Opinion ID: 1947609
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Informant's Testimony at Trial

Text: As a result of the ruling of the court, Romano testified at trial. Romano's examination was conducted in such a way that there was no identification of when particular statements were elicited from Appellant. [1] Romano stated that he was housed in the same unit as Appellant, and was already there when Appellant arrived at the jail. He acknowledged that he knew why Appellant was in jail because he had seen him on the news. He started talking to Appellant a couple of days after his arrival. According to Romano, they had a lot of conversations. Romano said Appellant told him that he was at Wal-Mart when the crime was committed. He testified that even while maintaining his innocence Appellant would tell Romano the facts of the crime. He said Appellant told him that Thomas Williams got him a gun. Appellant reported to him that he was supposed to meet Ashley Lyons in the park that evening and he had called her on his cell phone but he could not meet with her. He said Appellant told him that the evidence was all circumstantial. Appellant discussed an eyewitness he said someone saw him with a bald head running from the truck, across the park and over a fence. He told Romano he was picked out of a photo lineup but that was after he was all over the news. He said the motive was supposed to have been jealousy, but that it couldn't have been jealousy because they weren't together at the time. He testified that Appellant said that he wanted to marry Dena Williams so she could not testify against him because she knew too much. He said that if she was arrested they would scare her into telling everything. He told Romano his father had talked about sending Dena away because she could hurt them. He stated that they were watching the news one night when Ashley Lyons was shown on the news. Romano commented that she was pretty and Appellant responded, Yeah, but she shouldn't have done some of the things that she did. He said Appellant once mentioned that he would have had to pay child support for the rest of his life. After watching a news story which concerned the baby's due date, Appellant told Romano that the only thing that hurt him that day was that his son was dead and that Ashley Lyons had gotten what she deserved. He testified that a story came on the TV about the Lacey Peterson case, and Appellant said the guy was worse than him because he actually cut the baby out and strangled it. According to Romano, Appellant also asked if fingerprints could be found on shell casings. Appellant told him that he was concerned about what he had told another inmate, Jason Coomer, and that if Romano got out he should look up Jason, talk to him, and drag him through the mud so Jason could not testify. Finally, he said that Appellant, seemingly regretting their conversations, threatened him. On cross-examination, defense counsel asked if Appellant ever said that he did it. Romano said Appellant did say so, after he had asked Romano whether he thought Appellant had done it. He also admitted that he asked Appellant one time, You did it, didn't you? But that question, he said, was only in response to things Appellant was telling him.