OPENING STATEMENT, 2
by Sherman Powell
by Sherman Powell
Another thing I want to point out to you, we expect the evidence is going to show
you that this confession that they rely on totally throughout that says she was
stabbed three or four times downstairs. He also told you--well, I don't think
anybody has told you how many times she was stabbed. I think the evidence will
bear out that that confession and what have you was untrue.
So just to be honest with you, we don't think the evidence is going to show
anything what they said it would, and I want y'all to listen and take notes.
Thank you.
you that this confession that they rely on totally throughout that says she was
stabbed three or four times downstairs. He also told you--well, I don't think
anybody has told you how many times she was stabbed. I think the evidence will
bear out that that confession and what have you was untrue.
So just to be honest with you, we don't think the evidence is going to show
anything what they said it would, and I want y'all to listen and take notes.
Thank you.
In summary, Mr. Powell rambled on for a page about the paving crew from "up north,
Indiana, Illinois, way off up north" doing their job the day before the murder, and doing
it so well the neighbors hired them on the spot. Powell said the man delivering the
asphalt saw the Bobcat driver coming out of our driveway (smoothing the asphalt, doing
his job). He said this asphalt delivery man noted the Bobcat driver had changed shirts
that day--apparently a fantasy on Powell's part, since he'd never said such a thing to
anyone, and Powell didn't even ask him about it on the stand. Powell didn't even get
the date right in his description of this, saying it was March 11.
Powell says the paving crew saw a truck there "at least an hour, probably much
longer before the police got there." However, all they testified to was that they saw a
truck come in before the police got there, and they didn't know when, because none of
them even had on a watch. He says the paving crew was in the Tipton driveway when
the police arrived, which is not true, either. Two of the crew were there when Hoke
Bonner returned, after the police had already arrived. In brief, what Powell says is that
my truck was there before the police arrived. Duh.
Mr. Powell says the neighbor, Mr. Chance, saw a S10 extended cab pickup he
recognized as my truck sitting in its usual parking spot "many hours earlier in the
afternoon." What Mr. Chance actually testified to was that he saw a "white truck"
coming in the driveway "mid-afternoon" and that he did not identify it was my truck,
nor did he see it park or anyone get out of it. He didn't know what time it was--just that
it was sometime in the middle of the afternoon--not early afternoon, the time of the
murder.
Mr. Powell then rambled awhile about Moore's confession to Uncle Sparky, saying
Moore didn't want to go to jail for bad checks, so he pretended to be involved in a
capital murder, and that he lied because he wanted to kill himself. He didn't mention
that Moore told Uncle Sparky Karen was stabbed many times and her throat was cut, or
that he said he was upstairs when she was killed--just that he was a liar, a sneak thief,
and was on drugs.
Mr. Powell stumbled around the DNA (incidentally, mispronouncing the word
mitochondrial each time), saying that the experts couldn't exclude the possibility that the
hair in the bed belonged to Daniel. What he didn't say was that they couldn't exclude it
with a probability of 100%. What the experts testified to was that there was, indeed, a
mathematical possibility that the TWO hairs belonged to someone other than
Moore--and that possibility was the product of 7.5 million to one, 500 to one and 500 to
one.
Mr. Powell said Howard Godbee would testify that Moore didn't know the alarm was
broken. Actually, the prosecution never claimed that Moore did know it was broken,
and only Mr. Powell can explain why he spent so much time disputing something that
was never alleged. Powell even said Godbee would testify that the alarm wasn't
disabled!!! This was a bizarre statement, because the only person that ever said that
was the writer of a misleading sub-headline in the Decatur Daily. As a matter of fact,
Godbee testified the alarm was disabled in several different ways, requiring considerable
knowledge of alarm systems.
The defense did not provide one single witness to say what they claimed in the
opening statments. Not one. And the jury DID listen, and they DID take notes.
And the paragraph about the "wet rag" in the bed (a washcloth covered with Karen's
blood, containing Moore's pubic hair) speaks for itself. If it makes sense to you,
perhaps you should see your doctor. Or maybe join the staff of the Decatur Daily.
Indiana, Illinois, way off up north" doing their job the day before the murder, and doing
it so well the neighbors hired them on the spot. Powell said the man delivering the
asphalt saw the Bobcat driver coming out of our driveway (smoothing the asphalt, doing
his job). He said this asphalt delivery man noted the Bobcat driver had changed shirts
that day--apparently a fantasy on Powell's part, since he'd never said such a thing to
anyone, and Powell didn't even ask him about it on the stand. Powell didn't even get
the date right in his description of this, saying it was March 11.
Powell says the paving crew saw a truck there "at least an hour, probably much
longer before the police got there." However, all they testified to was that they saw a
truck come in before the police got there, and they didn't know when, because none of
them even had on a watch. He says the paving crew was in the Tipton driveway when
the police arrived, which is not true, either. Two of the crew were there when Hoke
Bonner returned, after the police had already arrived. In brief, what Powell says is that
my truck was there before the police arrived. Duh.
Mr. Powell says the neighbor, Mr. Chance, saw a S10 extended cab pickup he
recognized as my truck sitting in its usual parking spot "many hours earlier in the
afternoon." What Mr. Chance actually testified to was that he saw a "white truck"
coming in the driveway "mid-afternoon" and that he did not identify it was my truck,
nor did he see it park or anyone get out of it. He didn't know what time it was--just that
it was sometime in the middle of the afternoon--not early afternoon, the time of the
murder.
Mr. Powell then rambled awhile about Moore's confession to Uncle Sparky, saying
Moore didn't want to go to jail for bad checks, so he pretended to be involved in a
capital murder, and that he lied because he wanted to kill himself. He didn't mention
that Moore told Uncle Sparky Karen was stabbed many times and her throat was cut, or
that he said he was upstairs when she was killed--just that he was a liar, a sneak thief,
and was on drugs.
Mr. Powell stumbled around the DNA (incidentally, mispronouncing the word
mitochondrial each time), saying that the experts couldn't exclude the possibility that the
hair in the bed belonged to Daniel. What he didn't say was that they couldn't exclude it
with a probability of 100%. What the experts testified to was that there was, indeed, a
mathematical possibility that the TWO hairs belonged to someone other than
Moore--and that possibility was the product of 7.5 million to one, 500 to one and 500 to
one.
Mr. Powell said Howard Godbee would testify that Moore didn't know the alarm was
broken. Actually, the prosecution never claimed that Moore did know it was broken,
and only Mr. Powell can explain why he spent so much time disputing something that
was never alleged. Powell even said Godbee would testify that the alarm wasn't
disabled!!! This was a bizarre statement, because the only person that ever said that
was the writer of a misleading sub-headline in the Decatur Daily. As a matter of fact,
Godbee testified the alarm was disabled in several different ways, requiring considerable
knowledge of alarm systems.
The defense did not provide one single witness to say what they claimed in the
opening statments. Not one. And the jury DID listen, and they DID take notes.
And the paragraph about the "wet rag" in the bed (a washcloth covered with Karen's
blood, containing Moore's pubic hair) speaks for itself. If it makes sense to you,
perhaps you should see your doctor. Or maybe join the staff of the Decatur Daily.
