Opinion ID: 2785233
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rita Butler’s Testimony

Text: Rita Butler testified that she was walking home early Christmas morning when Shepherd pulled up beside her in a van and asked her to get in. 4 She agreed. Shepherd asked Butler if she knew where they could buy some crack cocaine. Butler directed him to the 200 block of Bellefontaine Street. When they arrived, Butler saw a man on the street from whom she had bought drugs before. She did not know the man by name but recognized his face, and she later identified Campbell as that man. She took money from Shepherd, approached the man on the street, and bought a $20 bag of what she believed to be crack cocaine and returned to the van. Butler and Shepherd then drove to another location to smoke it. When Shepherd tried to smoke it, he discovered that the substance was fake. Intent on getting his money back, Shepherd drove back toward Bellefontaine Street and parked the van around a corner, facing away from where Butler had initially bought the fake drugs from the man standing on Bellefontaine Street. Shepherd got out of the van. Butler stayed in the passenger seat. From inside the van, she looked back toward the corner of Bellefontaine Street and watched what happened next. Butler testified that there were “a lot of people standing out” on the street. Butler saw Shepherd approach the man 4 Throughout her testimony, Butler referred to Shepherd as “Jimmy Collins.” No. 13-2634 7 who had sold her the fake cocaine and demand his money back. The man shouted back at Shepherd, and the two men began to fight. She did not see who threw the first blow. As the two men fought, eight or nine other people joined in and began hitting and kicking Shepherd. Shepherd fought back but eventually fell to the ground. The last time Butler saw Shepherd, there was “a crowd” of men beating him as he lay in the middle of the street. She ran away.