DADE CITY, Fla. — Tuesday brought both expert witnesses and witnesses who were inside the movie theater at the time of the shooting.
We heard from a forensic pathologist, a woman who was looking to buy movie posters from the theater, and even from the general manager of the theater at the time of the shooting, Thomas Peck.
We also heard from Joanna Turner, the ex-wife of Mark Turner, a witness who testified several days ago. They both were in the theater at the time of the shooting. Joanna says she saw a quick motion from Chad Oulson, where she describes him holding something like a cup or thermos and throwing it. However, she says she wasn’t concerned at the time about the altercation between Oulson and Curtis Reeves, even saying she thought they were friends.
Below, you’ll find detailed testimony updates from each witness. While his family has testified, Reeves has not yet taken the stand and it is unclear if he will testify in his own trial.
4 p.m. update:
The last witness of the day was Dr. Vernard Adams, a consulting forensic pathologist. He has previously served as a medical examiner in several counties and says he has completed 6,800 autopsies. He estimates about 10 percent of those were homicides.
In questioning from the defense, Adams dissected Chad Oulson’s autopsy photos, discussing the distance he was shot at and stippling on his body.
To help in his explanation, Adams used a life-size skeleton model in front of the jury. He describes the head as the most vulnerable part of the body, going through each section of the face with the defense. He adds that as you get older, your brain starts to shrink.
After discussing the head and bone structure in certain parts of the body, the defense asked Adams to discuss the anatomy of a fist.
The prosecution discussed stippling with Adams and the position Oulson’s hand was in. Prosecution lawyers pointed out some differences between Adams’ testimony on Tuesday and an earlier hearing. After requesting several times to read his previous statements, Adams says he cannot confirm the accuracy of his previous testimony, which was recorded by a court reporter.
2 p.m. update:
The defense has called two witnesses, Dawn Michelle Simpson and Thomas Peck, who were both in the building, but not in theater 10.
Simpson says she went to the theater to try and find movie theater posters for her daughter. She says when she got to the theater, she talked to Peck, who was the general manager of the theater at the time.
During her conversation with Peck, Simpson describes seeing Curtis Reeves. She agreed with the defense that Reeves was patient and courteous while Simpson finished her request with the manager.
Peck says after he spoke with Simpson, he listened to Reeves about his complaint with Chad Oulson. He adds there was no indication from Reeves that he was angry or upset about the situation. He agrees with the prosecution that Reeves never mentioned any use of profanity during their conversation.
When asked about the rules behind using phones, Peck says the rules during the previews are relaxed and more strictly enforced during the actual movie.
In questioning from the prosecution, Peck says he was sued as a result of the shooting. Nicole Oulson filed a lawsuit in 2016.
12 p.m. update:
Next, we heard from Sergeant David Wayne Duff II and Corporal Christina Demas with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. On the day of the shooting, Duff was tasked with interviewing witnesses who were in the theater.
Throughout the trial, the defense has mentioned several times that witnesses were not separated immediately while waiting to be questioned by law enforcement.
Duff admits to the defense he did not separate witnesses, and he did not ask witnesses questions about lighting, where they had been sitting, or who shot the firearm.
Cpl. Demas says she did not tell witnesses to not discuss what they had seen. She was asked by another officer to hand out voluntary statement forms. She says she was not instructed to separate individuals while they wrote statements.
11 a.m. update:
Half of the morning was spent wrapping up testimony from Bruce Koenig, an expert in video and audio forensics. He previously worked as a special agent for the FBI and worked on high-profile cases, like the Monica Lewinsky recordings.
Koenig spent time with the defense further analyzing video and stills from the surveillance video inside the movie theater. After about seven hours on the stand, the prosecution had no questions to ask Koenig once the defense wrapped up.
Next up to the stand was Joanna Turner. We heard from her ex-husband, Mark Turner, earlier in the trial. The couple was in the movie theater at the time of the shooting.
Joanna tells the defense she saw an object, like a cup or thermos, thrown by Chad Oulson. She’s the first witness to testify to seeing anything thrown. Previous witnesses, including Curtis Reeves’ wife, Vivian, say they never saw an object or punch thrown at Reeves.
She agrees with the defense that she did not hear any sound coming from Reeves. She says she saw the popcorn thrown followed by a gunshot, but she didn’t see a weapon until Reeves laid it in his lap.
During questioning from the prosecution, Joanna tells lawyers that even though she saw some kind of throwing motion from Oulson, she never heard any noise from Reeves indicating he had been hit. She says she never saw Oulson on top of Reeves.
The prosecution brought up a previous deposition where Joanna says she’s not 100-percent sure she saw a throwing motion from Oulson. She now says she’s “pretty sure” of what she saw. Later, she confirms to the prosecution that what she saw wasn’t necessarily a throwing motion, but more of a quick movement. She describes not being alarmed by the movement and going back to watching previews.
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As the trial of movie theater shooter Curtis Reeves enters day seven of witness testimony, we're expecting to hear from more expert witnesses called by the defense.
One of the biggest highlights from Monday was hearing Vivian Reeves, Curtis Reeves’ wife, testify on the stand.
She describes the moments leading up to the shooting as scary and says she’s not sure what exactly she saw within those few seconds.
However, Vivian did confirm to the prosecution that she never saw anything thrown at Curtis, never saw her husband punched, or heard him indicate he was being attacked. She told the defense that she did see Chad Oulson lean over his seat when he was facing Curtis.
We also heard from a couple of experts: Dr. Donna Cohen, a Professor Emeritus at USF specializing in aging studies, and Bruce Koenig, a forensics audio and video analysis expert.