4 Responses to Theodore Wafer Murder Trial -Renisha McBride| Day One

1. yahtzeebutterfly says:

   July 24, 2014 at 7:02 am

   Using two video “captures” of the State’s opening statement I have been able to transcribe the opening statement.

   from First Video( I will place its link under this post as a reply) :

   Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Danielle Hagaman-Clark:

   Good Morning.

   This was Renisha McBride before November 2, 2013.

   This was Renisha McBride in the early morning hours of November 2, 2013.
   (Both photos were projected on court screen for the jurors.)

   This is why:

   
(Wafer’s 911 call now played for jury.)

   DISPATCHER:(?) emergency.
WAFER: Uh, yes. I just shot somebody on my front porch with a shotgun banging on my door.
DISPATCHER: What’s your address?
WAFER: My name, uh, address is 16812 West Outer Drive
DISPATCHER: Okay what city are you in?
WAFER: Thank you.
DISPATCHER: What city are you in?

   Prosecutor continuing opening statement:

   The evidence in the facts that you will hear in this case deal with how Renisha McBride ended up on the defendant’s front porch at 16812 West Outer Drive in the city of Detroit back on November 2, 2013.

   You will hear evidence from Monica McBride who is the mother of Rachael that back on November 1, she was at the home.

   You’ll hear from a young girl Amber Jenkins who had been friends with Renisha McBride since they were in about 7th grade.

   You’ll hear that Renisha was about 19 years old, and that she was living on Whitcomb Street in the city of Detroit with her mother, her grandmother, and her sister Jasmine.

   And, that on November 1, 2013, Amber Jenkins and Renisha McBride decided that they were going to get a pint, between a pint and a larger bottle of vodka. And, they were going to play drinking games at the McBride household. Amber Jenkins will tell you that they said (stayed) at Renisha’s house and played drinking games for a couple hours and that it was a shot game where they were playing cards or the roll of the dice, something along those lines. And, that when you lost you had to take a shot. And, Renisha was doing most of the losing.

   You’ll hear that at some point during the evening around 9:00 or so, Amber Jenkins decides, you know Renisha was getting upset about having lost so many times, and she decided she was going to call it a night. And, she goes outside. Renisha follows her outside and keeps saying things like “You’re going to leave over a deal?” And, Amber says, “Yeah, I’m going home. It;s 9:00, I’m going home. And that when Renisha goes back into the house, she (Amber) believes that that is the end of the night for Renisha as well.

   Amber Jenkins goes home. And, that’s the last time …she ever has with her best friend, Renisha McBride.

   You’re going to hear that Monica McBride her mother was at work until about 9:00 or so. She gets off work and she goes home. And, she gets home around 10:00…10:30 and she sees Renisha sitting at the kitchen table charging her cellphone. She fusses at Renisha because Renisha’s been home this day …it’s a Friday…Friday night. And, Renisha hasn’t done the dishes…she hasn’t done the chores like she’s supposed to, and so Mrs. McBride, as mother, is fussing at her about why didn’t you do these things?

   Mrs. McBride goes upstairs to change her clothes and when she comes back, Renisha is gone.
   You will hear (Devante) Bines. Devante Bines is 24…25 years old…a young man that knows Renisha. That they worked together previously over the summertime, and that while they never had dated or had any sort of intimate relationship, they would flirt over text messages. You will hear that Mr. Bines and Miss McBride would have text conversations and you will see those text conversations to her cellphone as well as to historical data (?) and that his last contact with her verbally was about ten o’clock or so and he wanted her to come to his house. And he lived in the area of (Faust) and Warren in the city of Detroit.

   You’ll hear that when he speaks to her, she sounds different. He’s concerned about her. She sounds like she has been drinking and you will also see from cellphone (?) where Renisha’s phone is at during some of these conversations.

   One thing that you’re going to learn about during this case is cellphone and the ability for police officers in this particular case Special Agent Sam Brew to go back and to get phone records from metro PD.

   Rest (or most of the remaining) of the opening statement is found here:
Now continuing on to opening statement found on the video at this link—–
http://www.freep.com/article/20140723/NEWS02/307230038/Renisha-McBride-porch-shooting-trial

   Hagaman-Clark(Ass’t. State Prosecutor):
   The investigation that night will show you that the front door where Miss McBride was laying was still locked. The screen door that she was shot through was STILL locked at the time that the police got there. They enter through a side door.

