Watch live: Trial in buried alive case

do things um weeks ago if not months we were all notified by the state attorney that mr nixon was refusing to take the stand uh last week or the week before i entered an order compelling him to be present before the court for me to determine whether or not he was unavailable in accordance with the terms of certain statutes and rules on witnesses and their production so far as i know the only reason they brought him here was my order there were no subpoenas mr addiction appeared last thursday morning and was placed under oath the defense almost immediately objected that i had no right to do so because there was no scenario in which i could interview him that he was a convict and essentially that he had no rights um and that he was under sentence so mr nixon came in was placed under oath and apparently changed what he had told the state from i will not testify to i will testify he was returned to the holding area and we proceeded with the trial he came back early afternoon i don't remember exactly one but after a lunch break mr nixon was called to the stand at the sidebar over here before i asked mr johnson and mr mizrahi to come up i i didn't ask anybody else because i'm just continual recruit you know concerned the number of people over here at the cyborg and it was a simple question and my question was if i needed to talk to mr nixon about the probability of him giving conflicting statements mr mizrahi said he had been briefly touched on that in the back mr johnson did not answer my question he simply said we needed to talk about the number of prior felony convictions which mr mizrahi told him the number um mr nixon again under oath took the stand testified to some parts of his participation in this these homicides and very quickly into the direct examination um began to tell the jury and myself and everyone here in the courtroom that he had lied all the other times and that he had been told to do that the words had been put in his mouth by his lawyer at the time mr mizrahi appropriately asked for a break which i was about to do anyway my concern two-fold was that mr nixon was about to commit perjury and record and expose himself to a possible death penalty in the event that his plea agreement was set aside and he could be sentenced to death or life i was also concerned for mr wade that what mr nixon was going to say in front of the jury might in some way be backwashed on mr wade even if his attorneys call mr nixon as a witness now of course the jury left the courtroom during the conversation i had with mr nixon on the stand to which the defense objected i could not say that i believe that mr nixon understood what he was doing and that he was in need of someone other than myself or anybody in this courtroom to tell him what was exposed what he was exposing himself to and that he still had the right to testify if he wanted to [Music] the defense at some point i will assume that they were talking simply about the system and not about me suggested that there was some manipulation of the evidence going on and that he should be forced to come in and tell his story to the jury because he had already started to tell him and i of course said that's not going to happen there was a 10-minute break that i declared because i needed time to calm down and during the course of that it occurred to me that i really did need to find someone who was capable with the experience to talk to mr nixon in private as council mr donald mayor's name came up i do not recall whether i suggested it or i think perhaps miss abel may have suggested them in any event the consensus was is that mr marriage who is well known to the court and counsel on this proceeding as a competent skilled uh person an expert in defense of capital cases would be an appropriate appointment one because of his professional expertise and two because he had not had any connection with this case or these defendants in any way uh during the course of the the matter um we took a council all participating this all agree that mr marriage was an appropriate choice we took a recess until monday i immediately called mr mayors who graciously accepted the the appointment and i will tell you that i do not to this moment even though mr marriage is in here today i have studiously not asked him what the process is i i will wait for him to tell me and you at the same time as to what mr nixon is at this point i have no clue as to what mr mayer's and mr nixon talked about [Music] i am compelled to put on the record and i do this simply because i'm putting it on the record but after we left unbeknownst to me and i'm not saying there was an obligation i'm just saying after we left learned that one or more members of the defense team in private after he had been brought here by a court order after he had been placed under oath someone went back and talked to mr nixon without notice to the state without the presence of the estate of the state and as i said i did not learn that until we had left that afternoon so that's it that is not true your last ascertain is factually untrue no one talked to bruce nixon after that whole thing that happened did not happen um i spoke to bruce nixon before he ever got on the stand alan mizrahi and i walked back there together almost right he told him he is subject to the death penalty he then if then then if that is be the case mr johnson i stand corrected as i said i was only putting it on the record because staff had told me that that's what had happened now is not the time to discuss it i just want to finish what i'm saying story after mri and i spoke with mr nixon i then walked back there for maybe 15 seconds which i have a right to do he was my listed witness and that is when i walked back there it was very brief and i um and that's what happened no one talked to him after anything mr johnson as i have said and i don't only because if nothing else the appearance of improv i have no idea what transpired i do not want