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Evidence keyed to Waltz
State v. Chapple
Facts
The defendant was convicted of three counts of murder. Mel Coley (“Mr. Coley”), a drug dealer in Washington D.C., had a history of dealing with a supplier named Bill Varnes (“Mr. Varnes”) who lived near Phoenix. Mr. Coley made a large number of drug deals with Malcolm Scott (“Mr. Scott”) who also lived near Phoenix. Mr. Scott met Mr. Coley for an arranged drug deal in Washington, D.C. Mr. Scott was accompanied by two individuals known as “Dee” and “Eric.” Mr. Scott’s sister, Pamela Buck (“Ms. Buck”), also helped arrange the drug deal. The defendant is accused of being “Dee”, which he denies. Mr. Scott drove Mr. Coley, Eric and Dee to a trailer which was the meeting place. Mr. Varnes, Eduardo Ortiz (“Mr. Ortiz”), and Carlos Elsy (“Mr. Elsy”), delivered the marijuana to the trailer. After they were finished unloading, Dee suggested to Mr. Varnes that they go to the bedroom to count the money. Shortly thereafter, shots were fired. Mr. Varnes and Mr. Ortiz were shot and killed with different weapons, and Mr. Elsy was killed by a blow to the back of the head. Mr. Scott, Eric and Dee loaded the bodies into the truck of Mr. Varnes’ car. They drove the car out to the desert and set it on fire. Mr. Scott would eventually hire a lawyer and negotiate an immunity deal in return for his surrender. During his extradition hearing in Illinois, seven witnesses place the defendant in Cairo, Illinois during the entire month of December 1977. Three testified that he was in that town on the day of the murders. The witnesses also testified on his behalf during the trial. The testimony of Mr. Scott and Ms. Buck is the only evidence connecting the defendant to the crime. Mr. Scott and Ms. Buck did not know the defendant, but picked his photograph out of a lineup more than a year after the crime. The defendant argued that the identification is a case of mistaken identity, and offered expert testimony regarding the reliability of identification evidence. The trial court rejected the testimony because it is not within the proper sphere of expert testimony.
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