   The investigation will show you that there was NO sign of ANY attempted breaking into this house. There’s no evidence of any prying. There’s no evidence of any kicking. There’s no evidence of any breaking. That the locks of all the entries of the house including the windows were still secure.

   You’re going to find out that the screen door, the screen insert…the defendant had a front door…there’s a screen door that has a frame and then there’s an insert that goes into that frame…it can be swapped out for either glass or for screen…that on November 2, this screen insert was what was in the door.

   And, when the police arrived, the screen was out of the insert. And, it’s the People’s position that that screen came out when the defendant blasted his shotgun through it.

   You will hear evidence in this case that a shotgun was recovered. That it was found immediately on the other side of that door….that locked screen door. There it is..it is a Mossberg with a pistol grip…believe it holds seven rounds.

   You will hear that a gun case was recovered in a back bedroom….in the DOORWAY.
   You will hear that the ammunition that holds this particular weapon or goes with this particular weapon was found inside of a closet in a secret compartment.

   You will hear that this weapon was taken (in place) into evidence by the Dearborn police department the night of this murder. That it was sent to the Michigan State Police and that the firearms ballistic expert, the guy by the name of Det. Sgt. Shawn Kolonich had an opportunity to examine it. He did some testing on it.

   You will probably learn more about shotguns than you ever wanted to know during this trial. What he will tell you is that in order for this weapon to fire, it has to be loaded, racked, the safety has to be off…the safety is right at the very front of the weapon, and it’s indicated by a little round red dot….and that the trigger has to be pulled. That this isn’t some sort of hair-trigger device. That it requires at least 6 and a half pounds of pressure in order for the trigger to be pulled back and the gun to be discharged.

   You’re going to hear the ( ) of something that is known as a 6 point safety inspection on this weapon. Where he hits it with a hammer. He’ll explain to you all the different tests that he does in order to see if this gun could accidentally discharge. Is it possible that this gun could just go off without having the trigger pulled? And the answer to that question is absolutely NOT.
   In order for this weapon to discharge, the defendant MUST have pulled the trigger.

   You will hear in this case that the defendant is charged…with second degree murder, and the judge is going to give you the elements…if she already has, but I believe that these cases go along these lines:

   First that the defendant caused the death of Renisha McBride. I don’t believe there will be any real argument about that. The defendant was the only person that was home the night of that she was killed. And, he tells you in his 911 call “I just shot someone for banging on my door.”
   The issue is what was he thinking at the time that he pulled the trigger?

   And, I have to show one of these three things…not all three…just one of these three things that of (mine?)
I don’t have to prove that he intended to kill anyone. And, it’s not the People’s position that he did intend to kill Renisha McBride. It’s the People’s position that he knowingly created the situation where death or great bodily harm was likely to occur.

   It’s the People’s position that taking a gun, having it loaded, having the safety off, opening a locked secure door, jamming it in the face of an unarmed teenager and pulling the trigger is a situation that’s created and likely to cause great bodily harm.

   The defendant in this case is also charged with manslaughter. The elements are first, that Miss McBride died as a result of a shotgun wound. That the death resulted from the discharge of a firearm, that at the time of the discharge, the defendant was pointing it at Renisha McBride, and that he intended to point that weapon.

   He’s also charged with felony firearm which just simply means that he was possessing a gun at the time that he either committed the murder or the manslaughter.

   The defendant in this case had other options:

   He could have called 911, but he didn’t.

   His actions that night were unnecessary, unjustified, and unreasonable.

   Because of what he did that night, a 19 year old girl is dead on a porch in Dearborn Heights.
   For those reasons, we ask that you find the defendant guilty.

   Thank you.

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   • yahtzeebutterfly says:

     July 24, 2014 at 7:04 am

     I see you posted the other video (“Partial Opening Statement”) in your article above.

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2. Ametia says:

   July 23, 2014 at 6:23 pm

   Theodore Wafer is on TRIAL FOR 2ND DEGREE MURDER, NOT RENISHA!

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3. Ametia says:

   July 23, 2014 at 6:16 pm

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