to know it's just that the appearance is such that you were back there without the state and i will leave it at that i have made no aspersions i'm simply on the record that that's what i was told for what it's worth in the future end of conversation mr maris um and by the way mr nixon is in the back would you like him to come out now or would you um with without impression okay he is here is all right uh that i will as i indicated to you when we first talked i'm more than happy that son sign whatever documentation that you think was appropriate um i had not go ahead mr mayor discuss a variety of things at this point it's mr nixon's decision to serve stephen wright so mr nixon yeah i remind you you are still under oath did you have enough time to talk to mr mayors about that that in fact your decision have you had enough time to consider everything that mr marriage told you all right mr nixon you may step in the back thank you for your time mr mayors mr mizrahi and or mr johnson um um uh um mr johnson i'm not sure that i'm prepared to tell this jury to disregard what they saw on thursday particularly if mr mizrahi is going to continue with the transcripts from the yes sir tell me um what those would be well there are a couple issues here first of all uh mr mizrahi rested he said then i have no more questions that was it um the issue another issue is this um mr mitsuraji does not get to decide what version he believes is true if we have an ethical world that bars us from presenting testimony heard your testimony typical we cannot do that it is just as if i had a client that said i'm gonna lie up there i don't get to say well i don't think you're lying you go up there what we have is bruce nixon standing up and saying that i've heard you're my last testament mr mitravi wasn't present at when all this happened and no one else was the declarative himself said that testimony is heard your testimony and so by offering it is just as if i offered my client up there who said i'm about to go live and say no no i don't think he's lying and putting love there it is in fact further testimony because the declarant says it's for that is his last statement and that's where it's been left that is a standalone issue i believe it's uh we can't put it up there for that reason additionally um we have florida statute 90.804 which addresses one of which is unavailable for purposes of your state of trial among them indeed is the taking of the fifth amendment however um there is also a rule that and it's 9.8041e that the declarant is not unavailable under the statute if the exemption refusal claim of lack of misery inability to be present or absence is due to the procurement or wrongdoing and i'm not accusing wrongdoing but i am alleging procurement of the party who is the proponent of his or her statement in preventing the witness to it from attending or testifying um outside warren b state 102 florida 1135 1931 case and it says a prosecuting attorney should not intimidate witnesses by threatening to have them arrested for perjury if they do not tell the truth gordon b state 104 southern second 524 supreme court of florida in 1958 finding that the sworn oath by the witness is enough to put him on notice of perjury and the state need not advising the witness of the risks of perjury um in the instant manner the unable unavailability was clearly the procurement by the procurement of the state bruce nixon got up on the stand and the part that bothered me the most is in a capital murder trial where the state is seeking to have this man executed the main witness stood up on the witness stand and said i want to tell the truth the jury was sent out mr was right he jumped up threatened him with execution if he went on and i would say that it is a dark day in an american courtroom when a man tried to correct his prior testimony and to shut down with the threat of execution card it off give it a lawyer and it takes a minute and here we are today and now they want to put in his prior testimony and there is something inherently wrong i objected to the sixth eighth fourteenth amendment with the constitution and i don't i find that mr nixon is unavailable because he has exercised his fifth amendment right to remain silent i will also instruct the jury if they do not get to talk with or consider the testimony mr mizrahi if you will prepare proposed instruction for me to give the jury at the appropriate time yes sir one of the instructions that was given if this is just about availability i'll have to include the testimony it says requested um is the other thing that's very interesting is that 15-minute conversation with mr johnson mr jason in the back that he never told anyone about which i agree is his right and the court brings mr johnson up to the uh bench and asks both of us if there's any reason to believe that a man is about to commit perjury and he knows our prior conversation mr nixon it's very disturbing to me especially when the only people in the world knew was going to happen and they let it happen because i have an absolute right to discuss lawyers and officers of the court if there's anything to worry about a witness and those authors of the court do not disclose what they know is going to happen i have a problem finally is that explicit enough that was robbie looked at him and said you plan on testifying yes what are you going to do tell the truth and that's what he got up and did and nothing unethical happened between myself and bruce nixon and and no one else in bruce nixon and i take great offense at the allegation that anything less than aboveboard happened within as i have said i declare mr nixon unavailable as a witness because he has exercised his fifth amendment right to remain silent i will hear no further pointing fingers between the two i don't know what happened but it needs to be part of the record and i will also point out unless i am completely wrong i have received miss from uh miss miller a written motion to protect prohibit