317
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
2 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
3 CHARLOTTE DIVISION
4
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
5 )
vs. ) File No. 3:97CR23-P
6 )
AQUILIA MARCIVICCI BARNETTE, ) SENTENCING PHASE
7 )
Defendant. )
8 )
9
10 Transcript of proceedings before the Honorable
11 ROBERT D. POTTER, Senior United States District Court Judge,
12 before Scott A. Huseby, Official Court Reporter and Notary
13 Public, on the 2nd day of February, 1998.
14 APPEARANCES:
15 For the United States:
16 ROBERT J. CONRAD, JR.
THOMAS G. WALKER
17 Assistant United States Attorneys
227 West Trade Street, Suite 1700
18 Charlotte, North Carolina 28204
19
On Behalf of the Defendant:
20
GEORGE V. LAUGHRUN, Esq.
21 Suite 602
301 South McDowell Street
22 Charlotte, North Carolina 28204.
23
24
25
318
1 APPEARANCES: (Continued)
PAUL J. WILLIAMS, Esq.
2 Suite 801
301 South McDowell Street
3 Charlotte, North Carolina 28204
4
5 ---
6
7 MR. LAUGHRUN: Good morning, Judge Potter.
8 THE COURT: Good morning.
9 MR. LAUGHRUN: Before we begin, we were made aware of
10 something after court on Friday --
11 THE COURT: I'm sorry, what?
12 MR. LAUGHRUN: We were made aware of something that took
13 place in court Friday, made aware of it after court, and through
14 Mr. Huseby's efforts, he provided Saturday a transcript to us of
15 testimony of Crystal Dennis. She was the lady who came in in a
16 leopard skin outfit on Friday. We have got a copy of her
17 testimony, Judge. And to be candid with Your Honor, I don't
18 think I heard it, Mr. Williams, I know, didn't hear it, the
19 government heard it because they alerted us to it Monday
20 afternoon, so if they heard it, I'm sure the jurors heard it
21 Friday afternoon. The question, if you would, I'm going to get
22 you to speak up just a bit, would you tell the members of the
23 jury what you remember about the first meeting with the
24 defendant? Answer --
25 THE COURT: Who was asking the question?
319
1 MR. LAUGHRUN: Mr. Walker.
2 MR. LAUGHRUN: Answer, well, when I first met him, he
3 was sweet, but afterwards, I move in with him, and pardon my
4 language, Judge, he was a cold hearted mother fucker. That was
5 his language.
6 MR. WILLIAMS: Her language.
7 MR. LAUGHRUN: Her language. I've got a copy of the two
8 pages, we've got the whole transcript. What I would ask Your
9 Honor to do, number one, is strike her testimony. No objection
10 was made for that, because quite frankly, if we would have known
11 that you would have had to pull us off the ceiling. I think
12 it's inadmissible. I think it shows extreme bias, and I would
13 ask you to strike her testimony in consideration, if Your Honor
14 please.
15 THE COURT: All right, Mr. Walker.
16 MR. WALKER: Your Honor, I would ask that you deny that
17 motion. I mean, this witness is -- Ms. Dennis was in a living
18 arrangement with the defendant. She has a basis for forming her
19 opinion, and if that's her opinion, that's her opinion. And it
20 may be crude and her language may not be the most ideal language
21 for a courtroom, but that's what she said, that's what she
22 thinks, and I would just ask you to deny that motion.
23 THE COURT: Well --
24 MR. LAUGHRUN: If I could, I understand she can give her
25 opinion. She wasn't asked that.
320
1 THE COURT: Well, I understand. Let me just say what
2 I'm going to say. Obviously, she shouldn't have said that. I
3 can tell the jury to disregard that remark. I'm not going to
4 strike all of her testimony.
5 MR. LAUGHRUN: With that, because of that, we would move
6 for a mistrial based on that, if Your Honor please.
7 THE COURT: All right, sir, motion denied.
8 MR. LAUGHRUN: Judge, another thing, still got a couple
9 of other matters, Friday night on channel 9 news, the 10:00
10 o'clock and the 11:00 o'clock news, Alesha Chambers was
11 interviewed by channel 9. She is an employee of channel 9. She
12 works security. Her comment was, I hope I've put him on death
13 row. Now, that was her comment. They did about a 30-second
14 interview of her. She works for channel 9. I think that's
15 clearly improper.
16 THE COURT: That's right, she does work for channel 9.
17 MR. LAUGHRUN: Right. I would hope they had more ethics
18 than that, but I'm obviously wrong, to broadcast an interview
19 like that during the course of a case this serious, they saw fit
20 to broadcast it. I would ask Your Honor to inquire as to the
21 members of the jury if they heard anything about that particular
22 portion, because that is so crucial to this issue.
23 MR. CONRAD: Your Honor, I have read maybe five or six
24 times in the paper Mr. Laughrun telling The Charlotte Observer,
25 we are just trying to save his life. He's said that five or six
321
1 times in The Charlotte Observer.
2 THE COURT: All right, sir, I'm just going to ask the
3 jury if they've seen, heard or read anything from any news,
4 whatever.
5 MR. CONRAD: What I would ask the Court to do is just
6 general comment like you've done every day during the trial,
7 have you seen, read or heard anything, but not specifically with
8 respect to that interview.
9 THE COURT: All right, sir.
10 MR. CONRAD: Because he's been doing it the whole time
11 we've been trying this case.
12 MR. LAUGHRUN: I'm going to defend myself on that,
13 Judge. I have a right to comment on that, not specifics, no
14 specific evidence was commented on. And I'll say this, Judge,
15 the families of the victims have been extremely -- they have
16 declined all requests for interviews, which is a class act on
17 their part. It's what they should do, and they have done,
18 because all the news media said members of the Allen family and
19 Williams have declined comment, and I admire them for that
20 classiness that they've shown. But this person comes in here
21 obviously with a vendetta against the defendant and makes those
22 prejudicial comments, if Your Honor please.
23 THE COURT: All right, thank you, sir, call the jury.
24 (The jury returned to the courtroom.)
25 THE COURT: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, hope you
322
1 had a nice weekend. I'm sorry about the courtroom being cold
2 this morning, sorry we're a couple of minutes late starting
3 here. We had some matters to take up. We're trying to get it
4 warmed up. I notice some of you men don't even have -- you want
5 to go back and get a sweater or jacket or something? It's kind
6 of chilly sitting here with sleeveless shirts on.
7 All right, members of the jury, I have to ask you again,
8 of course, have any of you over the weekend seen, heard or read
9 anything about this case at all, seen anything on television?
10 (Jurors shake heads.)
11 THE COURT: Not seen anything on television concerning
12 this case?
13 (Jurors shake heads.)
14 THE COURT: Not seen anything on television or in the
15 newspaper about comments made by anyone, is that correct,
16 including the lawyers, is that right?
17 (Jurors shake heads.)
18 THE COURT: All right, fine, call your next witness --
19 oh, that's right, we're over here now.
20 MR. LAUGHRUN: Your Honor, you were going to ask about
21 the other matter we discussed.
22 THE COURT: Let me have that.
23 MR. LAUGHRUN: I have a transcript that we'd like to
24 offer --
25 THE COURT: Let me just have it just a minute.
323
1 MR. LAUGHRUN: For the record, it's marked Defendant's
2 Motion Exhibit 1.
3 THE COURT: Members of the jury, over the -- during the
4 testimony of Crystal Dennis, she made the statement, which I
5 want you to dismiss from your minds, do not consider it in any
6 way in your deliberations, she had no reason to do this or she
7 had no, I'll say no business doing this. But sometimes
8 witnesses say these things and, of course, we can't stop them
9 once they get it out, you can't do anything about it. But I can
10 ask you to disregard this entirely. Her statement was in answer
11 to a question, When I first met him, he was sweet, but
12 afterwards I moved in with him, he was a cold hearted, and I
13 hate to use this term but this is her testimony, he was a cold
14 hearted mother fucker, he was just, he was just real cold
15 hearted. Y'all disregard any -- that's her opinion. Witnesses
16 are not to state opinions unless they are experts, so just
17 disregard any opinions stated by any witness. Thank you very
18 much.
19 All right, call your next witness.
20 MR. LAUGHRUN: Judge before calling the witnesses
21 witness, we would move introduction of the exhibits previously
22 identified through the government's witnesses, Defendant's
23 Exhibit 2 by Investigator Holl, 2A by Investigator Holl.
24 THE COURT: Wait a minute, let me catch up you here, 2,
25 2A.
324
1 MR. LAUGHRUN: 17.
2 THE COURT: 17.
3 MR. LAUGHRUN: 21.
4 THE COURT: 21.
5 MR. LAUGHRUN: 26.
6 THE COURT: 26.
7 MR. LAUGHRUN: 26A.
8 THE COURT: 26A.
9 MR. LAUGHRUN: 45.
10 THE COURT: 45.
11 MR. LAUGHRUN: 46.
12 THE COURT: 46.
13 MR. LAUGHRUN: 47A through M, Judge, and they are
14 mounted, Judge, on a board.
15 THE COURT: 47A through M?
16 MR. LAUGHRUN: Yes, sir, they were identified by
17 Investigator Holl.
18 THE COURT: Now, gentlemen, yes, I have not asked you
19 what those were. Do y'all have any objection to any of these?
20 MR. CONRAD: No, sir.
21 THE COURT: Thank you very much, let them all be
22 admitted.
23 MR. LAUGHRUN: I have got a few more, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Wait a minute, let me get -- go ahead and
25 I'll get them all at one time.
325
1 MR. LAUGHRUN: 49.
2 THE COURT: 49.
3 MR. LAUGHRUN: 48A, B, C and D.
4 THE COURT: Wait a minute, 48 what?
5 MR. LAUGHRUN: A through D, inclusive.
6 THE COURT: Oh, A through D, okay, A through D.
7 MR. LAUGHRUN: 51.
8 THE COURT: 51.
9 MR. LAUGHRUN: 52.
10 THE COURT: 52.
11 MR. LAUGHRUN: 50.
12 THE COURT: 50.
13 MR. LAUGHRUN: 53A and B.
14 THE COURT: Somebody coughed there, what did you say?
15 MR. LAUGHRUN: 53A and B.
16 THE COURT: 53A and B, all right.
17 MR. LAUGHRUN: And we don't care to publish those to the
18 jury at this time.
