And so it is.

The CSI work on these high profile cases seems to always be slack to say the least. I assume it's slack on every case... it is just shown to be so when a case becomes "high profile"
Medical examiner... perhaps also iffy?

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I wonder if the aunt's house resembled Wafer's house.

I feel that wearing hoodies to the court and statements that this is racist already affects any chance of a fair trial. Sorry but this brings too much emotion into the case IMO. Of course isn't that what closing arguments do -- they spin to the emotions of a juror. Can you tell I hate closing arguments. And the primacy/recency effect can have a lot of bearing on an outcome which has always bothered me.

Someone up thread mentioned a site that referred to the defense wanted to submit a tape given by Wafer. This may be the site.

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/12/21/th ... a-mcbride/

Excerpt

During the exam, Carpenter tried to introduce videotaped testimony by Wafer, given to Dearborn Heights police at their station the night of the killing, before they released him without charges. Judge Turfe ruled that the videotape was inadmissible under Michigan Court Rules because Wafer could take the stand himself and be cross-examined.

It is sometimes said that an investigation/trial seeks to reveal the truth (The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth)... but that is FAR from what I see in the cases I have followed closely for 5 years plus.
I like the concept of a "Grand Jury" that looks at evidence before charges are laid... but even that has its limitations... it's weighted towards finding probable cause to go further ("A grand Jury would indict a ham sandwich").
Beyond that, the judicial process seems NOT to be about all the facts being aired, but rather it is an adversarial game with both sides hell-bent on keeping some facts hidden. I do see good reasons for that often... but sometimes the game does seem to be "hide the truth" rather than get at all the facts and expose the truth.
Whatever Wafer said in interviews with police is clearly seen as important... by defence who wanted it aired, and by prosecution who wanted it blocked (and won). So clearly it in some way explains events in a way favourable to Wafer. I do understand that there has to be balance, cross examination of witnesses when a JURY is present... but since this was a PRELIMINARY hearing heard only by a Judge... I think it would have made more sense to air the tape... the Judge is capable of deciding how much weight to give it.... it would be nice in these preliminary stages to try and get at the whole truth.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Am too tired to look back. Did LE reinsert that screen into the frame? Why was the door in the basement? That damned door... Where is unitron? That one has seen that kind of door before. I haven't.

Well, I was too tired to look back also! But, I think, what I read was that when LE arrived the screen door was on the ground, LE thought the shotgun blast pushed it out. But, instead of taking a picture and documenting the scene, LE allowed (by who?) the screen to be placed in the basement and the glass door put in. Later, LE realized, they needed a pic of the screen door, so they went back and put it back in the frame, where they replaced it as they thought it was. At this placement the shotgun hole was approx. "face" high. Later the defense showed it clearly could not have been in that placement.

Those damn doors have been a major headache!

My question, now, is how did the screen door (or part thereof) end up on the ground? It was that way when LE arrived. And I don't believe that Wafer did that.

I'm still amazed that LE would tamper with a crime scene. I assumed it was standard procedure to tape off the scene and have a CSI unit handle the rest.

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I am amazed too! Perhaps they thought it was a standard "castle doctrine" case or perhaps it was budget cuts, perhaps it was ignorance? The Detroit Police Chief said he thought Armed Citizens are a needed part of criminal defense. I feel for the family of McBride, I am sure in her normal life she was a good person but sometimes the powers of the universe combine to form a tragic accident.

I also wonder about McBride's relative(s) who supposedly live nearby, like the DDs, it has been mentioned, dropped, mentioned. I think there might be something there too. I know my mind is sometimes crazy!! Like, what IF, she made it to her relatives house and in fear of a DWI, she continued to drink, in order to say that after the accident she was so upset she drank, then tried to make her way back to the accident scene, after all her car was there, and then got so disoriented she tried to make her way back to said relatives, and mistook Wafer's house. I know that this probably DID not happen but there are those missing hours. Just saying that there is more to come in this case, imo.