the introduction of mr nixon's prior testimony which i've already read up here on the bench believe it or not um i said it was brief it was brief and compared to what i had heard before miss miller which was hours and therefore his testimony is complete therefore there may be no reading back required that mr johnson spoke with mr i started this out by telling you there were things that i think needed to put on the record i take no personal side one way or the other i'm not saying that for a moment please um and i know mr bizrahi is not going to do that because of course there are circumstances in which this everybody has a chance to talk to a witness who has been brought in that all right mr wade was represented by council at the last trial and he had full access to cross-examination of mr nixon at the last trial that's all that's necessary so i am not going to prohibit the state from using the prior testimony of mr nixon that said i haven't i don't know you know that certainly the the defense has the right to whatever cross there is or whatever other consistent or inconsistent statements that mr nixon may have made i'm i'm open for suggestions on that mr thompson well judge i believe that this court is the testimony the sworn testimony that occurred after the jury was brought out of the courtroom his words works to the effect that i lied before it was because i was coached i committed perjury previously i want to tell the truth now clearly that is admissible if the reading i have decided that it is not he exercised his fifth amendment right that under the circumstances of this whole thing i am not going to let this jury hear about that you can add whatever arguments you may want to about the trial transcript but i am going to instruct the jury that they are not to consider anything that mr nixon said on thursday if we would uh request proper testimony we have the right it's right here and judge specifically one statement should be invisible because there are statements against his female interest clearly i have ruled mr johnson you objected i don't need to hear what your grounds are or the law all right i understand what you're saying you don't want him um it is um two it clearly goes to his credibility three it is a prior inconsistent statement prior being that it is was made before the statements are published um the evidence code does not contemplate a future inconsistent statement because that would be impossible it's prior to um i understand nevertheless that is my rule and i have one question i may not answer it but you can ask uh i was confused i changed my mind after having heard your argument and being concerned about i change my mind all of that said now mr mizrahi we remain in the state's case as far as i'm concerned who will be or what will be the next step will be uh there is there is one housekeeping matter council i forgot before you blake judge um we talked about the three eight five one i'm not sure about the penalty page read it i just i will have to trust whatever you know that's not what i want to talk about okay the last thing that we talked about on thursday was um um well my my concern about i'm not this is what i would suggest uh i'm not prepared to striper at this point without knowing more i mean there was not enough questions at all um i have told you that i have been told that it's likely that miss campbell knows nothing of judge clara boola's participation as an assistant attorney general in this case that came from judge carbula i am willing to bring mrs campbell or you know it is campbell isn't it yeah i'm willing to bring her out and and ask her if she what she may or may not know about you know whether or not she whether or not she even knew that judge carville was involved in this and and if she said yes fine and if not would that in any way affect her participation in the trial i don't i don't think i can just summarily excuse her because of what you know the information we received was i will agree that bringing her out and asking her about that question may you know point out you know i don't know i just know that the general counsel came actually she came the day before and said yeah and she came in and she said you know um i don't remember what she said but apparently judge carla had had sent word to her that that this is that she had seen the list or something like that and that so and so was in the jury panel well but let me finish but and and i looked at the name that name was not here she was not part of the panel right so i didn't ask any further questions then thursday general counsel burke comes back in court council bert comes back in and says well turns out that she changed her name i do not know whether it was divorce or marriage or what but i look and in fact there is a mrs campbell on the uh in in our box i share with you exactly what i had he did not i did not know that miss campbell was judge carbulous person until the jury had arguments this was thursday afternoon qualification i don't know i will be glad to ask so here's the concern right is [Music] campbell to write this candle may not have drawn any connection to their relationship with ms in this case if we ask miss campbell we are now suggesting yes i agree i understand what they said parting comment from the court is this is we're going to do about this nothing and that's what we do speaking of court counsel who just walked in the back i did not bring her she's just here no no this case at one um as an assistant attorney general obviously the structuralist rules would have been trying to uphold the death sentence on this case if their friends to the extent that this problem certainly this juror i don't know that i know that when this happened 20 years ago or whatever it was 15 um judge carbulla lived in tallahassee she did not live in jacksonville she was an assistant attorney general this case may have been my first exposure to her since that time she moved to jacksonville became a county judge and then a