19 THE COURT: Okay, just want to make sure. The Clerk
20 tells me you only had A through L listed. Is it A through M?
21 She had A through L on 47. 47, you had A through M you told
22 me. I think you only had A through L.
23 MR. LAUGHRUN: I'm sorry, it's A through L, Judge.
24 THE COURT: A through L, all right, thank you. Thank
25 you, Mike.
326
1 All right, let's go back and make sure. We have -- the
2 defendants want to introduce Exhibits 2, 2A, 17, 21, 26, 26A,
3 45, 46, 47A through L?
4 MR. LAUGHRUN: Yes, sir.
5 THE COURT: And 49, 48A through D, 51, 52, 50, 53A and
6 B, is that correct?
7 MR. LAUGHRUN: That's correct, Judge Potter.
8 THE COURT: Thank you very much, let them all be
9 admitted.
10 MR. LAUGHRUN: May I go get our first witness, Judge?
11 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
12 MR. WILLIAMS: Defendants call Sonia Barnette, if Your
13 Honor please.
14 SONIA BARNETTE,
15 being first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
16 DIRECT EXAMINATION
17 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
18 Q. Can you hear me all right, Ms. Barnette?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Would you tell the jury your name?
21 A. Sonia Barnette.
22 Q. And are you related to this young man seated next to me?
23 A. Yes, I am.
24 Q. And how are you related to him?
25 A. I'm his mother.
327
1 Q. How old are you?
2 A. 39.
3 Q. Where do you live?
4 A. I live at 3413 West Boulevard in Charlotte.
5 Q. How long have you lived at 3413 West Boulevard in
6 Charlotte?
7 A. That's been my family residence since before I was even
8 born. We have always lived at that address.
9 Q. Have -- other than that being in the family, have you
10 lived at other addresses over a period of time?
11 A. Yes, I have, uh-huh.
12 Q. But how many years approximately has that address
13 existed there, 3413 West Boulevard?
14 A. I would say at least 39 years. It started out as Route
15 6, Box 104, New Dixie Road, but that was prior to me being in
16 elementary school.
17 Q. Now, how long have you been at the 3413 West Boulevard
18 address?
19 A. At present, I have been there for about five years now.
20 Q. Who lives there with you now?
21 A. My father.
22 Q. What is your father's name?
23 A. Jessie Cooper. My son Mario Barnette.
24 Q. How old is your son Mario?
25 A. 20. My son John McAllister.
328
1 Q. How old is your son John?
2 A. Four. And my fiancee John West.
3 Q. I want to ask you to tell the jury, I'm going to give
4 you some names of people and tell the jury before we get into
5 your life and Mark's life who these people are. Derrick
6 Barnette?
7 A. That's my ex-husband.
8 Q. And has he also been called or referred to as Ricky?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. John Thomas Barnette?
11 A. That's Mark's grandfather, that's Derrick's father.
12 Q. Mabel Johnson?
13 A. That's Derrick's aunt and Mark's great aunt.
14 Q. Jean Barbour Holland?
15 A. That is my first cousin.
16 Q. And Jessie Cooper is your father?
17 A. My father, uh-huh.
18 Q. Who was your mother?
19 A. My mother's name was Pearl Anderson Cooper Brown.
20 Q. Is she alive or dead?
21 A. She is deceased.
22 Q. How did she die?
23 A. She was murdered.
24 Q. How old were you when your mother was murdered?
25 A. 16.
329
1 Q. What house was she murdered in?
2 A. In the house we lived in at the time, the address was 7,
3 I think it was 716 Peaceful Glen. It's near Arrowood Road in
4 the south end of Charlotte.
5 Q. In Charlotte?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. Your dad Jessie Cooper and your mom Pearl at that time
8 had been divorced, is that correct?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. And she, your mama, had remarried?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And your mama had remarried to a man by the name of
13 Lloyd Brown, is that correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And who was the person who murdered your mom?
16 A. Lloyd Brown.
17 Q. Who is Tessie Nero?
18 A. My sister.
19 Q. And how about Jeff Nero?
20 A. That's my brother-in-law.
21 Q. Tina Davis?
22 A. That's an old friend, was a friend of mine.
23 Q. You no longer are friends?
24 A. Well, we don't communicate really anymore. She is very
25 ill now. I called her in the hospital, but we don't have the
330
1 type communication we used to.
2 Q. Sheila Cooper?
3 A. That's my youngest sister.
4 Q. Anne Austin?
5 A. Anne Austin was a neighbor and just a long time friend.
6 She --
7 Q. I'm sorry?
8 A. She lived in the neighborhood across from us in the
9 neighborhood we lived in when we were married, and she's been a
10 long time friend.
11 Q. She has two sons, Greg and Steve Austin?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. Did you know a person by the name of Ayanna Brewer?
14 A. Ayanna Brewer, uh-huh.
15 Q. Who is she?
16 A. She is a -- well, in later years she became a friend of
17 my son Mark's, but actually she is the niece of a long time
18 friend of my mother's from years ago.
19 Q. And John West is your present fiancee?
20 A. Uh-huh.
21 Q. And Mario Barnette is your --
22 A. My son.
23 MR. WILLIAMS: May I approach the witness, Your Honor?
24 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
25 (Pause.)
331
1 MR. WILLIAMS: Approach the witness, Your Honor?
2 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
3 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
4 Q. I want to hand you first two photographs marked for the
5 purposes of identification as Defendant's Exhibit Number 32, and
6 ask you if you know what that is?
7 A. That's the back of my house. That's the back yard.
8 Q. Is that how it looks at this time?
9 A. At this time, uh-huh.
10 Q. And describe for the jury -- let's do this if we can.
11 MR. WILLIAMS: May I be allowed to have the witness come
12 down in front of the jury, Your Honor?
13 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
14 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
15 Q. Come on down in front of the jury with me.
16 THE COURT: Do you want to move admission of that for
17 illustrative --
18 MR. WILLIAMS: I'm sorry, Your Honor, I have to identify
19 them first, I apologize.
20 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
21 Q. Identify these photographs first. That's the back of
22 your house?
23 A. That's the back of the house.
24 Q. And Defendant's Exhibit Number 11, what is that?
25 A. That's a photograph of my mailbox, and that's a
332
1 photograph of my driveway.
2 Q. Okay. And Defendant's Exhibit Number 12?
3 A. That's a photograph of my mailbox, and that's the
4 mailbox and picture like across the street there.
5 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 27?
6 A. That's Mark's birth certificate.
7 Q. Speak up a little bit.
8 A. That's Mark's birth certificate.
9 Q. And Defendant's Exhibit Number 37?
10 A. That's a picture of Mark and Mario when they were, I
11 think Mario was about ten months old, Mark was about four years
12 old.
13 Q. Is Defendant's Exhibit 37A an accurate enlargement of
14 the photograph depicted in Exhibit 37?
15 A. Uh-huh.
16 Q. You have to answer yes or no.
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Defendant's Exhibit 38?
19 A. That's a picture of Mark, a school picture of Mark.
20 Q. How old was he then?
21 A. He was about five years old.
22 Q. And I hand you a photograph marked as 38A for the
23 defense, and ask you if that is an accurate enlargement of
24 Defendant's Exhibit 38?
25 A. Yes, it is.
333
1 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 39?
2 A. That's a picture of Mark when he was about ten years
3 old, school picture.
4 Q. Okay. I show you Defendant's Exhibit Number 39A, and
5 ask you if that's an accurate enlargement of Defendant's Exhibit
6 Number 39?
7 A. Yes, it is.
8 Q. Defendant's Exhibit 42?
9 A. That is Derrick and myself's marriage certificate.
10 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 38 -- excuse me, Number 28A?
11 A. They are various pictures, a picture of Mark when he was
12 about age five, picture of Derrick and I the day we got married,
13 a picture of Mark and myself in front of the apartment we lived
14 in in Omaha, Nebraska, a picture of Mark and his cousins at my
15 sister Tessie's house in Columbia, South Carolina, picture of
16 Mark and my mother when he was about six weeks old, and a
17 picture of myself and my younger sister and my mother and Mark
18 when he was about six weeks old.
19 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 28B?
20 A. A picture of Mark and Mario. This was during the time
21 we lived in Clanton Park, a picture of Mark in front of my
22 sister's house on Farm Pond Lane in one of my vehicles, a
23 picture of Mark and his cousin Candace in our home at Comstock,
24 picture of myself and Mark at our home at Comstock. This is the
25 Easter picture of my sister, my brother-in-law, my two nieces
334
1 and Mark in our front yard, and this is a picture of my sister
2 Sheila and Mark and Mario in front of our apartment in Minot,
3 North Dakota.
4 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 28C?
5 A. This is a picture of my sister Sheila and myself
6 going -- in Atlanta going to a function. This is a picture of
7 Mark, myself, Mario, and I'm holding my sister Sheila's little
8 boy, Michael, at a birthday party. And this is a picture of
9 Mark from when he ran track at Lithonia High School in Atlanta,
10 Georgia.
11 Q. Finally, Defendant's Exhibit 28D?
12 A. This is a picture of Mark that he sent me from Virginia
13 where he is standing by his Christmas tree. This is a picture
14 of my sister, myself, my son John McAllister, Mario, my niece
15 Regina, my niece Michaela and Mark, and that's a Christmas tree
16 picture, '95, I believe.
17 Q. The photographs that you just identified, 28A, 28B, 28C
18 and 28D, did you show those photographs to a person by name of
19 Cindy Maxwell who was working for the defense in this case?
20 A. Yes, I did.
21 MR. WILLIAMS: We would offer these exhibits into
22 evidence, if Your Honor please.
