you saw the student back there, but you know it's a good possibility that you could have hit that student. Alcindore asked, who the hell are you? During the ensuing argument, both men raised their voices and cursed at each other. Ames admonished Alcindore that the speed limit was fifteen miles an hour and that he could not drive like that on campus. Ames told Alcindore that he could just write down [his] cab number and make sure [he] don't get on campus no more. Ames then noticed a bunch of tags clipped on Alcindore's visor, reached in to take them and told Alcindore that he could write the numbers down and call his cab company. Ames testified that Alcindore slapped his hand away, but he put it back, and the two continued their argument. Ames testified that he finally leaned into Alcindore's car and said whatever ... just please slow down. When Ames tried to move away from the car, he discovered that his feet wouldn't move, and he lost his balance and fell. As he fell to the ground, he realized that he had been shot. Ames said that as Alcindore drove away, he moved out of the way to avoid being hit. Ames testified that he did not threaten Alcindore in any way and that he had nothing in his hand when he approached Alcindore's car. Meg Gardner, an employee at a campus bookstore, testified that she observed Ames leave his car and go over to the window of the cab. She testified that Ames was not carrying anything, but he appeared to be upset. She said that she observed Ames' arm go into the window, or go through the window of the cab .... Both men's arms were going back and forth through the window for about a minute, according to Gardner. She heard gunshots, but she was uncertain of what it was until she saw Ames fall. Ms. Gardner testified that it did not appear to her that the cab driver was in danger of death or that the circumstances required the use of deadly force. Amy Stevens testified that she was walking to a building on campus that morning when Ames stopped for her at the crosswalk. She heard tires spinning, but she could not tell whether they were coming from Ames' truck or from Alcindore's cab. She testified that she saw Ames get out of his car, and she heard him yelling about the speed limit being fifteen miles per hour and a stop being required at the stop sign. She then heard three or four gunshots. Both Charles Grimes, Jr. and Stephen Lamm testified that they saw Ames on the ground after the shooting, and they saw nothing around Ames that looked like a weapon. Grimes further testified that he did not see any weapon in Ames' clothing nor did he see any of his co-workers remove any such item from the scene.