circuit judge and now she's sitting on it actually she came in she worked for the state attorney's office here in jacksonville and then uh went on to the bench so it's certainly possible that nobody knew about you all asked about participation then trial and the law you know the system um it never came up there was nobody no one ever asked me you know when he started judges do you know anybody that is none of that came up it came up just because you know i mean i will tell you that i have seen friends names on on sure we frequently get the list of jurors and i have shared with other judges you know people that i thought maybe on the list i just need to know what's appropriate under the circumstances this is my day mr johnson i expect you're going to go through wednesday anyway that's that was well i'm just saying and if we uh if miss campbell is released but still this is one alternative [Music] how about this how about this i think we talked about this and this may be what you're talking about amongst us this camel becomes alternate too yes we agree um and if it gets to the point then we ask her about the problem and so that would mean that whoever was number alternate one now becomes part of the head that's what is barbara okay does that work for you mr mr all right so miss campbell is now alternate too just as a record um what you you made the objection that i was interjecting myself [Music] so my argument is basically that you that basically all right well you know the record will speak for itself the motion is denied mr mizrah jonas trooper's preparing an instruction needs a record for emailing all the parties now instruction status requesting your honorees bruce nixon is not available to either side as a witness and the jury should draw another absence jury should also disregard some limited testimony took and i understand there's an objection um uh would you send a copy to the clerks of the chicken friend of that please and i will actually i think i will do that before the state has read an instruction that says he's unavailable and so to me it lends himself to he died and something happened to him and so really what's most proper and most informative and not misleading would be to say mr nixon is now unavailable because he has asserted this right against self-incrimination i'm not going to do that so we're just going to let the jury you know he is he is i have declared i don't care what you know i'm just not going to say that he's asserted his fifth amendment right because the jury's not going to send you i don't want them going awful what did that mean what did what did he do is he about to be christ ain't going to happen that's not for that journey to decide i will be happy to say that i have declared him unavailable or that i've forbidden the law i don't you know if he's a credible witness and so that's a hundred percent of the foreign based on the testimony that they're going to hear right but they're being told he's unavailable it's not because if you want me to i'm not standard instructions simply says he's unavailable that's not the standard instruction the instruction we uh all right if you'll send that to my clerk for printing and i will read that to the jury i think when that was the last thing that happened to them i mean just mr smith do you need me um um i thought what i said is it it's not coming in until mr mizrahi can establish it as well for the jury i will talk about i don't disagree conversation i have told you that that i believe it is mr wade's right to allocute to the jury we will talk about how that happens later i agree but i also understand mr mizrahi you see that depending on what mr wade says or doesn't say i i am i'm not committing to this but i'm probably not going to let it in it's gonna take a fairly high burden for mr mizrahi for me to let that sort of thing in in this circumstance because right now it it just is i did you told me the same thing last week blake i agree yes you're right um do you understand that you will not mention anything about that until i have said you can i have one additional motion it is similar deals with [Applause] marriage trying to bring this up in its effort to present a non-statutory aggregator it's similar to the argument regarding a child who said that there's just no relevance in this i know that the state tends to bring it up it's not bad behavior it doesn't cut against prison behavior [Applause] that's fair um did you resolve the matter of i think we need a few minutes well the jury's not even here yet they're not what i was going to say is have you resolved the matter of whatever transcripts are going to be read or anything like that we're talking about okay i'm just waiting again i'm sorry i'm just asking you to resolve the matter the trans whatever transcripts are going to be used we don't have a jury here yet which is awesome so uh all right here um my clerk has indicated that there are some some exhibits that we may need to discuss marking you want to do that now or just later on [Music] oh okay okay so we don't need don't need to do that one okay um then um since we don't have by the way apparently we did correct the plumbing problem i say weak so the jury will be using i guess this this room over here so all right are there any other administrative matters that we you know need to discuss before the jury gets here because if not i propose to take a short recess we need a short recess well that's fine i mean i'm well um the jury is going to be in the jury room when we resume anyway so we can address it when we go back we'll be in a recess until um uh upgraded um a couple days um um all right so um once we're done thank you she you may be so yes where is so all right we are in the courtroom mr wade is present um i understand we have all of our juries in the jury room are we ready to proceed miss miss miller you had reads bruce nixon is not available to either side of the fitness and the jury should draw no information which degree is supported