23 THE COURT: All right. I'm not going to go back and
24 reiterate all of them. I will say all of those which you have
25 referred to will be admitted. If she's going to go down to the
335
1 jury, if you'd have her put on for the record which one she is
2 talking about, this photograph C.
3 MR. WILLIAMS: If you would come down in front of the
4 jury briefly.
5 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
6 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 39 is a photograph that you
7 identified, 39A, as an enlargement of that photograph, is that
8 correct?
9 A. That's correct.
10 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 38 is a photograph which you
11 identified, and 38A is an enlargement of that photograph, is
12 that right?
13 A. That's correct.
14 Q. Defendant's Exhibit Number 37 is a photograph that you
15 have identified in 37A as an enlargement of that photograph, is
16 that correct?
17 A. That's correct.
18 Q. Is that a picture of Mark holding his brother Mario?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. How old was Mark and Mario at the time depicted in this
21 photograph?
22 A. Ten months and four years.
23 Q. Mario was ten months and Mark was four years old?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And the photograph that you have identified as 32 is a
336
1 photograph of the back of your home?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And Defendant's Exhibit Numbers 11 and 12 are
4 photographs of your mailbox?
5 A. Uh-huh.
6 Q. The front of your home at 3413 West Boulevard?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And also a shot of the driveway leading up to your home
9 taken from an upstairs window, is that correct?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And photographs that you have described with regard to
12 the family photographs, 28D is a photograph you have described
13 as?
14 A. As Mark, and then my family and friends down the street.
15 Q. And 28C is a photograph or photographs of?
16 A. Of my sister --
17 Q. Why don't you just hold the photograph and point to the
18 jury and show them would be easier.
19 A. It's my sister.
20 Q. Hold it up so all of them can see it.
21 A. Of my sister and myself, of my two sons and myself, and
22 of my son at track, a track photograph.
23 Q. How about 28B, would you show the jury briefly what you
24 said was in there?
25 A. Yes. This is a photograph of my family at Easter, Mark
337
1 and one of his cousins, Mark as his brother, Mark in one of my
2 vehicles, myself and Mark, and my sister and Mark and Mario.
3 Q. Okay. And 28A?
4 A. And this is a picture of Mark of Derrick and myself,
5 myself and Mark in Nebraska, Mark and his cousins, myself and my
6 mother and my sister and Mark and my mother and Mark.
7 Q. Thank you very much, if you will go on back up to the
8 stand and be careful.
9 I want you to go back and tell the jury about Mark
10 Barnette's life from the perspective of his mother, beginning
11 when you got pregnant with him, and begin there and tell the
12 jury when you were pregnant with Mark, how old were you?
13 A. I had Mark when I was 14.
14 Q. What grade were you in school?
15 A. I was in ninth grade at Quail Hollow Junior High School.
16 Q. Have you talked with a person by the name of Cindy
17 Maxwell that we talked about who has been appointed by this
18 court to assist the defense in preparing a life history?
19 A. Several times, yes.
20 Q. And have you talked to her about the events of Mark's
21 life from your perspective?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Now, beginning with when you were pregnant with Mark,
24 just go ahead and tell the jury what happened when you became
25 pregnant with Mark, when you were in school and go from there.
338
1 A. Well, I got pregnant with Mark when I was very young. I
2 was in ninth grade at Quail Hollow. My parents were divorced,
3 so it was just my mother and myself and my sister Sheila. He
4 was born. I went through school, I didn't drop out of school or
5 anything like that, because I was on student council and I was
6 on honor roll, so it was real important that I keep my grades,
7 so I stayed in school. And he was born in July which was during
8 the summer months, so I didn't have to miss school, I was able
9 to return to school when school started back.
10 There was a friend of my family that lived in the
11 neighborhood. She was older, but she was expecting her first
12 child, and so my mother made arrangement with her to keep Mark
13 while he was an infant so that I could go to school. She would
14 take him there in the mornings and then when I would get off the
15 school bus, I would stop by there and pick him up and walk from
16 their house home.
17 Q. Was that in Charlotte?
18 A. Yeah, that's in Charlotte, Windsong Trails community,
19 which is off Arrowood Road was where we were living. And my
20 mother was a nurse. She was a nurse at Mercy Hospital for like
21 25 years, so she worked different shifts like 3:00 to 11:00
22 mostly was her shift, was the shift that she worked.
23 Q. And that was Pearl?
24 A. That was Pearl. And so I would pick him up after
25 school, and basically I'd take care of him and then I had my
339
1 younger sister, but she was in school, too. So she would come
2 home and we would be there pretty much, you know, until my mom
3 got home. That was like the first start of his baby-sitting.
4 Then my mother met this gentleman by the name of Lloyd Brown.
5 She had been his nurse when she was working at Mercy Hospital.
6 I think he was in the hospital, I don't know exactly what his
7 illness was, but he was very ill and she had nursed him. Well,
8 we went to the store one day and she saw him or he recognized
9 her or whatever, and he started to call. And they didn't know
10 each other very long, and the next thing she told us that they
11 were going to get married. And my sister and I, we weren't real
12 happy about it because we didn't know him. And, you know, he
13 just showed up and we didn't know who he was and all of a
14 sudden, she said they were going to get married and he was going
15 to move into our house.
16 Q. How old were you when Pearl and Jessie, your mom and
17 dad, were divorced?
18 A. I was probably 12 years old when they divorced. And we
19 always were able to visit my dad and everything, but we lived in
20 two different households.
21 Q. And where did your dad live during this period of time,
22 was he in Charlotte or somewhere else?
23 A. He was at 3413 West Boulevard. He has always lived at
24 that address since he came, I guess from the Korean War. He's
25 always --
340
1 Q. So at some point in time, your dad Jessie was in the
2 Korean War?
3 A. Uh-huh.
4 Q. And then after he got out of the Korean War, he lived at
5 3413 West Boulevard?
6 A. Right.
7 Q. After he got out of the Korean War, was he disabled in
8 any way?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. As a result of what?
11 A. He was -- my understanding is he was bombed pretty badly
12 in the Korean War to the point that they didn't -- they had sent
13 telegrams to my mother and my grandmother stating that he was
14 missing in action. They, after a period of time, I think they
15 located him in Fort Dix, New Jersey and then shipped him home.
16 Q. Now, so you and -- Pearl and Mr. Brown got married, and
17 then what happened?
18 A. Then it was -- we didn't like it. And so at one point,
19 I took Mark and my younger sister and we left the home. We left
20 and went to my dad's house at 3413 West Boulevard. My mom was
21 real upset that we didn't like him and wanted us to come home,
22 so we did.
23 Q. Let me ask you this, when he was murdered, how old was
24 Mark?
25 A. He was about ten months -- he was about ten months old.
341
1 He was still an infant.
2 Q. Was he in the house when it happened?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Who else was in the house when it happened?
5 A. Myself and my sister Sheila.
6 Q. Just tell the jury briefly as you went through from that
7 point on the different places you moved and go on from that
8 point, as you grew up and moved from school to school and place
9 to place?
10 A. Well, when my parents first separated, we moved to -- we
11 moved out. They separated at first for a while, and then they
12 reconciled and we moved back to 3413 but then left again.
13 Q. Did you ever move out of North Carolina?
14 A. Not at that time.
15 Q. When did you move out of North Carolina?
16 A. After my mother was murdered.
17 Q. And where did you go?
18 A. Columbia, South Carolina.
19 Q. Who lived in Columbia, South Carolina?
20 A. Well, my sister Tessie and my brother-in-law Jeff, they
21 were in Fairbanks, Alaska at the time and they got an emergency
22 transfer to Fort Jackson in order for myself, my sister and Mark
23 to come live with them.
24 Q. How long did you live down there?
25 A. I graduated from school at -- probably two years. I
342
1 went through my senior year, and I worked until the point that
2 Derrick and I got married.
3 Q. Tell the jury about Mark, what was he doing and where
4 was he during this period of time, was he in school or at home
5 or what?
6 A. He stayed at first at home with my sister, but then she
7 decided to go to work so then we put him in a day care.
8 Q. And you stayed in South Carolina for about how long?
9 A. About two years before Derrick and I got married.
10 Q. Okay. Where was Derrick when you were in South
11 Carolina?
12 A. He was in Charlotte, but -- Charlotte and then he was at
13 A and T State University, and he would make trips back and forth
14 from there to Columbia to see us.
15 Q. Early on in South Carolina, were there any incidents
16 that Mark had any problems with any other children or any other
17 people in his relationships?
18 A. There was one. He was about two years old and he was at
19 the day care, I can't remember the name of the day care, but
20 they called one day because a little girl had hit him and he
21 turned around and bit her.
22 Q. Where did he bite her?
23 A. On her cheek.
24 Q. Was that -- were there any other reports of any
25 relationship problems that he had while he was in South
343
1 Carolina?
2 A. No, that was all.
3 Q. Where did you move from South Carolina?
4 A. From South Carolina, we moved to, I'm trying to
5 remember, because Derrick joined the Air Force and he did his
6 basic training tour in Texas, but we didn't go there. When he
7 got the next tour, we moved to Omaha, Nebraska.
8 Q. And how long did you stay in Omaha, Nebraska?
9 A. We were there for about 18-month tour.
10 Q. And was Mark in a nursery or was he in the home or what?
11 A. No, he stayed home. I didn't work, so he stayed home
12 with me.
13 Q. And how were the relationships in the family during that
14 period of time?
15 A. They were good then.
16 Q. And then where did you go from Omaha, Nebraska?
17 A. Then from Omaha, I went back to our address 1137
18 Comstock in Clanton Park.
19 Q. And was there a particular reason that you moved back to
20 Charlotte?
21 A. Well, Ricky's mother had passed away, and he inherited
22 the house, he was the only child, so that was our residence.
23 Q. Okay. Was the death of Ricky's mother something that
24 was expected or was it sudden?
25 A. It was very sudden.
344
1 Q. Then Ricky during this period of time was at home or did
2 he go on tour in the service?
