DADE CITY, Fla. — Thursday brought more testimony and heated questioning from the defense counsel. We heard from three witnesses, two of whom were in the theater at the time of the shooting and were sitting in the vicinity of Curtis Reeves and Chad Oulson.
During testimony, there were many times when the prosecution and defense disagreed on the line of questioning. At one point, defense attorney Richard Escobar raised his voice at a witness and interrupted them. Judge Susan Barthle asked Escobar to allow the witness to finish answering questions.
Below you’ll find more details about each witness's testimony. Overall, every witness who was in the movie theater has told almost the exact same story about what happened in 2014.
2:45 p.m. update:
After a lunch recess, we continued to hear from Mark Turner, as well as Derek Friedhoff, a registered nurse who was in the theater at the time of the shooting.
Friedhoff says after the shooting, he went to assess Chad Oulson’s condition. He describes blood coming from Oulson’s shirt, with no exit wound on his body. He says Oulson was still breathing and it sounded like he was trying to breathe. Friedhoff says he took off his shirt to apply pressure to the wound, and later felt Oulson’s pulse decline. At some point, he could no longer feel Oulson’s pulse in his wrist.
During questioning from the defense, there were some disputes as to how questions can be answered. Friedhoff explained most of his answers while the defense was looking for a simple “yes or no.”
Friedhoff says he never heard a struggle, he never heard anything that would indicate someone being attacked, and he never saw Oulson throw anything. The only movement he says he saw was Oulson reaching forward for Curtis Reeves' popcorn.
12:00 p.m. update:
After hours of questioning, Allen Proctor has been released from the stand.
Next up to testify is Mark Turner. He was in the theater with his wife at the time of the shooting and sat in aisle seats in the same row as Curtis Reeves.
When Reeves was returning to his seat, Turner says he did not struggle to walk and did not use a cane or wheelchair.
Prior to the shooting, Turner says he saw Chad Oulson reach toward Reeves' bowl of popcorn and flip it in Reeves' face.
Turner adds he did not see any punches or objects thrown at Reeves. He did not see Oulson lean over his chair. He also did not hear Reeves indicate he was being attacked or Oulson threatening Reeves. He says he only saw popcorn being flipped.
He did hear Reeves say, "threw popcorn in my face," after the shooting.
Turner also says he helped Nicole Oulson, Chad's wife, after the shooting. She gave him her cell phone so that he could make a call for her.
11:15 a.m. update:
The defense has continued to question Allen Proctor, a former homicide detective in the major crimes unit at the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
During questioning, the defense has focused on asking why certain protocols weren’t followed. Proctor admits to interviewing a witness while another witness was in the room, not taping interviews from the start, not separating witnesses, and improperly labeling evidence.
“I tried my best to do the very best job I did as far as the investigation,” Proctor explained. He also expressed repeatedly that he had confidence in his team to properly collect and document evidence.
The defense has also focused on why Proctor didn’t go into the theater where the shooting occurred until after he interviewed witnesses, after 5 p.m. that day. Attorneys have also asked why Proctor didn’t immediately obtain surveillance video from inside the theater. He explains that he is not computer-savvy and PCSO’s cyber crimes unit was on the scene to collect evidence like video.
When asked if he didn’t follow proper protocols because he didn’t have enough experience in these types of cases, Proctor took a long pause before agreeing with the defense.
Proctor has continued to point out that all witnesses, including Reeves’ wife, said in the initial interviews they never saw a punch or object thrown.
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Thursday is expected to bring more testimony from the detectives and other agencies that responded to the Wesley Chapel movie theater where Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson.
On Wednesday, we had an opportunity to hear directly from Reeves in an audio interview with detectives in the hours after the shooting.
"If I had to do it over again, it would have never happened,” Reeves told detectives.
District 6 Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin, who performed the autopsy on Chad Oulson, also testified to his findings. He determined Oulson died from a gunshot wound. The manner of death was homicide.
Thursday will start with questioning Allen Proctor, a detective at the scene. He admits he made some mistakes in gathering interviews and documenting evidence, like mislabeling the CD that holds Reeves' interview.