Opinion ID: 2566681
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Testimony admitted at trial

Text: {12} Hoff testified that he was in the bedroom when Defendant and Coley left the room together. Hoff began to wonder what they were doing, and he left the room to look for them. Hoff found them in the bathroom discussing something. Defendant then told Hoff to get out and that they were handling business. After Defendant shut the bathroom door, Hoff stood by the door for about twenty seconds, trying to listen in on the conversation. Hoff could not make out what the two men were saying, but it sounded like arguing, like maybe kind of anger. It sounded as though one person didn't want to do it and one person did. After about twenty seconds, Defendant and Coley came out of the bathroom and returned to the bedroom. {13} During his direct examination, Hoff testified that as the two men entered the bedroom, Defendant said to the two victims, [W]e're gonna jack ya, which Hoff interpreted to mean they were going to rob the two men. Hoff's testimony on this point, however, was called into question on cross-examination: there, Hoff conceded that he had earlier told the police that it was Coley, not Defendant, who said those words. Coley then turned to Hoff and, while pulling a tire iron out of his pants, asked Hoff whether he was in or out. Hoff responded, I don't want no part of this, turned around, left the house, and waited for them in the car. {14} At no point did Hoff see Defendant with a firearm, nor did he ever see Defendant holding a tire iron. Further, at no point did Hoff see Defendant in possession of any of the stolen property. {15} As Hoff was sitting outside in the back seat of the car, Young brought an assault rifle out from the house and placed it in the back seat next to him. Young made two more trips with stolen property out to the car over a period of several minutes. After Young's third trip to the car, Hoff heard five gunshots report from the house. Moments later, Defendant, Young, and Coley emerged from the house. Then Defendant and Young got into the car while Coley stayed behind. Defendant drove the car back to Defendant's house. During the ride, Hoff inquired whether the victims had been killed. Hoff could not recall whether he had asked Defendant if Defendant himself killed the victims or whether he had asked Defendant and Young if they had killed the victims. Nevertheless, although disputed by Defendant, Hoff testified that Defendant replied, Yeah, when the question was asked. According to Hoff, Defendant also repeatedly proclaimed that he was a G, which Hoff interpreted to mean a gangster. {16} Finally, Hoff testified that when the three menDefendant, Young, and Hoffreturned to Defendant's house, Wayne was there. Hoff wanted to leave, so he picked up the telephone to call his mother for a ride home. Defendant told Hoff to hang up the phone and to walk home. Defendant then told Wayne to watch Hoff to ensure he does not go to the cops. After Defendant left the room, Hoff again used the telephone to call his mother. Hoff's mother picked him up at the canal about a quarter of a mile away. Wayne walked with Hoff to the canal, where Hoff's mother gave Wayne a ride to his destination.
{17} Wayne Ingram, although he was not present during the commission of any of the crimes, did spend portions of the evening with the other men as they drove around Carlsbad, including a stop at the victim's house when the group first went there to purchase drugs. Wayne testified about a telephone call he received sometime after midnight on the night of the killings, allegedly sometime before the commencement of the robbery. During this call Wayne talked at different times both to his brother and to Defendant, and one of the two men asked Wayne where they could get a firearm. Wayne testified he could not recall which of the two men asked him about the firearm; however, he admitted that he had earlier told the police it was Defendant who asked the question. He also conceded during cross-examination, however, that he might have told the police it was Defendant rather than Coley because I was trying to help my little brother. {18} Wayne also testified concerning the events that took place when the three men returned to Defendant's house that morning, sometime around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Wayne had been asleep at Defendant's house for a few hours, and was awakened when he heard Defendant, Young, and Hoff return. Wayne confirmed that one of the two men, Defendant or Young, asked him to keep an eye on Hoff; he could not recall, however, which of the two men said those words.