3 A. He had to go on tour at that point to Okinawa, Japan.
4 Q. Okay. And how long was he in Japan?
5 A. His tour was about 18 months, but he made several trips
6 home. I then was pregnant with Mario, and so we had to -- we
7 had to finance it, but he had to make a trip home to be in the
8 States during that time.
9 Q. What did you do while Derrick was in the service in
10 Japan?
11 A. I just stayed at home at the house at 1137 Comstock. I
12 didn't work, I just stayed.
13 Q. Had you met a person by the name of Tina Davis at this
14 time?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And when did you meet and how did you meet a person by
17 the name of Tina Davis?
18 A. I met Tina when I was about, I guess about eight months
19 pregnant with Mario. Ricky or Derrick introduced me to her,
20 because I didn't know anybody in the neighborhood and so that I
21 would have somebody that could kind of look out for me because I
22 was pregnant. He knew he was going to have to go back to Japan
23 and so that I would have somebody in the neighborhood that I --
24 Q. Did you and Tina Davis go out and socially party or do
25 anything like that?
345
1 A. Oh, yes.
2 Q. Quite a bit?
3 A. Quite a bit.
4 Q. Did you drink alcohol during this period of time?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Where was Mark while this was going on?
7 A. He was there, he was there. I mean, he didn't go
8 to -- he did start school, but he didn't go to any other day
9 care or anything like that. During this time, it was about --
10 he was starting like the first grade.
11 Q. He was at -- was he at a Lutheran school at that time?
12 A. No, that was -- he went to a Lutheran school when he
13 were in Minot, North Dakota and that was like a preschool that
14 we sent him to.
15 Q. And you were in North Dakota for about 18 months?
16 A. Uh-huh.
17 Q. And it was during this time that Mark was in a Lutheran
18 school?
19 A. Right.
20 Q. And then did you go back to Charlotte?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And where did you go to live in Charlotte at that time?
23 A. At 1137 Comstock.
24 Q. Why did you move to North Dakota?
25 A. It was part of Derrick's tour in the Air Force. It was
346
1 one of his tours.
2 Q. And so in North Dakota, was Mark Barnette's father there
3 or was he traveling?
4 A. No, he was there. He would have to every now and then
5 do TDY's to go to different locations, but they would maybe be a
6 month.
7 Q. And then you moved from there to where?
8 A. Then when we came back from Minot, North Dakota, we came
9 back to Charlotte.
10 Q. And what school did Mark go to when you came back to
11 Charlotte?
12 A. He went to Beverly Woods.
13 Q. And after Beverly Woods, where he did go?
14 A. He went to Barringer.
15 Q. Why did he move from that first school to the second
16 school?
17 A. I think it was a grade difference, I'm not sure. I
18 think it was the grade, when he got to a certain grade. We were
19 still living at the Comstock address, but he went to Barringer.
20 Q. And did he change schools again?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Where did he go?
23 A. Our lady of Consolation Catholic school.
24 Q. And why did he go there?
25 A. Because we were -- we got kind of dissatisfied with
347
1 Barringer. He had a teacher that was, we felt like, a little
2 too lenient on his studies.
3 Q. And during this period of time, were you employed?
4 A. Then I was employed.
5 Q. And what about his dad, where was he going?
6 A. I was employed with the insurance company, and his dad
7 at that time wasn't employed. When he immediately got out of
8 the Air Force, he enrolled in Central Piedmont and was taking
9 computer programming classes, but he wasn't working.
10 Q. Did you and Derrick begin to have problems in the
11 marriage during this particular time, or did it happen at some
12 other period of time?
13 A. It happened after we came back from Minot, North Dakota.
14 Q. Tell the jury about those problems, what was going on.
15 A. Everything just got really bad. We started to argue and
16 fight a lot.
17 Q. What did you fight about?
18 A. Well, I think we both started to distrust each other or
19 accuse each other of not being faithful. Ricky had started to
20 get real jealous of my friend Tina. He had introduced me to
21 her, but he started saying that I would rather be with Tina and
22 go out with Tina and party with Tina. And he just was always
23 real angry, and he would do different things, mean things.
24 Q. What kind of mean things did he do?
25 A. Well, he would take all of my things and he would throw
348
1 them out of the house.
2 Q. Were the children present during any of this time?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Was Mark there?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Did Mark see these arguments?
7 A. Probably several, I'm sure.
8 Q. Did he hear the arguments?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And what kind of physical arguments did you and his dad
11 have during this period of time, what kind of -- tell or
12 describe the kind of fights and arguments you had, were they
13 physical?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. How physical were they?
16 A. Well, sometimes he would just fight me. He would drag
17 me, he would hit me.
18 Q. Okay. How old was Mark during this period of time?
19 A. He was probably --
20 Q. Speak up, please.
21 A. He was probably about eight, nine, ten, like those ages.
22 Q. Okay. Would he ever hit -- would Derrick ever hit you
23 in front of Mark?
24 A. I'm sure several times, yes.
25 Q. Did Mark ever attempt to do anything about these
349
1 arguments or fights, did he ever attempt to intervene or what
2 was he doing during this time?
3 A. He would sometimes run to try to get help. He would run
4 to a neighbor's house and try to call the police, because he
5 would never let me get to the phone.
6 Q. During this period of time, were the police ever called
7 out to your residence?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And where were you living during these fights?
10 A. 1137 Comstock Drive.
11 Q. And how long did these arguments and fights go on?
12 A. Oh, it was probably for a couple years before we decided
13 to separate.
14 Q. During this period of time, were you drinking alcohol?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Were you doing it to excess in your opinion?
17 A. Probably more than likely.
18 Q. What kind of alcohol were you drying?
19 A. I would drink beer, I would drink wine.
20 Q. Who else in the house was drinking alcoholic beverages
21 besides yourself while all of this was going on?
22 A. Well, Ricky, he drank beer. Sometimes we would
23 entertain and, you know, have friends over, have parties and
24 then we would buy, you know, liquor, vodka and different mixed
25 drinks like that, but --
350
1 Q. Did Jessie drink?
2 A. Yes, my dad used to drink.
3 Q. Did he drink Pabst Blue Ribbons?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. How many, would he drink a lot of them?
6 A. Quite a bid.
7 Q. Would your dad get drunk?
8 A. Well, I guess he would have to for the amount that he
9 drank. He drank quite a bit.
10 Q. How about you, did you drink quite a bit to the point
11 where you would get drunk during this period of time?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Did the kids, Mario and Mark, see this?
14 A. I'm sure they did.
15 Q. Mario during this period of time was about four years
16 younger than Mark?
17 A. He was four years younger, yes.
18 Q. Did there come a time when you and Derrick stopped the
19 relationship?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. What did you do, what happened?
22 A. We just -- I got tired, and I was afraid for the kids
23 because I think a lot of times when he would be angry and he
24 would discipline the kids, I think he was too excessive in his
25 discipline.
351
1 Q. Tell the jury about Derrick Barnette's discipline with
2 Mark Barnette. What kind of discipline would he give him?
3 A. He would beat him.
4 Q. Pardon me?
5 A. He would beat him.
6 Q. What would he beat him with?
7 A. A belt.
8 Q. Why would he beat him with a belt?
9 A. Well, he was real strict on him about his grades. And
10 if ever he had something that wasn't done or a grade that he
11 didn't accept or whatever, he would discipline him.
12 Q. So if Mark came home and had bad grades, his dad would
13 beat him with a belt?
14 A. Uh-huh.
15 Q. How long would the beatings go on, would they just be
16 one or two smacks or would they last longer than that?
17 A. They would last longer.
18 Q. How much longer?
19 A. I don't know, minutes. A lot of times, I would just go
20 and lock myself in the bathroom because I couldn't stand to hear
21 it.
22 Q. Okay. Now, did you and Derrick eventually separate?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And where were you living when you separated from
25 Derrick?
352
1 A. I moved to Wendover Apartments on Wendover Road.
2 Q. During the time that the arguments and the fights were
3 going on and the alcohol was being consumed in the family, was
4 there anybody using any drugs, illegal drugs?
5 A. Yes, myself.
6 Q. What kind of drugs did you use?
7 A. Well, my friend Tina, she was -- she smoked marijuana,
8 and she would tell me -- she would try to get me to relax and
9 calm down. So she would give -- you know, we would smoke
10 marijuana and she'd tell me it would help me relax.
11 Q. What other kind of drugs would you use?
12 A. Cocaine sometimes.
13 Q. Did you actually use cocaine?
14 A. Yeah, I did.
15 Q. Did you do it in the home where the kids were?
16 A. Well, that's where I was, sometimes.
17 Q. Were the kids, was Mark in the home when this kind of
18 thing would happen?
19 A. Well, they would probably be out playing, but sometimes,
20 they would be in the home like if she -- if we were up drinking
21 and partying at night, then they would be there.
22 Q. And when you were up there drinking and partying, were
23 you also doing cocaine while the kids were around?
24 A. Not necessarily like in front of them or anything like
25 that, but they would be in the house, I mean.
353
1 Q. Did Mark know it was going on?
2 MR. CONRAD: Objection to what he know.
3 THE COURT: Sustained.
4 BY MR. WILLIAMS::
5 Q. Do you know whether or not Mark knew what was going on?
6 A. I didn't at the time.
7 Q. Did you later find out whether he knew what was going
8 on?
9 A. Yes, I did later.
10 Q. What did you find out later about that?
11 A. I found out that he knew that I was doing drugs and
12 drinking alcohol.
13 Q. And would Mark talk to you about that, get mad at you
14 about that or say anything to you about that?
15 A. Yeah, he would get mad at me.
16 Q. What would he say to you when he'd get mad at you about
17 that?
18 A. Like if we -- this is after he got older, you know, and
19 if we'd ever get into a fuss or disagreement or anything like
20 that, he would just say, you know, that's part of the problem,
21 you and your friends and your abuse, substance abuse.
22 Q. Okay. Now, after you and Derrick Barnette separated,
23 did you eventually -- where did you go from there, did you move?
24 A. I moved to Wendover Apartments and we stayed there
25 for -- we stayed there, I think, for about two years, and
354
1 then -- well, I started to date then after we separated. We
2 separated for a year.
