Opinion ID: 175029
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Thunk

Text: During trial, at no time did Officer Smith, or any other witness, describe the sound of the object that Miller threw hitting the ground as a thunk. The only description Officer Smith provided was that it sounded like a piece of metal hitting the ground. Yet, during its opening statement, the government characterized the sound with the word thunk, once stating: Officer Smith heard a distinctive thunk, that he believed based on his training and experience sounded like a firearm hitting the ground. During closing argument, the government made the following references to the word thunk, to which defense did not object: As he's running, he hears the thunk. He hears the thunk of that item. And you're going to be able to hold that item and feel how heavy that item is. He hears the thunk of that item on the concrete on the parking lot, just to the east as they're running. During rebuttal argument, the government stated, And when he heard the thunk, he thought it was a gun. During defense counsel's closing argument, he made the following references to the word thunk while attempting to attack Officer Smith's credibility: Officer Smith on the stand said he heard metal hit concrete. He said thatthat made a thunk. And that, well, to meto him, that sounded like a gun. But he also conceded that he couldn't really say until after Garcia brought it back, that he thought it was a gun. So it's kind of a situation where, Okay, he throws something. I heard a thunk. And then someone finds a gun. Okay. That must have been what it was. Officer Smith says Mr. Miller ran through the first two posts, and he heard the sound of metal hitting the gunor concrete. He also says it occurred about ten feet to the east. Do you remember that? Aboutthat's where he heard the thunk, about ten feet to the east. Of course, that's nowhere even near the fence from where he threw the gun. So again, that's back to the physical evidence. But that's testimony that he gave. And I submit to you the sound of a hollow piece of metal hitting either asphalt or that concrete building there, Scandalo's, I mean, it could make a thunk. It's very possible that is exactly what Officer Smith heard.