by the facebook case if the court's given the instruction overall injection the second sentence is the jury should also disregard bruce nixon's so you're suggesting i simply drop the word limited yes again objecting all right i have no problems with that um it is only limited in my mind because i know well as i pointed that out before but thank you brother um are we otherwise ready to proceed then mr mizrahi mr johnson yes sir all right if you'll have the jury join us please okay testimony [Applause] is [Music] so make a copy of this all right our jury is returned please see the ladies and gentlemen good morning we um remain in the state's case um i have a preliminary matter that i want to address with you before mr mizrahi proceeds and i will point out to you that mr nixon that was the last witness that you've heard on thursday is not available to either side as a witness and you should draw no inference at all from his absence you should also disregard mr nixon's testimony that took place thursday afternoon okay mri ladies and gentlemen this will be pretty much as we did last week with the one witness this is testimony from a prior proceeding mr mizrahi will ask the questions on direct and mr kalinowski will answer and one of defense counsel will oppose cross-examination questions from the same transcript mr mizrahi may please the court just making sure the witness is ready you ready yes thank you please state your name for the record bruce kent nixon jr where's your date of birth may 9th 1987. how old are you today i'm 20. how old were you back in july of 2005 18. back in july of 2005 what were your plans for the fall of 2005. i was going to go back to school play basketball or something what school was that baker county what grade would you have been in in baker county high school 12th where have you been living since july 15 of 2005. duval county jail i'll tell the jury about your size when you were arrested on june 15 2005 about 5 11 weighed about 160 about 155 and what is your size today about six two i weigh about 185 190 somewhere why have you been living in jail since july 15 2005. i participated in the murder of the sumners of who sumners was that carol and reggie summer yes sir are you guilty of participating in that murder yes sir are you guilty of kidnapping carol and reggie something yes sir are you guilty of robbing them yes sir are you guilty of killing them yes sir are you guilty of killing them yes sir have you pled guilty to those charges yes sir who participated in that crime with you me alan wade tiffany cole and michael jackson do you see alan wade here in court yes sir would you please point to him and say where he's seated right there your ironman the witness may the record indicate the witnesses identify the defendant and then the court says it amen showing what's been entered into evidence is states exhibit 125. who is this tiffany cole states 124 michael jackson states 126. that's alan states 127 that's me please tell the jury how you first became involved in the plot to kill carol and reggie summer allen came over with the rx-8 came over to my house and he asked me about robbing somebody describe the mazda rx8 for the jury it's like brownish gray like silver color was alan wade alone he when he came and discussed this plot with you yes sir in relation to when the summoners were abducted how long before approximately did you have that conversation with alan wade about two weeks somewhere around there do you know for sure that it was two weeks no i don't really know how long it was but it was a couple weeks before that did he give you any details about killing at that time or the robbery at that time no sir at that time did you know it was going to be a murder no sir did he tell you anything about the summoners or how old they were or anything like that no sir did you tell alan wade at that point that you wanted to be involved in the robbery no sir it wasn't discussed anything further than alan wade had planned to rob people no sir what was the next thing that happened that got you involved in the case he called me one night and asked me if i wanted to go with them and help them dig a hole who called you alan and how did alan wade call you he called me and asked me if i wanted to dig a hole did he call you on your cell phone yes sir and tell the jury what words the defendant used if you can remember what do you mean well what did he say to you if you specifically what words did he say to you about digging a hole he said we're going to dig a hole and rob somebody what did you say to that i said yeah when alan wade told you those words did you know who michael jackson was no sir did you know who tiffany cole was no sir have you ever met either of them have you ever met either of them in your life no sir so what did you do in preparation for digging this hole with alan wayne i went and got shovels tell the jury about that i went around the neighborhood looking for shovels and stuff like against like looking for sheds and stuff and i seen it leaning up against the shed so i grabbed it i grabbed four of them when did alan wade get to your house to pick you up about 20 minutes later what time of the day was this approximately at night it was late yes sir when he picked you up what car was he driving or what was he in rx-8 the same mazda rxa that you were in two weeks earlier yes sir tell the jury who was with the defendant alan wade tiffany cole and michael jackson is this the first time you met michael jackson and tiffany cole yes sir tell the jury how many shovels you have four of them showing you what's been entered into evidence of state 665 uh are these the four shovels you took yes sir where did you in those four shovels tiffany call alan wade and michael jackson go go looking for a hole somewhere to dig a hole tell the jury where y'all went we went over to where i used to say stay in georgia we went down the road and it wasn't a good spot so we went across the street and down the road and