3 Q. Let me ask you this question and stop you just for a
4 minute, how old was Mark Barnette when you separated?
5 A. They were at that time 7 and 12.
6 Q. And you began -- did he move to another school during
7 this period of time?
8 A. Yes, during that time he went to Billingsley Road
9 Elementary school. And then it was time for his junior high, he
10 was going into junior high, so he went to Randolph Junior High
11 School.
12 Q. Now, up to this point in Mark Barnette's life, other
13 than the incident where he bit the girl on the cheek in school
14 that you've told the jury about, had he had any other kind of
15 problems with other people, women -- not women, girls or any
16 other people?
17 A. No. He was -- up to that point, he was calm, you know,
18 he was -- other than the incident where he was like two years
19 old, no.
20 Q. All right. Now, during the time that you were in the
21 Wendover Apartments, was his father living in Charlotte?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Did he ever come over and see the kids?
24 A. Yes, he would -- when we first separated, he would come
25 over like on a daily basis and sometimes have dinner with them,
355
1 he would say their prayers with them with them before they went
2 to bed. He spent time, I let him spend time with them.
3 Q. During this period of time when you were separated, you
4 started, you said that you started dating other men?
5 A. Uh-huh.
6 Q. And did -- was Ricky, Derrick Barnette, the father,
7 living in Charlotte during this period of time?
8 A. Yes, he was living in Charlotte.
9 Q. Were there times when you would date these men and leave
10 the children, including Mark, alone?
11 A. Well, one guy that I dated traveled a lot, and I started
12 to go out of town a lot with him. And lot of times, I would try
13 to make arrangements for Ricky or Derrick to keep the kids with
14 him. They did that a lot.
15 Q. Were there times when you would date other men and Mark
16 Barnette was left alone with nobody to look after him,
17 overnight, for instance?
18 A. Possibly, yes.
19 Q. And who were the men that you were dating during this
20 period of time, I mean, what -- just very briefly, these -- did
21 you -- did these men come into the home while the children were
22 there, while Mark was there?
23 A. Only two would come to our house when I lived in
24 Wendover. I dated a guy from Virginia, his name was Ollie
25 McArthur, and he -- whenever he was in town, he stayed at our
356
1 house.
2 Q. How many different men did you date during this period
3 of time before you moved again?
4 A. Probably about four or five.
5 Q. And was Mark Reagan one of them?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Was Mark Reagan involved with drugs?
8 A. They say he was.
9 Q. Was he eventually killed?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Was there another person by the name of Al that you
12 dated?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And when you dated Al, would he come into town and see
15 you, date you?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Did Mark Barnette know about that man?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And was Al married at the time?
20 A. Yes, I found out later that yes, he was.
21 Q. And who was the cabbie, the name of the fellow that you
22 dated who was a cabbie?
23 A. Tyrone, his name was Tyrone.
24 Q. And now, eventually did you leave Charlotte?
25 A. Yes, in 19 -- in 1988, '87, '88, my divorce had become
357
1 final. Ricky had -- after I started dating and everything, I
2 guess he just got real -- I don't know what happened, but he
3 requested us to do a blood test. He then at that point said
4 that --
5 Q. Where were you living when he asked you to do a blood
6 test?
7 A. In Wendover Apartments.
8 Q. Charlotte, still in Charlotte?
9 A. Uh-huh, Wendover, yeah.
10 Q. And whose idea was it for the blood test?
11 A. As far as I know, it was his.
12 Q. Did you participate in those blood tests?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Was that through a court-ordered blood test?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And there was a pending lawsuit between you and Ricky in
17 Mecklenburg County during that time over the divorce?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And the Court ordered that you and the children and
20 Ricky Barnette participate in blood tests, is that correct?
21 A. Yes, that's correct.
22 Q. And did the blood tests come back in that court
23 proceeding?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Do you know what the results were?
358
1 A. They said that the children weren't his.
2 Q. Neither one of the children were his?
3 A. That's what they said.
4 Q. After that happened, did you stay in Charlotte or did
5 you leave Charlotte?
6 A. I stayed in Charlotte for a little while longer, but at
7 that point I lost my job with the insurance company. I had
8 worked there for eight years.
9 Q. Were you fired from your job?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And was this about the time that the blood test business
12 was going on?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And did you ever discuss that with Mark about the blood
15 test?
16 A. I really didn't discuss it, because I thought it was all
17 a ploy.
18 Q. You didn't believe it?
19 A. No.
20 Q. To this day, you don't believe it, do you?
21 A. That's correct.
22 Q. Is that what you told me?
23 A. Yes, that's correct.
24 Q. Is that what you told Cindy Maxwell?
25 A. Yes, that's correct.
359
1 Q. In spite of what the blood tests show?
2 A. That's right.
3 Q. Now, did you move out of Charlotte?
4 A. After my divorce was final, my finances just weren't --
5 of course, Ricky had stopped paying child support. I had lost
6 my job which was stable. I just -- the relationships with the
7 men that I had dated and the frequency of the alcohol and the
8 drugs, I just needed to get away.
9 Q. You said that Ricky was Derrick -- I call him Derrick,
10 Mark's father, was paying child support, you said he stopped
11 paying child support?
12 A. Right.
13 Q. Is that because of the blood tests?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Did you ever go into court and contest that and try to
16 fight that and get him to pay child support because of what you
17 believed about the blood test?
18 A. No, I never did.
19 Q. You never pursued it?
20 A. No.
21 Q. And he never paid any child support after that?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Then where did you move?
24 A. I moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
25 Q. Before you went to Atlanta, Georgia, did you leave the
360
1 children here and you, yourself go to Atlanta?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. How long did you stay in Atlanta before the children
4 joined you?
5 A. I left them here for about two weeks, about a week or
6 two weeks.
7 Q. And who did you leave them with?
8 A. I sent them to their -- Ms. Hattie Adams. She is
9 deceased now. That was Ricky's grandmother.
10 Q. Let me ask you this real -- when Mark, seated next to
11 me, found out about this blood test business, what was his
12 reaction?
13 A. He was very angry. He was very upset, and he was very
14 angry.
15 Q. What did you do down in Atlanta, could you tell the jury
16 briefly where you went to live and who you lived with and where
17 Mark went to school and what was going on in Atlanta?
18 A. I went to Atlanta. My baby sister Sheila, she had gone
19 to Atlanta on a college scholarship and at this point, she was
20 working. And so things just didn't seem to be going right, and
21 I would call her and she said, why don't you just pack up
22 everything and just come down here, she said, that you could
23 find a job, we will be together and you can work things out.
24 Q. Now, did Mark want to go to Atlanta?
25 A. I don't think he did.
361
1 Q. And was he in school here?
2 A. He was in school here.
3 Q. So you moved to Atlanta, and did you have to put him in
4 another school down there or what did you do?
5 A. Yes, I enrolled him in another school in Atlanta.
6 Q. How many schools did he to in Atlanta?
7 A. Well, I enrolled him in one school that he didn't
8 attend, and he went to a middle school there and then high
9 school.
10 Q. Okay. And did Mario go down there with you?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And where did you live, how many different places did
13 you live in the Atlanta area?
14 A. Well, when I first moved there, my sister -- we moved in
15 with my sister in an apartment that was like in Gwinnett County,
16 upper end of Atlanta, we stayed there. She was in the process
17 of having a home built. So when the home was completed, we
18 moved from there to Lithonia, Stone Mountain.
19 Q. How old was Mark when you were there?
20 A. At this time, he was probably about 13, 14.
21 Q. Did he go to Lithonia High School?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. What did he do there, did he participate in any sports
24 or do anything?
25 A. He started out running track. We had to -- I had
362
1 to -- one of his counselors, I had to have encourage him because
2 he felt really out of place. He had ran track at Randolph
3 Junior High and he felt comfortable because he knew everybody,
4 and he said going to a new school, nobody would really -- he
5 didn't feel comfortable, he didn't want to do it. And so I got
6 one of his counselors to encourage him.
7 Q. Let me ask you this: When you got down to Lithonia
8 tone -- strike that. Prior to him moving, y'all moving down to
9 Lithonia in the Atlanta area, had Mark had any trouble with the
10 law?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Had he had any other conflicts with other people or
13 problems with other people before moving down there?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Once you moved down there, did he meet any girlfriends?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Who was the girlfriend he first got involved with?
18 A. Her name was Sheila Sullivan.
19 Q. And Mark was about what, 14?
20 A. He was about 14.
21 Q. And how did that relationship go?
22 A. They basically saw each other at school. I mean, he was
23 14, so it was kind of like a school and writing notes and
24 letters back and forth to each other. He would visit her home,
25 because sometimes I would drive him over. The neighborhood was
363
1 too far to walk from the neighborhood we lived in, so sometimes
2 even myself or my sister might, you know, drive him over or pick
3 him up if he went after school.
4 Q. Did they get along well or do you know?
5 A. I don't really know. They seemed to get along okay up
6 until one weekend, was my first knowledge that he was having
7 some problems and I guess they had maybe broke up or something
8 such as that, and --
9 Q. What happened?
10 A. My sister and I went to -- went into Lithonia to go to
11 the grocery store or something like that, and when we came back,
12 we heard all of these sirens. And I was -- we were talking in
13 the car and we were saying, you know, every time you hear
14 sirens, your heart just drops because you just think that they
15 are going to your house. And they were going in the same
16 direction we were and we were like, they turned down the same
17 street. So we started really getting nervous, and sure enough,
18 when we pulled up to the house they were at the house.
19 Q. Why were they at your house?
20 A. Because Mark had taken some pills.
21 Q. What kind of pills had he taken?
22 A. I don't remember what kind of pills they were, but he
23 had gotten them from my sister's drawer. And --
24 Q. Did you talk to Mark about that and find out why he had
25 done that?
364
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. What was it about?
3 A. Because he and the girl Sheila had broke up or something
4 like that.
5 Q. Okay. And did the ambulance treat him there?
6 A. Yeah, they treated him there. Whatever it was he took
7 wasn't anything really strong. It made him throw up. And then
8 after they got his stomach cleaned out, he just stayed home,
9 they didn't take him to the hospital.