The key point for me is that but for McBride's actions, Wafer would have remained asleep and gone about his day and his life.

And the state that McBride was in was clearly of her own doing. It was wilful. She started out early in the evening hell-bent on getting drunk(and stoned) playing drinking games. She continued that for some time it seems. I have no objections to somebody deciding to get drunk (pissed out of their minds) in the privacy of their own home, but she decided to drive around AFTER she got in that state. It seems she was not alone initially (Grandmother's house??) and not alone at whatever other place(s) she drove... all the people at those places allowed her to get behind the wheel and drive, and so are complicit. However the "blame" is on McBride herself, and it was NOT just that she had perhaps one drink too many at a party (slipsies)... she actually set out to get drunk on purpose starting around 7PM... and continued with that "plan" for several hours. And then drove her car. It is lucky that she did not kill herself and other innocent people with her car. She did damage her own car and the parked car.. and STILL she did not stop her wilful dangerous behaviour... she ventured out to perhaps cause more mayhem... in a drunk and dangerous state. And as it turns out she did cause more havoc... her own death, as well as a huge disruption to Wafer's life... an innocent man asleep in his own bed, in his own home, minding his own business. Her behaviour was wilful. She had MANY hours and "warning signals" to stop, but continued. Several people close to her most likely had several opportunities to intervene (or at least try) and did not.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Reminder - Hearing on next Wednesday

Case bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court for a Jan 15 arraignment.



There is a separate thread... I will open it for the hearing

Theodore Wafer Murder2 - Hearing 01-15-14
viewtopic.php?f=101&t=1171

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Does anybody have a link to Court documents, Clerk's Office etc for this case?

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I agree with all and especially about the tapes. I don't understand why the Judge didn't allow them...surely they will be allowed during trial...and without Wafer taking the stand. I have done extensive research on this case and I believe the family left out some important facts surrounding where Renisha was right before the crash. JMO

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“You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don't you let 'em get your goat. Try fightin' with your head for a change.
-Atticus Finch”

Ahhh. The irony. Rumpole is thy name.

If GZ had stayed in his truck, Trayvon would have gone home and still be alive.

Every time you type that, this is exactly what pops into my mind. Of course, you knew that.

Yes Deb... and every time you post that you think it is ironic and comparable with the GZ case, I am drawn towards the smiley page
Deb

I see HUGE differences in the two situations.

One biggie is...... "A man's home is his castle"....being asleep in bed at 3 AM makes it doubly so.

If you MUST make a comparison then..... GZ, like Wafer, would have gone about HIS life if TM had not hidden/come back to attack him. I guess the "moral" of both stories is that if you can't help accosting somebody, either because you are an aggressive thug, or just too drunk to realise what you are doing... then beware... your target may be legally armed and permitted to fatally shoot you.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Detroit-area man who fatally shot young woman on his porch makes 1st appearance in trial court
Theodore Wafer charged with murder in Renisha McBride's death
Published On: Jan 15 2014 06:37:07 AM EST

DETROIT - A Detroit-area man charged with second-degree murder after shooting a young woman on his porch is making his first appearance in Wayne County Circuit Court.

...more at link
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/detr ... index.html

Hearing thread open......

Theodore Wafer Murder2 - Hearing 01-15-14
viewtopic.php?f=101&t=1171&p=66555#p66555

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I am really drawn to this case. The first case I was drawn to was casey anthony because of her lies, then Jodi arias, same reason. I wasn't really all that interested in george zimmerman case until I was watching the pre-trial hearing. Listening to the defense question those detectives, and them admitting they changed their reports and added very subjective terminology, I was, wow, he might be innocent! And this case somehow reminds me of this.

I don't think he is innocent. He is not guilty due to the circumstances around the events though.

I was saying, innocent, in regard to GZ, but I still want to see the evidence in this case.

hmmm well that was fun! not

Yes... so glad I had an evening nap... got up 11:30PM... so I could be here all night and be here for 3:00AM trial

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light