it looked like some woods so we went in there and looked for it when you all were deciding what place to dig this hole was everyone participating in a decision as to where to dig in yeah yes sir were you seated where were you seated in the mazda back seat who was sitting next to you allen who was in the front seat michael jackson and tiffany cole tell the jury what happened when you finally found a place to dig this hole after we found a hole we started digging a hole tiffany was holding a light while we was digging a hole tiffany cole held what she held the light while i was digging the hole a flashlight yes sir and who dug the hole me alan wade and tiffany michael jackson all right the three of y'all did yes sir what shovels did you use the two middle ones this one this one and this one yes sir and how did the three of y'all use two shovels we took turns who did the majority of the digging me and alan and why was that we were strong now bruce at this point do you know what allen way tiff cole and michael jackson had discussed in reference to this crime no sir and all you know is that alan wade has all you know is what alan wade has told you yes sir tell the jury at this point when you're digging the hole what is your knowledge about what's going to happen is that a robbery going to be taking place and how was the hole going to be related to the robbery how i didn't know then did you know it was the hole was related to the robber yes sir in some fashion yes sir how long did it take you to dig the hole about 30 minutes how big was the hole approximately about six foot long by four foot deep and when you're done digging the hole what do you do with the shovels we keep them there where was the mazda while you were digging the hole out at the gate so the mazda couldn't get back to the actual hole no no sir that's a no no sir and you left the shovels at the hole yes sir what happened when you went back into the mazda we started driving back to my house and then what was the next step in this plot well alan asked if i can go with him alan asked michael jackson what do you mean go with him explain that to the jury go with them he asked him he asked him if i could go with them to help them do it he asked michael jackson yes sir me being alan wade yes sir what did michael jackson say michael jackson said yeah he said he can go talking about me now tell the jury what you soon after that learned about what the actual plot was it was we were trying to figure out if we were going to wait on them to come home or if they if we were going to be there wait on them to come home or go in there while they're home okay so who are you talking about the sumners so there was a discussion as to whether or not you could actually be inside the home waiting for them to come in before you took them yes sir or whether or not you would actually go into the home when they were there yes sir what was your knowledge about whether or not the summoners were going to be killed michael jackson was going to do it michael jackson was going to kill the sumners yes sir and when did you know that we were talking about it the conversation when we were having a conversation about it came up he said he was going to do it with a shot a shot yes sir who was having these conversations with you and michael jackson about how you were going to commit this crime and how the summoners were going to die all of us all of you please tell the jury what names tiffany tiffany alan wade michael jackson everybody everybody was participating in these conversations yes sir at what point did you know what the hole you had just dug was for yes sir and what was the hole for for the summoners or the sumners yes sir and you knew this before you ever went to their house yes sir tell the jury what other preparations were made to commit this crime they had gloves and they had they had gloves and they had a gun a toy gun tell the jury about this toy gun it was one of them little it's not no bb gun but it's like it's got a little plastic pellets i think like little yellow pellets yes sir now we talked about a shot i want to make sure the jury understands what kind of shot are you talking about are you talking about with a gun what do you mean you say michael jackson was going to kill the summoners explain that no shot with medicine a needle like a needle not a gun yes sir so there was a plastic gun gloves were there any preparations made in casing the house or calling the summoners tell the jury about that we were driving around the house looking looking at the houses and how we were going to do it and stuff and who was driving tiffany cole who else was in the mazda with him me michael jackson and alan and in relation to when you pre-dug the grave when are you riding by the house the day later next day the next day and it was in the daytime yes sir with tiffany cole calling the sumners yes sir who had cell phones at that particular time me tiffany michael jackson and did you have each other's numbers programmed in your cell phone yes sir do you know if michael jackson had two phones or one book no sir now why are you doing this why are you participating in this plan for money tell the jury why you would do something like that for money because i ain't really have nobody to support me so the only way i thought to get money was to do this how much money was two discussed thousand dollars how much two hundred thousand two hundred thousand yes sir in preparation for this crime did you alan wade tiffany cole and michael jackson ever go to an office depot yes sir what were you doing in that office depot walking around the store what was alan wade doing he was walking around the store with me what was purchased at the office depot all i seen was they got saran wrap i don't know what else they got that's the only main thing that i've seen does it look something like yes sir so you saw this yes sir because it was so big who bought it tiffany and michael jackson tiffany and michael did yes sir after