10 Q. Didn't go to the hospital?
11 A. No.
12 Q. After that incident, was there any other
13 incident -- strike that question. During this time, was Mark
14 involved with any kind of extracurricular activities, dancing or
15 clubs or any of that kind of activity, what was going on there?
16 A. He had been asked -- there was a young teenage club that
17 was there in Lithonia, and they had seen Mark dance or somebody
18 had seen or talked to him about how well Mark danced. And so
19 the owner had asked Mark to choreograph different dance routines
20 for a group.
21 Q. While this was going on, did something happen to Mark,
22 did anybody beat him up or anything?
23 MR. CONRAD: Object to the leading.
24 MR. WILLIAMS: Well, Rules of Evidence don't apply, Your
25 Honor.
365
1 THE COURT: Overruled, go ahead.
2 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
3 Q. Did something happen to Mark?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. What happened, tell the jury about that?
6 A. He would go after school to this location and help
7 choreograph these dance routines. And one day, when he was on
8 his way walking home, three guys pulled up in a car and they
9 jumped on him and they beat him up really bad.
10 Q. How do you know, did you see him?
11 A. Yes, I saw him.
12 Q. What did you see?
13 A. How I know is that I was supposed to go pick him up
14 afterwards, and I got a phone call, I think we had stopped --
15 Q. Where did you see him?
16 A. Where I saw him was when I got to the club. They had
17 kicked him in his face and the inside of his mouth was torn, you
18 know, and they --
19 Q. Did you take him to the hospital?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. How long did he stay in the hospital, if you remember
22 back then?
23 A. They just kept him like all day for observation, x-rayed
24 him.
25 Q. Did that hospital or wherever he went,, does that exist
366
1 today?
2 A. It doesn't exist anymore today.
3 Q. That medical facility?
4 A. Right. It was the Doctors Hospital off of Lawrenceville
5 Highway in Tucker, Georgia.
6 Q. Did that fight have anything to do with the girlfriend?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. What did it have to do with that?
9 A. The same girlfriend, Sheila, it was -- the way I
10 understood it then was one was an old boyfriend --
11 MR. CONRAD: Objection.
12 THE COURT: Sustained, that's getting a little bit far
13 afield here.
14 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
15 Q. What happened to Mark after this incident, how did he --
16 did you see any kind of change in him from that point?
17 A. He seemed to change.
18 Q. How did he change?
19 A. He stopped -- well, he started having problems at school
20 as far as not attending his school. He was cutting classes and
21 not being at school without my knowledge until then I would hear
22 from school that he had been absent for so many days.
23 Q. Was it during this time that he met Tasha?
24 A. Yes, that's what he met Tasha.
25 Q. Tasha Heard?
367
1 A. Tasha Heard.
2 Q. And she became the mother of his children?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And just briefly during that period of time, did Mark
5 stay with you or did he move to Newnan, Georgia or what
6 happened, briefly?
7 A. He stayed with me, he stayed with me, and after he met
8 Tasha, he would start leaving home a lot, not be at home as
9 much. He just seemed angry all the time, but -- and we didn't
10 get along as well.
11 Q. Who?
12 A. Mark and myself.
13 Q. So you and Mark began to develop some problems in
14 communication?
15 A. Uh-huh.
16 Q. What were those problems about?
17 A. Because I wanted him to be at home and he -- I found out
18 he wasn't going to school for one, and that presented a problem,
19 and then he was always defensive with me if I asked him about
20 it.
21 Q. During this period of time, did the police ever come to
22 your door?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Where were you living?
25 A. I was living then in Decatur, Hillendale Drive.
368
1 Q. Who was living there with you?
2 A. Myself, Mario and Mark.
3 Q. What happened when the police came to your door?
4 A. They came to my door one night and wanted to know if
5 that was the address where Mark lived, and I said --
6 Q. How old was Mark at this time?
7 A. He was about 15, 16.
8 Q. What were the police there for?
9 A. They said that someone had identified Mark as being --
10 they had seen him near an apartment building, and it was real
11 late at night and he seemed like a suspicious figure.
12 Q. Okay. Did you ever do anything or go out and look for
13 him?
14 A. No, I didn't go out and look for him. I let the police
15 come in and look over the apartment and everything to see, you
16 know, if they saw anything that might give them reason why he
17 was -- I explained to them the fact that he started to come and
18 go more, being gone more than anything.
19 Q. Did you ever find Mark, where he was?
20 A. Yeah, he came back.
21 Q. Did you ever talk to him about this?
22 A. Yeah, I asked him, but he was -- he started to be closed
23 off. We didn't communicate anymore like we used to.
24 Q. What happened at school during this period of time, was
25 Mark continuing to have excessive absences from school?
369
1 A. He was continuing to have -- well, he wasn't going. And
2 then so the one -- I think it was after Christmas, he had to be
3 out while he healed from where those guys jumped him. And we
4 signed warrants, of course, and everything, because he was still
5 under age.
6 Q. Were there any -- did he get in any kind of fights with
7 anybody?
8 A. Then when I made him -- I took him to school and made
9 him go to school. And his brother Mario had given him a
10 baseball cap, and they called me and, you know, told me I needed
11 to come get him, he had gotten into a fight. And from what he
12 told me, there was another kid that took the baseball cap and
13 was giving him a hard time about it and they got into a
14 pretty -- a bad fight in the boys bathroom.
15 Q. Did -- what was going on between he and Tasha during
16 this period of time, were they seeing each other?
17 A. They were seeing each other, and I guess he was spending
18 a lot of time with her is why he was not at home.
19 Q. Were you drinking alcohol during this period of time?
20 A. During that period of time, the job I worked, I was --
21 and I didn't have transportation, so I used the MARTA. So I was
22 gone a long time as far as my work day was a long day. I mean,
23 I still drink, but I wasn't excessive like what I had been
24 through before I left Charlotte.
25 Q. Did Mark ever leave and move out of town during this
370
1 period of time?
2 A. When Angelica was born, Angelica was born, he still
3 lived at home with me, but he soon wanted to get his own
4 apartment in Newnan, Georgia.
5 Q. How was Mark reacting to the fact that he was going to
6 have a child?
7 A. He was excited.
8 Q. How, I mean, what did he do, do you know, did he try to
9 do anything to help Tasha?
10 A. Yeah, he -- she still lived with her mother, but I
11 remember he -- they painted the bedroom and he went out and
12 bought the crib and different things, you know, that he could to
13 get prepared. And when Angelica was born, he was just real
14 excited. And he would take care of her, he would bring her over
15 to my sister's house and I would always offer to do something,
16 but he did it all. He would feed her, he would bathe her.
17 Q. Did you ever know -- strike that question. Did you ever
18 talk to Tasha or Mark about any difficulties he was having with
19 Tasha?
20 A. Not during that time. I don't think they had any
21 difficulties during that time.
22 Q. Did Tasha ever tell you that Mark was abusive to her?
23 A. No, not during that time.
24 Q. I came -- I've been out to your house on West Boulevard
25 a number of times to go over personal items and things, is that
371
1 correct?
2 MR. CONRAD: Objection to the relevance.
3 MR. WILLIAMS: Well, I'm going to make it relevant, Your
4 Honor.
5 THE COURT: All right, sir, overruled.
6 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
7 Q. During the times that I would come over to your home to
8 look at various items, did I ask you about a newspaper when I
9 was over there?
10 A. Yes, a newspaper we found in Mark's things.
11 Q. Did I ask you about that newspaper?
12 A. Yes.
13 MR. WILLIAMS: May I approach the witness, Your Honor?
14 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
15 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
16 Q. I show you Defendant's Exhibit Number 40, and ask you if
17 that was a newspaper that I asked you about that I found, that
18 you and I talked about in the home?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And what is the date of that photograph?
21 A. September 29th, 1990.
22 Q. What did you tell me about this newspaper that was in
23 your home?
24 A. That it was the day that Angelica was born.
25 Q. Who had purchased this paper?
372
1 A. Mark.
2 Q. Why, do you know?
3 A. Because he wanted to keep it as a keepsake for her for
4 the day's events of the day she was born.
5 Q. Do you think he was a good father to those children, or
6 did you have any opinion about that after time went by?
7 A. I thought he was an excellent father to Angelica when
8 she was first born. And I think after little Mark was born, it
9 was during the time that he and Tasha had began to have problems
10 of whatever, and then they were separated from each other.
11 Q. Did you know about any problems Mark had in Newnan with
12 the police or that involved the police?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And what did he tell you about the problems down there?
15 A. Well, he moved to Newnan, got his own apartment because
16 he wanted to provide a place for Tasha and the kids to live, and
17 he worked two jobs. He worked at Arby's and he worked at a
18 Blockbuster, so he was always, you know, working the two jobs to
19 try to make his ends meet and provide for them. And then he had
20 a run-in with some guys one night. They tried -- I don't know
21 how many, but there were several guys and they surrounded him,
22 and one night he was on his way home.
23 Q. Did Mark tell you that he shot somebody?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. What did you think about, during that period of time in
373
1 Mark's life, as his mother as to what was going on with him,
2 whether there was a problem?
3 A. Actually, I felt like that when those three guys had
4 jumped on him, that maybe they had hurt him, you know. They had
5 kicked him in his ribs and his mouth was torn, but when I took
6 him to the hospital and they examined him, I guess for all
7 physical purpose he was okay to go home, but he started to do
8 different things. And like I say, our relationship started to
9 go down and then --
10 Q. Why did your relationship with Mark start to go down
11 during this period of time, did it have anything to do with
12 drinking and drugs?
13 A. No. At this point, he just seemed to be mentally
14 different.
15 Q. Was he angry?
16 A. Yes, he seemed angry.
17 Q. Was he angry at you?
18 A. He would be angry at everybody. I mean, he just seemed
19 to -- at me, yes, at me, but just anger in itself.
20 Q. Did you know about the incident where he used a coat
21 hanger on Crystal Dennis's children?
