The State presented DNA evidence collected from the denim jacket Met was wearing when he was taken into custody. A forensic scientist, Chad Grundy, found that the two blood stains he tested “appeared to have originated from a single female source.” Grundy's testing also established that the blood on Met's jacket matched Victim's DNA...
The State also collected and tested DNA evidence found under Victim's fingernails. The tests excluded Met's roommates as the DNA's source but could not exclude Met or the men in Victim's family...
Met had various injuries on his body that were consistent with scratching or the “scraping or ․ clawing of a fingernail.” One particular abrasion on the inside of Met's thigh consisted of three streaks, twelve millimeters in length, with each streak parallel to the other. Many of these injuries were sustained in areas such as Met's thigh, hip, and right calf that would ordinarily have been covered by Met's underwear or pants. A nurse testified that many of the injuries, because of their location and severity, were likely made when Met was not wearing either underwear or pants, although the nurse conceded that it was possible to sustain similar abrasions when clothed...
It is undisputed that Met's interview was inadmissible as part of the State's case-in-chief because the translator assisting the interviewing agents grossly misinterpreted the Miranda warning given to Met prior to his interrogation.13 Despite this, the State asked the court to rule that the transcript was admissible for impeachment purposes should Met testify at trial. See Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222, 223, 91 S.Ct. 643, 28 L.Ed.2d 1 (1971). Under Harris, testimony may be admissible for impeachment purposes, even if no Miranda warning was given, if the statements were given voluntarily and “the trustworthiness of the evidence satisfies legal standards.” Id. at 223–24, 91 S.Ct. 643.
¶55 After reviewing a video recording of the interview and a transcript, the district court ruled that the transcript could be admitted for impeachment purposes because “[Met's] statements to the officers were voluntary.” The court reasoned that the interrogation did not employ the types of coercive interrogation techniques that could lead to the conclusion that testimony was not freely given. For example, the district court noted that the interview lasted less than two-and-a-half hours; that the interrogation “techniques used by the officers in this case did not create a coercive environment that overcame [Met's] will”; that the officers were not unreasonably persistent; that the “interpretation problems, although pervasive throughout the interview,” were not coercive and did not cause Met to make incriminating statements; and that Met demonstrated a calm demeanor throughout the interview...
Met contends the evidence should have been excluded because one showed the Victim “laying crumpled up, lifeless in a shower stall” and the other is a “particularly horrific photo of [Victim's] vaginal opening, in gruesome and horrific detail.” Met complains that both photographs were projected onto a screen for the jury's view. The district court concluded the first photograph is not unduly prejudicial because it does not show the Victim's face, open wounds, physical injuries, or blood. The second photograph, according to the district court, is a sterile depiction of Victim's genitalia, devoid of blood or open injuries. The district court ultimately concluded that the photographs are not so graphic that they “will lead the jurors to become so angry or upset that they will be unable to fairly judge the facts of the case.” Met has not met his burden of establishing that these conclusions fell outside the bounds of the district court's discretion.
FL FL - Portesha Jonice Tesha Morris, 14, Monticello, 16 April 2001