Post by John Duncan on Jun 10, 2022 14:39:42 GMT -5
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Speaking of the Davises.... A Few Curiosities
By Donald Willis 3/21
Barbara D[avis] testified that a "man was coming across the yard.... First off [Mrs. Markham] went to screaming before I had paid too much attention to him, and pointing at him...." (V3, p. 343)
While Mrs. M[arkham] herself testified, "He cut across Patton St. like this. Toward Jefferson. Then he was still in sight WHEN I BEGAN TO SCREAM AND HOLLER...." (V3)
If Mrs. M is correct re the point at which she began to scream, then Barbara D couldn't have seen the suspect while Mrs M was screaming and he was still in the front yard.
Another curiosity: Barbara D charts (on CE 534) the path that she says that the suspect took across the front yard. Note that that path comes nowhere near the intersection of 10th & Patton. While Mrs. M is famous for her kitty-korner confrontation with him while he's standing at the opposite corner of the intersection.
Virginia D., possibly, reconciles Barbara D & Helen M in her own testimony:
Mr. BELIN. Well, let me try and reconstruct your actions then. You heard the shots?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You ran to the door?
Mr. BELIN. What did you see when you got to the door?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, we just saw, you know, the police car parked down there and we wondered what was going on, so we heard Mrs. Markham across the street calling.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, she told us to call the police, well, so we went to the house. We was already in the house, and we went to the phone and called the police. (V6, p. 460)
If we stop right there, Virginia D's testimony makes sense here. She and Barbara D hear Mrs M telling them to "call the police". And they proceed to do just that. No mention of Mrs M screaming yet, and no sighting of the suspect in the yard. She just says to call the police. They do that. However, Virginia D continues, disastrously:
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, she told us to call the police, well, so we went to the house. We was already in the house, and we went to the phone and called the police.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Then we went back to the front door.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw the boy cutting across the street.
This v e r y s l o w moving suspect is still in sight AFTER the Davises call the cops!? That's where Virginia D's testimony goes off the rails here. Up to that point, she seems to reconcile her testimony with Mrs M's. Then she has the "boy" still in sight and, for some reason, "cutting across the street". (This is the only time that either Davis says that they saw the suspect cross a street.)
But until this incredible coda, Virginia D paints a believable picture of the shooting scene: The Davises see and hear Mrs M telling them to call the police, and they do. Mrs M then picks up the story as the suspect is running up Patton, and THEN she starts screaming. Again, believable: She doesn't call attention to herself with screaming until he's trotting off AWAY from her.
dcw
Speaking of the Davises.... A Few Curiosities
By Donald Willis 3/21
Barbara D[avis] testified that a "man was coming across the yard.... First off [Mrs. Markham] went to screaming before I had paid too much attention to him, and pointing at him...." (V3, p. 343)
While Mrs. M[arkham] herself testified, "He cut across Patton St. like this. Toward Jefferson. Then he was still in sight WHEN I BEGAN TO SCREAM AND HOLLER...." (V3)
If Mrs. M is correct re the point at which she began to scream, then Barbara D couldn't have seen the suspect while Mrs M was screaming and he was still in the front yard.
Another curiosity: Barbara D charts (on CE 534) the path that she says that the suspect took across the front yard. Note that that path comes nowhere near the intersection of 10th & Patton. While Mrs. M is famous for her kitty-korner confrontation with him while he's standing at the opposite corner of the intersection.
Virginia D., possibly, reconciles Barbara D & Helen M in her own testimony:
Mr. BELIN. Well, let me try and reconstruct your actions then. You heard the shots?
Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You ran to the door?
Mr. BELIN. What did you see when you got to the door?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, we just saw, you know, the police car parked down there and we wondered what was going on, so we heard Mrs. Markham across the street calling.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, she told us to call the police, well, so we went to the house. We was already in the house, and we went to the phone and called the police. (V6, p. 460)
If we stop right there, Virginia D's testimony makes sense here. She and Barbara D hear Mrs M telling them to "call the police". And they proceed to do just that. No mention of Mrs M screaming yet, and no sighting of the suspect in the yard. She just says to call the police. They do that. However, Virginia D continues, disastrously:
Mrs. DAVIS. Well, she told us to call the police, well, so we went to the house. We was already in the house, and we went to the phone and called the police.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. Then we went back to the front door.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mrs. DAVIS. We saw the boy cutting across the street.
This v e r y s l o w moving suspect is still in sight AFTER the Davises call the cops!? That's where Virginia D's testimony goes off the rails here. Up to that point, she seems to reconcile her testimony with Mrs M's. Then she has the "boy" still in sight and, for some reason, "cutting across the street". (This is the only time that either Davis says that they saw the suspect cross a street.)
But until this incredible coda, Virginia D paints a believable picture of the shooting scene: The Davises see and hear Mrs M telling them to call the police, and they do. Mrs M then picks up the story as the suspect is running up Patton, and THEN she starts screaming. Again, believable: She doesn't call attention to herself with screaming until he's trotting off AWAY from her.
dcw