22 A. Well -- yes, he -- they -- he had -- after he and Tasha
23 split up, he started to go with this young lady named Crystal
24 who already had some children. And I know that he kept her
25 children during the day, and he had told me that they were bad,
374
1 but that one time he had spanked them or hit them. And the next
2 thing I knew, they were arresting him for cruelty to children.
3 Q. Did you ever talk to Mark about that as his mother?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. What did you talk about?
6 A. I just asked him why did he spank those kids, because
7 they weren't his kids, and he said that he had to care for them
8 during the day while she was working, or she had given him
9 permission to discipline them when they were in his care.
10 Q. How old was Mark during this time?
11 A. He was probably then about 18.
12 Q. Were you working?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Where were you living?
15 A. I was living in Roswell, Sandy Springs.
16 Q. Where were you working?
17 A. I was working for a placement service in Atlanta.
18 Q. And who was living in the home at that time?
19 A. Myself and Mario.
20 Q. Did you talk to Mark about getting any kind of help or
21 assistance for him with regard to these problems that he was
22 getting into?
23 A. No, not at that time.
24 Q. Did you ever take him to a doctor?
25 A. He had gone to seek some counseling, I think, himself.
375
1 Q. Where was that?
2 A. In Georgia, Newnan. I believe it was in Newnan, Georgia
3 he had gone just to see a doctor or something.
4 Q. Do you know that as a fact?
5 A. No, I don't know that. I think he had mentioned to me
6 that he wanted -- that he was going to do that because he wanted
7 to straighten things out. I think he was enrolling back into a
8 high school that was somewhere down in Newnan, because he had
9 seen his transcript of grades and I told him it didn't make
10 sense because he had like A's and B's.
11 Q. During this time, did -- after the Crystal Dennis
12 incident, did y'all stay in Georgia or did you move back to
13 Charlotte?
14 A. During that time, I was making plans to move back to
15 Charlotte.
16 Q. Where was your father, Jessie Cooper, at this time?
17 A. He was at our home here in Charlotte.
18 Q. And when you came back to Charlotte, where did you live?
19 A. I moved into the house that we live in now.
20 Q. And who moved in there with you?
21 A. My father, Mario, and then I had sent for Mark to come
22 from Atlanta.
23 Q. Was it during this time that you got pregnant with
24 Mario?
25 A. No, John McAllister.
376
1 Q. I mean, with, excuse me, with John?
2 A. I was pregnant with him when I moved from Atlanta.
3 Q. You said the father of that child is who?
4 A. John West.
5 Q. Where did you meet John West?
6 A. In Atlanta.
7 Q. Did y'all move back to Charlotte after you got pregnant?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And you lived at the house on West Boulevard?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Did Mark work when you came back to Charlotte?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Where did he work?
14 A. When he first came back, he worked at a Pizza Hut on
15 Freedom Drive.
16 Q. After that, where did he work?
17 A. Then after that --
18 Q. Did he ever work in a temporary service?
19 A. Yes, that's right, yeah, he worked for Selectron through
20 Temp World.
21 Q. And where were you working?
22 A. During that time, I was working at Marriott.
23 Q. What was -- who was in the house during this period of
24 time, who was living in the home on West Boulevard during this
25 period of time when you moved back to Charlotte?
377
1 A. Myself, my father, I had at that point let my friend
2 Tina move in, she rented a room from me, and Mario. John hadn't
3 come from Atlanta at this time.
4 Q. During this period of time when you came back, was there
5 alcohol being consumed in the home?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. A lot of it, a lot of drinking going on?
8 A. Yes, probably.
9 Q. Probably so. By whom?
10 A. Well, at that point, my dad drank a lot of Pabst Blue
11 Ribbon.
12 Q. Who else?
13 A. And I drank beer with him.
14 Q. How about cocaine?
15 A. No, not during that time.
16 Q. How about marijuana?
17 A. My friend Tina, she still smoked marijuana.
18 Q. How about you?
19 A. No.
20 Q. But anyway, Tina was living there with you?
21 A. Uh-huh.
22 Q. And what year was that?
23 A. That was in like '94, because I came back in '93, so
24 like '94.
25 Q. How long did Tina stay in that home?
378
1 A. She stayed, the first time she stayed about six months.
2 Then she moved out. She ran into some problems and I let her
3 come back.
4 Q. During this period of time, did the police come out to
5 your house at 3413 West Boulevard and answer calls out there?
6 A. Yes, several times.
7 Q. Tell the jury about that, what was going on in the home?
8 A. During that time, Mark had come from Atlanta and he was
9 then going out with this young lady named Alesha Chambers, I
10 think is her name. There were just problems, constant
11 problems --
12 Q. Tell the jury --
13 A. Most of it was in my opinion her mother didn't -- it
14 started out she liked Mark, she would pick up Alesha, we would
15 go out and eat pizza together and whatnot. And then all of a
16 sudden, well, from what Mark told me, she had a boyfriend that
17 came home from prison, I don't know that to be a fact, but at
18 that point they would always call the police and say that Mark
19 had -- I think one time they said Mark had kidnapped Alesha from
20 her apartment. Well, Alesha had called Mark and told Mark to
21 come pick her up.
22 Q. Let me stop you here. Other than the police coming out
23 there with regard to the Alesha Chambers incident, or incidents,
24 what other reasons did the police come out there to your home?
25 A. They came out because I had a second or third cousin
379
1 that was -- he caused trouble. He had stolen the tags off of a
2 friend's vehicle.
3 Q. What was this person's name?
4 A. The person's vehicle or the person?
5 Q. What was this person's name?
6 A. LaDon Barbour.
7 Q. And why would the police come out there?
8 A. For various things. He was -- he threatened my family
9 and my house.
10 Q. Where did LaDon Barbour in relation to your house where
11 you were living with the children, Mark and Mario, where did
12 LaDon Barbour live in relation to that house?
13 A. He lived in my grandmother's old house that sits behind
14 my house about 100 yards off to the side.
15 Q. So the picture that you showed the jury with the
16 trailer, the old rusty trailer in the back yard, was that of the
17 house that LaDon Barbour lived in sort of behind and to the side
18 of that trailer back in the trees?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Did something happen on January 25, 1995 there at your
21 home?
22 A. I think that was date that he broke into my house and
23 shot my son.
24 Q. And when you say your son, which son?
25 A. Mark.
380
1 Q. Where was Mark?
2 A. He was in the back bedroom asleep because he had worked
3 third shift.
4 Q. Were you there when this happened?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Was your dad, Jessie Cooper, there when it happened?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And do you know where Mark was shot?
9 A. He was shot in his right hand and his -- the bullet went
10 through his hand into his right thigh and shattered his femur.
11 Q. Did he go to the hospital?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. How long did Mark stay in the hospital?
14 A. He was in the hospital for maybe about ten days or more.
15 Q. And what happened when Mark got out of the hospital, did
16 he quickly recover or was he able to get about and do things, or
17 what happened to him?
18 A. Well, during that time, he was making plans to move to
19 Roanoke. He didn't get around very good, because they had to
20 fit a rod into his leg and he had to adjust to that. He had
21 to -- because it was an adjustment, so he kind of didn't walk at
22 first, I guess normal. He had to walk on a crutch because he
23 had no ability in his right arm, so they had made a special
24 crutch where he had to rest his arm.
25 Q. You say he moved to Roanoke. Was this the time that he
381
1 had -- after he had met Robin Williams?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And he had been dating Robin Williams and going back and
4 forth to Roanoke?
5 A. Yes.
6 THE COURT: Mr. Williams, is this a good stopping
7 place?
8 MR. WILLIAMS: Yes.
9 THE COURT: Members of the jury, let's take a recess at
10 this time. Do not discuss the case among yourselves while
11 you're out, and I'm going to see if I can warm this courtroom up
12 somehow or another.
13 (The jury left the courtroom.)
14 THE COURT: Recess until 11:25.
15 (Brief recess.)
16 THE COURT: Call the jury.
17 (The jury returned to the courtroom.)
18 THE COURT: Members of the jury, I hope it warms up in
19 here. The maintenance man tells me he's got it working now and
20 we're supposed to be getting some heat. But if we don't get any
21 heat, truthfully, I'm just going to have to recess court,
22 because I know y'all are freezing and I'm sorry about that.
23 All right, go ahead.
24 MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you, Judge Potter.
25 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
382
1 Q. Before we move to Roanoke and some questioning, does
2 Mark have any kind of talents?
3 A. Mark is an excellent artist. He is a very good artist.
4 Q. In the sense of what, painting, drawing?
5 A. Drawings, drawings.
6 Q. Was there ever an attempt at entering him into any kind
7 of an art school anywhere?
8 A. Yes, I had spoke to him about going into, because they
9 had so many art schools in Atlanta; and I always tried to
10 encourage him to get into one of those art schools, because he
11 has just a natural talent.
12 Q. Did he apply or what happened to that?
13 A. No, he didn't. I guess all of the negative things, you
14 know, after the fight with those boys or those boys jumping him,
15 he was just getting to the age where he would have been able to
16 do any of those things and he never did.
17 Q. And, of course, the various things happened down in
18 Newnan that we know about. You talked about him being shot in
19 January of 1995, and this was during the period of time after he
20 had met Robin Williams?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And were you at that time as I understand it living at
23 3413 West Boulevard?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And did Mark begin to go back and forth between
383
1 Charlotte and Roanoke to see Robin?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Did you ever meet her?
4 A. Yes. She came to our home at 3413 West Boulevard, and I
5 met her on several occasions.
6 Q. And when Mark first met her, would you describe this as,
7 based upon what you observed, as a relationship that he was
8 heavily involved in?
9 A. Yes, I would say so.
10 Q. He then decided to move to Roanoke?
11 A. To Virginia.
12 Q. Did you know anything about any of the problems they
13 were having in Roanoke, in other words, would Mark call you or
14 you talk to Robin or Mark about the problems that they were
15 having?
16 A. No, they never let on that there were problems. The
17 first time that I had any knowledge that they were having any
18 problems was when Mark -- well, it was like a couple of days
19 before I moved him, had him move back to Charlotte.
