So I'm working my way through the transcripts, and am nearly through day 2, and would like to share something interesting that happened out of the presence of the jury that I have not seen mentioned:
During the testimony of Joellen Zipperer, Kratz gets upset at testimony about a phone call George Zipperer received from the Sheriff's department the night Teresa was reported missing. He claimed it was hearsay, and wanted to speak outside of court. Turns out, the information that he was trying to get from Joellen was this:
On Nov 3, after 5PM, Corporal Lemieux (Calumet Co) calls Mr. Zipperer, and he becomes belligerant on the phone.
That same night, Investigator Dedering (Calumet Sheriff's Dept) does a followup at 9:40P. He describes that: George was extremely belligerant initially, threatened to have his dog eat anyone who would come on the property, wanted Teresa arrested even after being told she was a missing person, and denied that he had ever contacted Auto Trader or arranged photos of the car. He told Lemieux, and then Dedering, a series of lies about what he and his grandson Jason were doing that day, as well insisting Teresa was a trespasser on his property.
Strang argues this was relevant to show that the investigation was not conducted objectively w.o bias. Avery and Zipperer should have been on the same level: They both had known appointments that afternoon w. Teresa, George Zipperer became belligerent and uncooperative w. police, and continues w. this even when told she is missing and police need help, and tells the police a whole series of lies about that afternoon. Strang argues that police should have pursued Zipperer w. further investigation, since he was one of the last people to see Teresa, and was lying about everything that came out of his mouth. He was hostile, uncooperative, yet received no further investigation.
The judge sustains Kratz's objection, but it appears that they will try to get the testimony out anyway through Dedering, so we will see if that happens. Kratz is asked if he plans to call Lemieux, but he says he doesn't know "he'll see".
Had anyone heard any of this before?
