Opinion ID: 2980499
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Witness Charles Kemp

Text: During the trial, Charles Kemp (“Kemp”) testified that he, Tony Capers, and Cecil Brewington were at Capers’s house on January 25, 1990, waiting for an individual named Syke. Kemp stated that, at approximately 6:00 p.m., someone knocked on the front door and identified himself as Syke. When Capers opened the door, Woods and co-defendant Henderson entered the room. At one point, Woods went outside and when he returned he was accompanied by two additional, unidentified men. Kemp further testified Henderson pulled out a gun and told Kemp to lie face down on the floor. Kemp testified that Woods and the other two men also had handguns. Kemp testified that he heard a demand for money, and was under the impression that Capers possessed a large amount of cash. Then Kemp stated two of the four men took Capers to the back bedroom. Kemp heard three gunshots from the direction of the back bedroom. Kemp also testified he heard Brewington screaming. Kemp testified that the men then exited Capers’s house by way of the front window. Kemp denied having any involvement in any drug sales orchestrated by Brewington. At the evidentiary hearing, Kemp gave the following relevant testimony: he admitted that, in January 1990, he was selling drugs for Brewington. On the day of the shooting, Woods and Henderson came to Capers’s house when Kemp, Brewington, and Capers were present. After a few minutes, two more men entered the home. Brewington and one of the two men began arguing and Brewington threw some money on the floor. Kemp testified that, at one point, Capers fled to the back bedroom. Capers was followed by one of the men, not Woods or Henderson. Seconds later, -5- No. 09-1071 Darryl Woods v. Raymond Booker, Warden Kemp heard gunshots. He then dove to the floor and pulled out his gun. Woods and Henderson also dove to the floor. Kemp testified that neither Woods nor Henderson had a weapon. Seconds later, the other two men fled through a window, and Woods and Henderson followed shortly thereafter. Kemp and Brewington left through the window and stood on the front porch, then Willie Thomas approached the front porch. Brewington told Kemp and Thomas to go inside and clean up the money that was on the dining room floor, which they did. Kemp also went to the back bedroom and retrieved Capers’s gun. Kemp further testified at the evidentiary hearing that he lied when he gave a statement to police after the shooting because Brewington was on an appeal bond and he was serving probation and he did not want either of them to get into trouble. Kemp then testified that he decided in October 2001 to tell the truth about what had occurred because it had been on his conscience. Kemp, who was serving a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment for a murder in Ohio and was eligible for parole in four years, testified that he lied at the original trial after he was advised that a new charge of perjury could earn him another sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment. Towards the end of the evidentiary hearing, the prosecutor presented tape-recorded conversations between Kemp, who was incarcerated at the time, and several individuals. The prosecutor argued that these conversations indicated Kemp was receiving compensation for recanting his trial testimony by someone related to Woods. During one of the tape-recorded conversations, Kemp allegedly mentioned that he was coming to Detroit and that he had received $200 from Woods’s cousin, in exchange for saying Woods and Brewington did not do anything. The prosecutor submitted evidence that Kemp received three money orders, including one for $200, prior to this -6- No. 09-1071 Darryl Woods v. Raymond Booker, Warden taped conversation.