20 Q. During this same time, was Tina Davis living in the
21 home?
22 A. No, not at that time.
23 Q. Okay. When did Tina Davis move back in the home, was it
24 in 1995 or 1996?
25 A. I believe it was in '95. I had let her come because she
384
1 had run into some problems, but I didn't let her stay very
2 long. It was very bad.
3 Q. In 1996, did Tina -- in the spring and summer of 1996,
4 was Tina Davis living there?
5 A. No, not '96, I don't believe, I think it was in --
6 Q. I mean '96 when all of this happened?
7 A. She was -- let me think, Mable that was the second time,
8 because I know at one point I had let her come back to stay at
9 my house because she was experiencing some problems. But she
10 wasn't living in the house when I moved Mark back to the house,
11 she had just moved out of my house.
12 Q. When you say Mark came back to the house, are you
13 talking about in April of 1996 when he and Robin broke up?
14 A. Yes, right.
15 Q. Tell the jury, each member of the jury how Mark acted
16 when he came back from Roanoke in April of 1996.
17 A. He was real withdrawn. He wanted that relationship to
18 work. It was all he ever talked about. That's the first time
19 that I knew that they had had any problems. He had come home.
20 I worked third shift, so I was always gone 11:00 to 7:00. And I
21 came in one morning and he was there, and I said, why are you
22 here? I saw Robin's car and I said, where is Robin, and he
23 said, Robin and I had an argument. And that was the first
24 time. I never knew any previously problems that they had,
25 but --
385
1 Q. Now, what I'm asking you is, after he moved back to
2 Charlotte?
3 A. Uh-huh.
4 Q. He moved back in a rental truck, is that correct?
5 A. Right.
6 Q. You knew he moved back in a rental truck?
7 A. Yes, I reserved the rental truck for him and I sent my
8 father, Jessie Cooper, and his cousin Amad to go with him to get
9 his furniture and his belongings to come home.
10 Q. What I'm asking is to tell the jury how Mark acted after
11 he came back and stayed there at 3413 West Boulevard.
12 A. He started out -- well, of course, he was real
13 withdrawn, like away from the family. We -- that was unusual,
14 because Mark has always been such like the -- not the center of
15 attention, but he was just so well rounded in the family. I
16 mean, the younger kids looked up to Mark. He was always the
17 cook and, you know, playing with the kids and everything and
18 just kind of intermingling, just a part of the family. But he
19 wasn't like that. He was -- he moved into the loft upstairs of
20 the house, and he had made -- it doesn't have a door, so it's a
21 stairway of about 13 steps and no door like this, but he had
22 made a sign that said, privacy, please, knock.
23 Q. So did he stay to himself?
24 A. Yeah, he pretty much stayed to himself.
25 Q. Would he talk to other members of the family, can you
386
1 just tell us how he acted?
2 A. Very little, not like the Mark that we were used to, not
3 the jubilant, happy go lucky, fun-loving Mark, he wasn't.
4 Q. What did he do?
5 A. He would like, at meals, he would just come downstairs
6 and fix his meals and just go back upstairs.
7 Q. Did he appear to be depressed to you?
8 A. He seemed to be real depressed. He just walked around
9 with his head hanging down. He -- I remember one night I heard
10 him on a phone conversation where he was just crying,
11 just -- and I told him if he was, if he -- if talking to Robin
12 was going to make him that emotional, then I wish he wouldn't
13 make the call.
14 Q. So did you know from the conversations that he had when
15 he was crying that he was talking with Robin?
16 A. Uh-huh.
17 Q. How did you know that?
18 A. Because I could hear him saying her name.
19 Q. How many times after he came back would he be involved
20 in these conversations, once, twice, more than once, do you
21 know?
22 A. Well, he would have to buy --
23 Q. Just how many times?
24 A. I would say twice or more.
25 Q. Were they emotional conversations?
387
1 A. Always emotional, always very emotional.
2 Q. How did you find out about the fire incident?
3 A. I got a phone call that asked me where was Mark, and I
4 said, I think he is upstairs, because he stayed upstairs to
5 himself all the time. And it was his friend Steve, and he
6 called and he said, Mark started a fire at Robin's apartment.
7 Q. Was this Steve Austin?
8 A. Steve Austin. And when he told me that, I said, that's
9 not possible, I said, because Mark is upstairs. That's just
10 what I thought.
11 Q. What did you do, did you go upstairs?
12 A. I went upstairs and he wasn't there.
13 Q. Did you see Mark after that?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. When did he come?
16 A. That morning -- that -- he came back home and I asked
17 him about it -- or he came into my room, I'm sorry, because I
18 work third shift, so I sleep mostly, I would at that time sleep
19 mostly during the day. So I don't know exactly when he came
20 back, but he came back to the house and came in and woke me up
21 and said he wanted to talk to me.
22 Q. And did he tell you what had happened?
23 A. And he told me what had happened.
24 Q. What did you do about that, did you call the police
25 or --
388
1 A. No, I didn't call the police. He said that he was going
2 to turn himself in.
3 Q. Where was he living during this period of time?
4 A. At my house.
5 Q. 3413 West Boulevard?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. Did he -- from the time that the fire incident happened
8 to the time that Robin Williams and Donald Lee Allen were
9 killed, did Mark live at 3413 West Boulevard?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. How would Mark act after he told you that, was he --
12 what was going on then, was he out trying to find a job, was he
13 sitting there in the house or what was he doing?
14 A. After he told me that, which at first I didn't believe
15 him, I thought it was because he was staying upstairs so much, I
16 didn't know if he was just dreaming it up, then I would leave.
17 And when I would pull into the driveway, and my driveway is
18 long, when I would pull in the driveway, he would always be
19 sitting down at the front of the driveway on a bucket turned
20 upside down. And I asked him what was he doing, and he said,
21 they are coming to get me, he said, I'm waiting for them to get
22 here.
23 Q. How often would you see him sitting down there?
24 A. He sat there about every day for -- every day I would
25 pull up, he would be sitting there dressed in a jacket and the
389
1 cap on a paint bucket.
2 Q. Why didn't you call the police, do you know?
3 A. I don't know. I think at the time he told me that this
4 happened, but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything
5 like that. And I actually thought at that time that maybe Mark
6 was experiencing something in his head that wasn't real.
7 Q. What happened after that?
8 A. Then the next -- I went to my job one night and the
9 human resources director from my job came and told me that there
10 were some men that wanted to talk to me.
11 Q. What kind of men?
12 A. They were FBI agents.
13 Q. Was this in June?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Did the FBI ask you to do some things for them?
16 A. They came to my job.
17 Q. Where were you working then?
18 A. I was working at the Westin doing night audit.
19 Q. And what did they want you to do?
20 A. They wanted to know if I knew where Mark was. And he
21 had, when I -- I worked 11:00 to 7:00, so when I went to work,
22 he was sitting there in the den and he hugged me. He hugged me
23 and he told me he loved me, and don't work too hard, he said,
24 you look awfully nice tonight.
25 Q. Was that before you found out that he went up to --
390
1 A. Yes. And he said, I will see you in the morning.
2 That's what he said.
3 Q. How did you find out what had happened to Donald Allen
4 and Robin Williams?
5 A. Well, the agents came to my job and told me, and then
6 they drove me from my job back to my house. And I told them
7 that I didn't know where Mark was, and I offered them to look
8 through my house.
9 Q. Did Mark eventually call you?
10 A. Yes, he eventually called me.
11 Q. Did he come home?
12 A. He called me because the FBI agents said that they
13 didn't know where he was and they just wanted to -- they didn't
14 know how dangerous he was to himself and they needed me to help
15 to get him home.
16 Q. Did he come home?
17 A. Yes, he came home.
18 Q. Did the police or the FBI put a tap on your phone or a
19 trace on your phone?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Did you cooperate and tell them that they could do that?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. You wanted your son to come home, didn't you?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And when he came home, were the police there when he
391
1 came home?
2 A. He came to my house in the night. I had called
3 Detective Womble, I think was his name, and told him I had heard
4 from him and he told me he was coming home.
5 Q. So when Mark called you, you called the police and told
6 them that your son -- you had heard from your son and he was
7 coming home?
8 A. Yes, and he wanted to turn himself in and but he wanted
9 to come home and he didn't want anybody to hurt him, he just
10 wanted to see me before he turned himself in.
11 Q. Did you have any idea that Mark was going to do
12 something like this?
13 A. (Shakes head.) No, no.
14 Q. Do you have any idea why he did it?
15 MR. CONRAD: Objection.
16 THE COURT: Sustained.
17 THE WITNESS: I have no idea.
18 MR. WILLIAMS: All right.
19 BY MR. WILLIAMS:
20 Q. Did the FBI come and get Mark?
21 A. Yes.
22 MR. WILLIAMS: I believe that's all the questions I have
23 at this time.
24 THE COURT: Cross?
25 MR. CONRAD: Thank you, Your Honor.
392
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. CONRAD:
3 Q. Ms. Barnette, let me turn your attention back to the
4 Newnan, Georgia days, and I will ask you exactly what your son
5 told you about the incident where he beat Crystal Dennis's two
6 children. What did he tell you about that incident?
7 A. He basically just told me that he had spanked the kids
8 because they were bad.
9 Q. And what did he tell you about what they were doing that
10 was bad?
11 A. It was -- if I remember correctly, they were touching
12 each other or playing in a manner that was like not proper
13 touching.
14 Q. This was Crystal Dennis' two-year-old and her
15 five-year-old?
16 A. Yes, that could possibly be their ages.
17 Q. Did he tell you that it was Crystal Dennis's mother's
18 fault that he got in trouble for that?
19 A. He said that it was Crystal's mother that had called the
20 police.
21 Q. Now, what did he tell you about kicking Tasha Heard out
22 of the apartment so that Crystal Dennis could live with him,
23 what did he tell you about that?
24 A. No, that never occurred. Tasha stayed in one
25 apartment. She never -- Crystal never moved int