Prosecutors said during closing arguments that Theodore Wafer’s “credibility is lacking,” saying he used buzzwords when he testified and accused him of being manipulative when talking to police and jurors.
But the defense said the 55-year-old told the truth when he testified he heard pounding on the side and front doors of his home and shot Renisha McBride in self-defense around 4:30 a.m. Nov. 2.
Now a jury, made up of 7 men and 5 women must decide the Dearborn Heights man’s fate. Jurors got the case today after closing arguments in Wayne County Circuit Court and spent the afternoon deliberating. They will continue at 9 a.m.
Wafer is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury will be able to consider the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. He is also charged with manslaughter and felony firearm.
Prosecutors argued 19-year-old McBride just wanted to go home but ended up in the morgue because Wafer picked up his shotgun, released the safety, raised it at her, pulled the trigger and “blew her face off.”
“He wanted a confrontation,” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Patrick Muscat said, telling jurors Wafer had other options that night.
Muscat said that Wafer went to the door to scare away neighborhood kids with his gun because he was mad and killed the “unarmed, injured, disoriented 19-year-old.” Wafer’s vehicle had been hit with paint balls in October.
The defense described a different version of what happened: Wafer was in fear when he woke up to violent pounding, thought there were multiple people outside his home, was “terrorized” in his home for between one and three minutes, opened the door and shot McBride in self-defense.
“The threat was not more than two feet away,” said Cheryl Carpenter, Wafer’s attorney. “Coming, lunging, from the side.”
She said the pounding was “getting louder and louder and louder and louder until the floors started vibrating, the walls were shaking, the window was about to break, the screen door was already broken.”
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Theodore Wafer has taken the stand in his own defense in his murder trial. And Tuesday morning prosecutors will continue with their cross examination.Read more here.
Wafer is charged with Second Degree Murder and Manslaughter in the shooting death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride.
During direct questioning by his own defense attorney, Wafer describes the night McBride was shot. He told the jury that he could not find his cell phone to call police to investigate whatever was happening outside his Dearborn Heights home that woke him up around 4:30 a.m. on November 2.
Wafer said the day before, after work, he went to a nearby bar and consumed no more than three beers. He says he went home around 7:30 p.m. and fell asleep in a recliner watching television.
Wafer's defense attorney asked him to describe the banging on his doors that woke him up and he described it for the jury as "violent" and so intense that he could feel the floor vibrating. Wafer testified that he thought multiple people were trying to break into his house.
Wafer first told police he shot McBride by accident, telling investigators that he didn't realize his gun was loaded.
When asked by his defense attorney to explain why he first said the shooting was an accident, Wafer said he doesn't know why, perhaps "denial," he told the jury.
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The Renisha McBride murder trial began its second week with prosecutors resuming their case against Theodore Wafer, charged with second degree murder, manslaughter, and felony use of a firearm in the 19-year-old’s shooting death. The state rested their case-in-chief on Wednesday afternoon, at which point the defense began calling experts to support their claim of self-defense.
Here are highlights from some of the witnesses called to testify this week:Read more here.
Davonta Bynes
A friend of Renisha McBride testified that he communicated with the victim on the night of the shooting. Bynes was expecting Renisha to stop by that night after exchanging phone calls and text messages with her, but the teen never showed. Bynes told the jury he thought Renisha may have been drinking because she was slurring her speech.
Ray Murad
Wafer’s neighbor from across the street described hearing a gunshot the night of Renisha’s death. Murad said he was in his home office and heard something that sounded like trees hitting cars so he went to check but didn’t see anyone. About 10 or 15 minutes later, Murad heard a gunshot around 4:30 a.m. The witness did not hear any noise in the minutes before the shot was fired.
Det. Sgt. Kevin Lucidi
The Michigan State Police crash reconstructionist testified about Renisha’s car accident that occurred just hours before her death. With a cracked windshield and a damaged wheel, Lucidi told jurors that the car would not have been operable after it crashed into a Dodge Charger parked on the street at 1:30 a.m. Lucidi estimated Renisha was going between 31-43 MPH but could not determine if she was wearing a seatbelt when she crashed. Lucidi believes the cause of the spider-web crack to her car’s windshield is possibly from Renisha’s head striking it at the moment of impact.
James Bivens Jr.
Bivens is the chief of the criminal investigations unit with the prosecutor’s office. Bivens testified he could not find anyone who saw Renisha McBride in the hours between when she crashed her car and when she was shot dead on Wafer’s front porch just after 4:30 a.m. Detectives canvassed the area and knocked on about 100 doors but could not find anyone who saw Renisha in those early morning hours.
Sgt. Shawn Kolonich
The prosecution’s firearms expert told the jury it was not possible for the gun used to kill Renisha McBride to be accidentally fired. Kolonich demonstrated how the Mossberg 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun works, as well as pointing out that the only way to make the gun fire is by taking the safety off and pulling the trigger, which required 6.5 pounds of pressure.
Det. Sgt. Stephen Gurka
Gurka was the detective in charge of the case and was questioned about investigating the scene and gathering information. Gurka said he found no evidence of attempts to force entry into the home or damage to the front door or its locks when he arrived at the crime scene just over an hour after the shooting. Gurka did not observe any prying, kick marks, or damage to the locks on the front or side doors, which the defense says Renisha was banging on so forcefully that night that Wafer was in fear of his life. During cross examination, Wafer’s attorneys attacked the way investigators handled the case, specifically pointing out how long it took for detectives to simply collect evidence. The defense questioned why it took 9 days for officers to retrieve the screen door, why fingerprints weren’t taken from the scene the day of the shooting, and why Renisha’s body was left uncovered in the rain for over an hour after cops arrived at Wafer’s home, all of which the defense believes suggests the evidence presented by the state is tainted.
Detroit — The big question surrounding the murder trial of Dearborn Heights homeowner Theodore Wafer is whether the 55-year-old defendant will take the witness stand in the shooting death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride on his porch in November.From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140731/METRO01/307310073#ixzz3942e125O
Defense attorneys Cheryl and Mack Carpenter, a daughter and father legal team, have declined to comment on whether Wafer will be a witness in his own defense. Last week, Cheryl Carpenter said her client is “terrified” and that “he is on trial for his life.”
The defense began presenting its case Wednesday and called former Wayne County Medical Examiner Dr. Werner Spitz as its first witness. Spitz, a former longtime Wayne County Medical Examiner, is expected to continue his testimony Thursday.