they went to office depot how long before you went over to the sumner house i'm not sure when you went to the sumner house where you supply supplied duct tape to use yes sir who actually carried the duct tape allen the defendant alan wade yes sir what did you have when you went over to the summoner house i had a gun you had the plastic gun yes sir what time of day did y'all go over to commit this crime about 10 o'clock at night did you ever reach the decision as to whether or not you would wait for them inside the home or whether you would just go in yes sir we decided that we were going to go in while they were at home how did y'all get to the summoner home tiffany cole drove who was in the car when you drove over there me allen and michael jackson who decided who would go into the house decided me and alan was going to go in will you drop where were you dropped off in relation to the home at the park right by the house it's not far no sir tell the jury what you and alan wade did next after that we got out of the car walked up to the house we got the gloves on and we knocked on the door and ms sumner came to the door we asked to use the phone who knocked on the door me and alan who asked carol sumner to use the phone both of us y'all were standing right next to each other yes sir and you both had gloves on yes sir where was the gun at this point i had it in my uh my belt right here where was the duct tape at this point allen had it in his belt where was tiffany cole and michael jackson they're out in the car what was the plan in relation to where michael jackson would be during this process he was going to be out in the car until he covered up their eyes so they couldn't so the summoners couldn't see him so the plan was to cover up their eyes so they couldn't see yes sir and then michael jackson would come in he was going to come in yes sir now why would you have to cover up people's eyes so they couldn't see if the plan was to give them a shot and bury them in this grave mike said it was a mind thing that when he killed them he didn't want them to see him or something like that okay that's what michael jackson told you yes sir michael jackson often referred to psychological things and mine things like that yes sir was michael jackson calling the shots in this case yes sir are you fully participating yes sir tiffany cole fully participated yes sir and is this defendant alan wade fully participating yes sir now what happens when that door opens up and you ask to use the phone you and alan wade we walk in the house we walk in the house and pulled out the phone and then we were walking in allen grabbed mr sumner and sat him down in the chair then i pulled out the gun that's when we said you know what i'm saying we need your bank cards and stuff was the plan to rob the sumners of jewelry and cash no sir for the credit card for the card tell the jury who pulled out the phone line sir who pulled out that phone line alan wade and what were you doing when alan wade right after he pulls out the phone line i had the gun on mr and mrs sumner describe the gun a little bit more did it look real yes sir it looked real but it wasn't real what were the summoners doing after alan wade grabbed mr sumner around the neck and put him on the couch what'd they do what were they doing miss sumner crying and she was just saying don't hurt me and stuff like that what did you say in response to that i told them told them everything was going to be all right you know what i'm saying just try to calm them down and did you have the gun out and pointed towards them yes sir what happened next with the duct tape i brought mr and mrs sumner in the room and i duct taped their legs and their hands together and i stood in the room with them did you duct tape any other parts of their bodies yes sir on their eyes so michael jackson could come in and so they can't see him did you cover their mouths yes sir i covered their mouths so they couldn't scream yes sir now at that point how did y'all get michael jackson into the house he beat me and said you ready i said yeah you can come in he came in on your next tells yes sir showing the jury what's been irrita evidence of state exhibit 46 does this appear to be the type of duct tape that you use to bind the summoners so yes sir showing what's been interesting 47 excuse me 48 does this appear to be the door and alan wayne knocked on yes sir and states exhibit 56 is this the spare bedroom where you kept carol and reggie sumner in bed with a gun and had duct tape on yes sir and what was who was in the room in states 56 with you and the summoners who else was there was anyone else there no sir tell the jury what was happening while you were guarding the summers michael jackson and alan were going around looking for bank statements and stuff do they know where the bank statements specifically were no sir was a large pile of mail and statements actually taken from the home yes sir who were the two people that were looking for those bank statements michael and alan what was the next thing that happened after they found what they were looking for michael jackson went out to the car and told us to bring mr and mrs sumner into the lincoln and did you do that yes sir what happened when you got there when we got to the lincoln yes sir we were helping them in the car we put them in the trunk did you give anyone any water or anything like that yes sir tell the jury about that ms sumner said she was thirsty so i walked over to the refrigerator and got her a bottled water how did she drink the bottle of water if she had tape on her mouth i took the tape off of her mouth did she put it did you put it back on yes sir tell the jury how the summoners were able to get into the trunk we helped them in there me and alan helped them where are the substances sumner's doing at this point laying in the back of the trunk what was the plan once they were inside the trunk we were going to drive drive to the hole before you ever went in