Opinion ID: 2062895
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The In-Court Testimony

Text: At trial, the witnesses recanted, either by disavowing their prior identifications and statements or by claiming no memory of them. Called as a court's witness, Antonio Harris testified that he ran and hid during the shooting, and saw the incident only after the wounded victim approached him on Exeter Street; he repeatedly asserted that he did not see the killing. He stated that after Carroll died, he and McCormick left the scene and then used heroin to the point of intoxication. On cross-examination Harris remembered giving the April 4 statement to police. He acknowledged having initialed or signed its pages. He remembered answering the detectives' questions pertaining to his name, address, age, and his prior acquaintance with Nance and Hardy. As for the questions and responses implicating Petitioners in Carroll's death, Harris sometimes repudiated his former answers or sometimes stated he did not remember giving them. He acknowledged having viewed photo arrays and having put his signature on the pictures of Nance and Hardy, but contended that he merely indicated to police that they were persons he knew and recognized. Harris further testified that he did not remember his grand jury testimony. He acknowledged his signature on the November 26 statement, but asserted that he had no memory of the questions and answers concerning his encounter with Ernest Barnes, and no current memory of accompanying Barnes to the office of Matthew's lawyer. He stated that he was not afraid of reprisals, nor had he been threatened. Harris could not explain how the police obtained the information contained in his April 4 and November 26 statements to detectives. He could not explain how the grand jury obtained the information contained in his transcribed testimony. He contended that he was steadily intoxicated by drugs throughout the months in question. Rodney McCormick testified that he assisted the wounded Carroll. He denied that he had seen a fight involving Nance, Hardy, Matthew, and Carroll earlier on April 3. He said both that he did remember, and that he did not remember, giving a statement to police. He remembered giving detectives his name, address, and date of birth; he acknowledged his signature on the statement. He stated that he did not remember the questions or his former answers concerning a drug turf war at the projects, the conversation in Bell's Carry Out, or the melee in which Carroll was beaten. McCormick said he remembered looking at a photo array and acknowledged his signature on the picture of Nance. He first stated that he did not remember selecting Nance's photograph, and later that he was simply pointing out someone he knew. McCormick testified that he had no memory of his appearance before the grand jury. He added that he was not deliberately pretending to forget the prior events out of fear. Thomas Brown remembered making statements on January 22 and January 23, 1991; he acknowledged having signed both. He denied having identified by name any of the participants in the April 3 fight. He testified that the police forced him to make the January 22 statement to escape criminal charges himself. Brown averred that the answers recorded in the January 23 statement were false. He explained that Hardy's letter to him about dealing with those things left unfinished meant only that Brown was to find witnesses and bring them to court. Detectives Sydnor and Silver testified that all of the statements in question were freely given and signed. They stated that the interviews and photo arrays were accurately documented. The detectives believed that Harris and McCormick were sober during all of their sessions with police. Detective Silver said that Antonio Harris informed her on March 13, 1991  shortly before the trial  that he would change his testimony: He told me that he wasn't going to testify, that he was scared and we were protecting him now, but who was going to protect him after he gave his statement? Apart from the out-of-court statements and identifications by Harris, McCormick, and Brown, no evidence linked Petitioners to the murder of Aaron Carroll.