The third day of testimony in the Leslie Sharp murder trial ended with a stalemate over the allowance of new evidence.
Thursday, Sharp’s defense team brought in forensic pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne.
Hayne concluded, based on the original autopsy report and Sharp’s testimony, that the first bullets fired hit Cole in the front of his body, while the two entrance wounds to his back were among the last to occur.
Sharp, 22, is charged with the shooting death of Christopher Cole on Nov. 10, 2008, on Kelly Road in Oktibbeha County.
Cole was 20 at the time.
Hayne’s finding clashed with eyewitness testimony of the three women who were in the car when Cole was shot. All three testified that Sharp shot Cole in the back while he was walking back to his truck.
Hayne’s conclusion also contrasts the findings of the prosecution’s forensic pathologist, Dr. Adele Lewis, who performed the autopsy on Cole’s body. Lewis said Wednesday that there was no way to determine which shot was fired first because of the multiple variables involved — the position of person shooting the gun and how the gun was angled.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Rhonda Hayes-Ellis asked Hayne why he didn’t use testimony from the three eyewitnesses.
“I think there were only two witnesses who would know exactly what happened — the shooter and deceased,” Hayne responded. “I place emphasis on the shooter. The other three were in the car and trying to avoid gunfire.”
Hayes-Ellis grilled Sharp during her testimony earlier in the day about her difference in demeanor and emotion during her videotaped statements to police on the night of the shooting. Sharp cried Thursday as she described the shooting but didn’t in her initial hour-and-a-half-long interview.
Hayes-Ellis wanted to play the video of Sharp’s statement during the prosecution’s rebuttal to show the contrast in Sharp’s demeanor and highlight her differing accounts of the shooting.
“The video will show that she gave varying versions of the manner of which the defendant approached her,” Hayes-Ellis said, noting the impact it could have on Hayne’s conclusion.
Sixteenth Circuit Court Judge Lee Howard met with lawyers on both sides for more than an hour after the defense rested, trying to find previous case law that dealt with introducing new evidence during a rebuttal.
Sharp’s defense team, Jack Brown and Mark Williamson, rejected Hayes-Ellis’ request because they’d have no way to respond.
“The state has the evidence in its possession,” Howard said. “If it was material or significant, the state could have offered that evidence to begin with. It operates as a surprise to the defense because they have no way of addressing it.”
Howard, who referenced the Tyler Edmonds murder trial, advised the defense to find case law on proper rebuttal and recessed early.
Unrelated to Sharp’s case, Hayne served as the prosecution’s forensic pathologist in Edmonds’ 2004 murder conviction. Edmonds was found guilty of helping his sister, Kristi Fulgham, kill her husband, Joey Fulgham, in Oktibbeha County. Edmonds’ conviction and subsequent life sentence has since been overturned.
The state Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that Edmonds was wrongfully convicted based partly on bogus evidence provided by Hayne, and the court ordered a retrial.
The Innocence Project has accused Hayne, a former state medical examiner, of providing false evidence for prosecutors to persuade juries to convict innocent people of murder.
Hayne also has been blamed for helping get two innocent Noxubee County men convicted of murder. Kennedy Brewer and Lavon Brooks were convicted of raping and murdering two young girls in the 1990s, but evidence used against them was discredited after they served years in prison.
Based on DNA samples obtained after Brewer’s conviction, charges against him were dismissed. Brooks’ conviction was thrown out. Another man faces charges in Noxubee County for the killings.
The Sharp trial was scheduled to resume in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court at 9 a.m. today.
If the video is admitted for the rebuttal, it will have to be attached to witnesses, which in this case are Starkville police officer Maurice Johnson and Oktibbeha County sheriff’s deputy Denise Crocker, who observed the initial statement. Johnson has not testified this week.
Hayes-Ellis also called Lewis back to the stand to rebut Hayne’s testimony.
With the use of a plastic skeleton, Hayne outlined how the most likely sequence of shots would have caused Cole to land on his back, as Sharp described in her testimony. Sharp said Cole hunched forward, fell onto the quarter panel of Kayla Huffman’s car, then fell to the ground lying on his back. Huffman and fellow eyewitnesses Alissandra Inzunza and Nicole Transchina testified Tuesday that Cole was lying on his stomach after he fell to the ground and had to be rolled onto his back.
Hayne said Cole’s back was turned to Sharp at one point, but only after the force of the shots to his chest and shoulder area turned him around. Hayne said the entrance wounds to Cole’s back, if fired first, would have caused more damage to his lungs.
Hayne’s conclusion backed Sharp’s testimony that she was threatened by Cole, whom she said was walking toward her with his gun raised before she fired 10 shots from her 9 mm pistol, hitting him with seven shots.
“He was about 10 feet away, facing me,” Sharp said. “At first he was looking at his gun; then he pointed it at me and started shooting. I heard maybe one click or two and started firing.”
Wednesday, a weapons expert testified that Cole’s revolver wasn’t in working order and likely misfired during the confrontation.
During cross-examination, Hayes-Ellis questioned Sharp’s need to bring her gun without telling the other three women in the vehicle.
Hayes-Ellis also referenced testimony from the three eyewitnesses who said they never felt in danger, even after Cole fired his revolver in the air. Sharp agreed that the eyewitnesses, whom she said were laughing about the confrontation, didn’t feel threatened.
During examination from the defense, Sharp described the weapons training she received from her father, Oktibbeha County sheriff’s deputy Rick Sharp, and through the Explorer’s Club, a subdivision of the Boy Scouts of America. She said she started shooting at age 11.
With extensive training, Hayes-Ellis suggested Sharp could have stopped Cole without firing 10 shots at him. But Sharp said she fired her weapon until Cole hit the ground, which in her mind, signaled the threat was eliminated.
“That’s how I was trained,” Sharp said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.