Dassey Trial Notes – 18 April 2007
Brendan Dassey’s cousin Kayla Avery was questioned by Special Prosecutor Tom Fallon.
Kayla is now fifteen and a ninth grade student. She spoke about changes in Brendan. He lost weight and on one occasion she observed him crying.
When Fallon press this witness about events, she recounted that she saw a bonfire on the Halloween evening in 2005. She asked her mother if she could go by the fire, but her mother said no.
Fallon kept at her trying to get some information. When defense objected, Fallon responded that he needed to impeach his witness.
After a question about her statements that Brendan had seen body parts in a fire, she cried and said that she had made the statements up and that she was sorry.
Questioning revealed that she made statements to a school counselor who then called police. Investigators said that she said that Dassey had seen Halbach “pinned up” on a chair in Avery’s trailer and that he had seen body parts in a fire. She was adamant that it was made up.
Defense questioning revealed that she was aware of the news reports about the Halbach case. She said she heard that Brendan had broken up with his girlfriend, but she wasn’t sure.
She said the investigators came to school to talk her about Steven Avery, but Brendan’s name came up. Fallon implied in his questioning that this was an interview that interested investigators in Dassey, but that does not seem to be the case.
Can we expect more Dassey relatives? Wiegert testified in an earlier hearing that the reason he went after Dassey was statements made by relatives rather than a relative. But, Special Agent Fassbender said his lead was from a statement about bleached jeans.
Sherry Culhane, the DNA analyst from the Wisconsin Crime Lab took the Stand. Special Prosecutor Norm Gahn methodically led her through the dog and pony show on DNA.
She found Avery DNA on blood from the Halbach vehicle and Halbach DNA on a Toyota RAV4 key found in Avery’s bedroom. She found Avery DNA on the Toyota hood latch and Halbach DNA on a bullet fragment from the Avery garage.
These last two items were collected after the Dassey confession. The hood latch was a known item from very early in the investigation. And, with nearly a dozen shell casings found in the Avery garage, any competent investigator would have looked for bullets at the time of the casings discovery. It seems that the confession was a good vehicle to plug these omissions.
The items not submitted for analysis were notable. The hood and cardboard box that were supposedly hiding the Toyota were not submitted. No shell casings, or bedding, were submitted for testing.
Nothing of Avery, Dassey, or Halbach was found on the rifle that investigators claim was used to shoot Halbach’s body. Nor, was anything found in the barrel that would show blow back.
There was no blood or DNA from the Avery home that included Halbach or Dassey. There was no blood or DNA in the Avery garage or Halbach vehicle that included Brendan. The Brendan Dassey jacket and jeans which were claimed to be at the garage crime scene were negative for blood. No blood was found on either creeper. Knifes were spot checked for the presence of blood with none found.
Special Prosecutor Norm Gahn emphasized the number of samples received at the Crime Lab. Culhane testified that if no DNA is identified, the evidence does not exclude the accused. The accused are simply damned.
Does this mean that a competent investigation will be prevented by an excess number of evidence submittals? I can understand the need to prioritize and the fact that resources are in infinite. However, that cannot be an excuse for ignoring real evidence that can help determine a person’s innocence.
Nick Stahlke testified about the blood spatter patterns. He has testified ten times in fifteen years on blood spatter evidence. Presently he is a training coordinator and does not do analysis.
Stahlke found no evidence of bleach to explain areas of the RAV where blood would be logically expected.
A counseling intern at Mishicot Schools testified about Kayla Avery. She and a staff counselor had met with Kayla in January 2006. Kayla said that she was scared because her uncle had asked one of her cousins to help move a body. Kayla also asked if blood could rise through concrete. The intern did not find her to be confused despite that question.
We should expect to hear from the staff counselor who was also present.
Jodi Stachowski testified that in one of two phone calls to Avery on the night of 31 October, 2005, Steve said Brendan was helping clean the garage. She also said that a simulation of the Avery bedroom had a different layout than she recalled.*
She did not testify about screams or cries for help.
Reference
in category Brendan Dassey