{19} Defendant testified at trial, directly contradicting both key testimony of Hoff and Wayne and facts asserted in Young's police statement. Defendant testified that in the early morning hours, before the second trip to the victim's house, Coley used the telephone to call Defendant's house. Coley called to talk to Wayne, who was at Defendant's house at the time, to tell him they were going to pick him up. Although Defendant also talked to his father during that call, he denied asking anyone about finding a gun. {20} After the call, the four men drove to the house where the previous drug purchase had transpired. Defendant testified that he did not participate in either the robbery or the killings. According to Defendant, when the six men were in the bedroom ingesting cocaine, Coley called Defendant out of the bedroom to talk to him. Having stepped into the bathroom with Defendant, Coley asked Defendant how much money he had; Defendant replied he had fifty dollars. Coley then said, [Y]ou know what ... we don't have to buy it, we can take it. Defendant replied, We don't have to take it, we're straight. Coley appeared to relent, and the two men left the bathroom. As soon as they reached the bedroom, however, and to Defendant's surprise, Coley pulled out a firearm and said to the victims, [T]his is a jack. He then turned to Hoff and asked, [A]re you in or are you out? Hoff replied, I'm out, and left the room. {21} Defendant testified that when Coley pulled the gun out, he told Coley to put the gun away. Coley asked the two victims where the drugs were, but they repeatedly said there were no more drugs in the house. In response, Coley stated, [D]on't act stupid with me. Coley then put the firearm into his pants and picked up a black tool box, which he threw at the two victims. The tool box fell open, and a tire iron fell out of the box. Coley grabbed the tire iron and used it to strike one of the victims. {22} Defendant testified that when Young returned to the bedroom, Young went over to the other victim and started beating him up. Coley again demanded to know where the drugs were, and one of the victims responded, [Y]ou've got all the dope[,] Coley, just take everything, I'm not going to say nothing. Coley again struck both victims with the tire iron, and continued to demand to know where the drugs were. After Coley again pulled out the firearm, he then turned, pointed it, and fired at one of the victims. At this point Defendant ran out of the house. {23} According to Defendant, during the robbery he repeatedly told Coley to put away the firearm, and at no point did Defendant himself wield either the firearm or the tire iron. Defendant also testified that at no point did he agree to participate in, assist, or encourage the robbery in any way. He asserted that it was Coley alone who struck the two victims with the tire iron and shot them with the firearm. Defendant established that Coley was a large man, approximately six feet, two inches tall and 270 pounds, and that by comparison Defendant was much smallerfive feet, six inches tall and 170 pounds. When asked why he did not physically attempt to stop Coley from committing the armed robbery, Defendant replied, How am I going to stop Coley? What am I going to do? All I could tell him is put the ... gun down.... I can'tI'm not going to wrestle with him for the gun, I'm not going to attack him. {24} Defendant testified that he did not remove any property from the victim's house. After the shootings, they ran out of the house, but Coley stayed behind, saying that he was going to clean up this mess. On the ride back to Defendant's house, Hoff asked what had happened, and Defendant responded, Coley shot them fools. There was no further discussion on the way back to Defendant's house. {25} When they arrived at Defendant's house, Defendant denied both telling Hoff to hang up the telephone and telling Wayne to watch Hoff. He explained by testifying that his father, who was at the house, wanted Wayne to leave. Hoff had just used the telephone to call his mother to come pick him up, and so Defendant told Wayne to get a ride with Hoff. {26} Finally, Defendant testified that none of the stolen property was taken into his father's house. Rather, he drove the car from his father's house to the Flume area, where the car got stuck in the sand. As they tried to extricate the car from the sand, Defendant told Young to remove the stolen property from the car. At this point, Defendant saw Young make several trips with the property to a location somewhere in the area.
{27} According to Young's erroneously admitted statement, just before the armed robbery commenced, Young was in the bedroom when Coley and Defendant left the room together. When Defendant and Coley returned to the bedroom, Defendant was carrying a firearm, and Coley was pulling a tire iron out of his pants. Young was somewhat equivocal on this point, and he conceded to the police that the weapons may have been reversed when they entered the room: the firearm may have been in Coley's hand and the tire iron in Defendant's. Despite this equivocation, Young's statement indicates that he witnessed Defendant wielding the firearm at some point during the ordeal. {28} Upon entering the bedroom, Coley said to the victims: this is a jack or we're going to jack you. Coley then turned to Young and Hoff and asked, Are you in or out? In response, Hoff immediately left, but Young, tacitly agreeing to participate in the robbery, began taking personal property from the house out to the car. Young also admitted that at one point he struck one of the victims with his fist, denying that he himself had wielded either the firearm or the tire iron. {29} Young made several trips out to the car with stolen property. At one point, when he returned to the house, Young stated that the weapons had changed, and that Coley was holding the firearm and Defendant was holding the tire iron. Later, when Young was again outside at the car, Young heard several gunshots report from the house. Young went back into the house, where he saw Defendant and Coley both grabbing items from the room. Defendant and Coley then said, [L]et's go, let's go, let's go, and the three men left the house. After a brief argument, Coley decided to stay behind, and Defendant and Young got into the car with Hoff and left. Young did not mention what happened to the stolen goods after the three men drove away. {30} Young's statement confirmed that Wayne was at Defendant's house when the three men arrived. Young's statement also confirmed that Hoff used the telephone at one point, and that Hoff and Wayne left the house together. However, Young did not mention Defendant or anyone else telling Hoff not to use the phone or telling Wayne to watch Hoff. Finally, Young stated that he and Defendant drove to the Flumes, where the car got stuck in the sand.