Opinion ID: 2570523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Further evidence presented by the State

Text: The State presented evidence of Collman's prior abuse of Damian, his general treatment of Damian, and his lack of remorse over Damian's death. In January 1995, when Richard and Flores visited Collman and Stach in Las Vegas, Stach asked Collman to bathe Damian so she could wash the dishes. Collman refused, replying, It's not my fucking kid. In February 1995, Damian's paternal grandmother and his great aunt visited Las Vegas. They observed Collman become very agitated when Damian would cry, and Collman stated that the next time he had to watch Damian, he would throw Damian in the swimming pool and make it look like an accident. Also in February 1995, Collman hit Damian on the buttocks with a piece of wood from a broken chair, leaving a large, dark purple bruise across both buttocks and extending down his legs. When Stach confronted Collman about the severe bruise, he instructed her to tell people that Damian fell; Stach complied. Collman testified at trial that Damian had headed for the pool, and because Damian did not know how to swim, Collman hit him with the wood to stop him. In May 1995, Stach's friend, Monique Shaw, was at Collman and Stach's house. Damian was running down the street with the dog when Collman yelled to Damian to come back. Damian was laughing and did not respond to Collman. Collman stormed over to Damian, grabbed his shoulder, swung him around, and shook him. Collman had his hand up as if to hit Damian and brought his hand down. Shaw observed Damian jerk as if he had been hit. Damian started crying and ran to Stach. Around the end of May 1995, shortly before Collman left for Ely, he spent a week working on a landscaping job with his friend, Michael Palombo. During this week, Collman brought Damian to the job site everyday. One day, Damian was sitting in the truck when he soiled himself. Collman was very angry and dragged Damian from the truck, held him up in the air by one of Damian's arms, and sprayed him full blast with a hose. Damian cried during this incident. On another day, Palombo noticed Collman yelling loudly at Damian and poking him hard in the chest. At one point, Collman made a fist and reached back as if to hit Damian, when Palombo yelled to Collman not to hit Damian. Collman replied, It teaches the kid to show me respect. Sometime between June and October 1995, Collman and his friend, Robert Marcum, were talking about disciplining their children. Marcum confided to Collman that he once spanked his son, Ian, too hard. Marcum explained that after he did it, he was very upset with himself, hugged Ian, and told Ian that he loved him. In response, Collman told Marcum that he had hit Damian too hard and left bruises. Sometime between October 1995 and January 1996, Stach, Collman, and Damian were at the McDonald's in Ely when they saw Marcum and Ian there. Marcum testified that Damian looked pale, sickly, and blotchy; he soon realized that Damian's face was very bruised. Damian and Ian played in the Playland and returned to the adults just as Collman brought the food from the counter. In a voice loud enough to attract attention, Collman said, Damian, where did you get those bruises? According to Marcum, Damian had no more bruises after returning from Playland than he did before playing. Marcum found Collman's behavior strange and his question to Damian contrived. Marcum was so concerned for Damian's welfare that he called Support, Inc., the town's support group service. The record does not reflect the result of Marcum's phone call. In November 1995, Damian had diarrhea which leaked out of his diaper and ran all over himself. Stach cleaned him up and told Collman what happened. Collman stated that little boys should not do that and spanked Damian with a plastic slotted spoon on his naked buttocks three to five times. Sometime between December 1995 and January 1996, Stach punished Damian for misbehaving by making him stand in the corner. Damian was fidgeting with his hands, so Stach told him to stop. When Damian continued to fidget, Collman used duct tape to tape Damian's hands together and to the wall high above Damian's head. When Damian started screaming hysterically, Stach made Collman let Damian loose. The incident lasted only ten to twenty seconds, and Collman testified that the tape did not stick. In January 1996, a woman observed Collman, Stach, and Damian at a store. She noticed that Damian was very bruised and became concerned for his welfare. She said hello to Damian, who looked frightened, and told Collman that she would love to take Damian home with her. The woman testified that Collman replied in a serious tone that he would give her five dollars to take him. She also noticed Collman speak to Damian in a harsh, stern, and cold way, causing Damian to cry. The woman explained that she was unable to report this incident to the authorities because no license plate was on Collman and Stach's car. Throughout most of the time that Collman and Stach lived together, Damian almost always had bruises; the bruising became more regular after Stach, Damian, and Darian joined Collman in Ely in October 1995. [2] Stach testified that when she would return from errands after leaving the boys with Collman, Damian would have unexplained bruises. Collman repeatedly told Stach that Damian fell and instructed her to tell people the same. Stach testified that she complied with this request because she did not want to believe that Collman was harming Damian. Stach also discovered new bruises on the evening before Damian's death. In November 1995, Damian began losing his hair, possibly due to stress. Starting in December 1995, within a month of Damian's death, he became withdrawn, serious, sad, and less vivacious, and he stopped being affectionate with Collman. Many witnesses testified that Collman was not upset or emotional at the hospital on January 19, 1996. Within the couple of weeks following Damian's death, Collman repeatedly stated that he thought he was going to prison. He was also very defensive when any family member would question him about what had happened and would state that the hospital must have caused all Damian's bruises. In addition, one day the family was watching videotapes of Damian, and one showed Collman giving Damian a fake punch; Collman stated that they had better not show that videotape again. Further, Collman acted angry, impatient, uncomfortable, and irritated when Stach would cry over Damian's death. In early February 1996, while in San Mateo, California for Damian's funeral, Collman propositioned Stach for sex and complained that they had not had sex for a long time. When she refused because she was still distraught, he responded that they were still a couple. In April 1996, when the police transported Collman from Las Vegas to Ely for questioning, he continually asked what Stach had told them and stated that she better not have sold me out for some stupid reason.