that house did y'all describe or discuss how you were going to avoid police contact yes sir michael jackson said that while we were driving the car if the police stop us that he was going to drive ahead and make it make it look like to make them chase them make a diversion what happened when you got to the lincoln we drove out to the hole who drove alan wade who was in the passenger seat i was where did you go before you went to the hall sir did you go somewhere before you went to the hole yes sir we went to the gas station tell the jury about that the gas needle was on empty so we went and filled up the car did you go to the gas station that was near the home yes sir near the house a little bit down the road and who filled the lincoln with gas it was me or alan i don't really remember which one it was who paid for michael jackson it was michael jackson and tiffany cole there yes sir what car were they driving the rx-8 after you got to the gas after you got the gas and paid for it is that when you headed out to the hall yes sir i'm going to show you stage 47 mr nixon just to show the jury the path you took the sumner house was on reed avenue yes sir and reed avenue is where on this map reed avenue yeah where the summoners are is that indicated by a dot on the map i know you can't see it specifically no i don't really know my way around jacksonville okay when you drove did you drive interstate out west on i-10 i'm not really sure well what road did you use to get to the gravesite is that road the road that goes north from the clinic yes sir okay i know that and do you know if you dug the grave in florida or in georgia it was in georgia was it like 20 miles into georgia or was it closer to the border close to the border when you went to the same hole that you had and you went to the same hole you were dug two days before yes sir is there a discussion on next tells between y'all and michael jackson about what was going to happen on the way out there sir are you able to communicate with michael jackson in the mazda by your next steps yes sir we we are but we ain't really saying nothing we weren't talking you're not calling each other no sir but you did have that deep beep capability yes sir but we weren't talking all right tell the jury what happens when you get out there when we get out there we pull up to the gravesite michael jackson went up to the car and popped the trunk and seen that the duct tape was off of them and started screaming started talking about putting duct tape back on them so i walked around and put duct tape back on them because i didn't put it on real tight i just put it on there so back i'm sorry mr nixon keep going so i put on the duct tape put it back over their eyes and stuff and over their arms and their feet because they got all the way out of it you didn't put the duct tape on very tight back at the house no sir and how long had the sumner has been in the trunk before you all popped it the ride from jacksonville to georgia so it took a while to get there right yes sir now what were the summoners doing in the back of the trunk when they had gotten out of their duct tape they were hugging and you saw that yes sir again why did michael jackson get so upset about their duct tape being off because they he didn't want them to see him and he didn't want them to see michael jackson no sir and again why was that because he said that when he killed them that he didn't want them to see him because it was a mind thing showing you what's been here at states 30 mr nixon is this the road y'all drove down to get to the burial site yes sir can you show the jury i know it's just off the map but where you used to live in relation to this site on the bottom right here towards the bottom there yes sir and what is that building picture at the bottom that's the fire station showing stage 31 is this the gravesite yes sir can you show the jury what gate you're talking about where that first van is going up that road right here yes sir is this where the gravesite is yes sir show the jury on this map where you pop the truck to find the summoners hugging each other right here where that van is where the where was the mazda when you popped the trunk and the lincoln was right here two vans behind it here yes sir and you got them reductate what happened next after we i re-duct taped them we went allen tried to back it up into the hole but he couldn't so i jumped in backed it up into the hole is that the only time you ever drove the lincoln yes sir did you ever have control of the lincoln car keys other than that time you backed it up to the hole no sir who had control of the lincoln car keys michael jackson alan wade was driving he had the keys but he he had the keys after allen had them where was tiffany cole while you were backing up the lincoln tiffany cole was on the road right by the rx-8 show the jury on the map where that is right here tell the jury what happened when you finally get the lincoln to the gravesite popped the trunk they popped the trunk after they popped the trunk michael jackson told me to go stand with tiffany on the road he said go watch tiffany now who was in the trunk when you popped it at the gravesite the summoners now did you go did the trunk face the grave or did the car face the grave yes sir face the grave trunk did like right beside it yes sir so you actually back yes sir who was in the trunk when you popped it the sumners were they still duct tape yes sir because i just hit duct tape them duct taped them back now when you pop that trunk and michael told you to go back to wait with tiffany did you know what was going to happen to the summoners yes sir what was going to happen to the summoners they were about to die and you knew that yes sir when you left the grave site you were still at the gravesite allen and michael do you know what happened at the gravesite when you weren't there no sir do you know that the summoners were killed there yes sir how did the lincoln get back from the gravesite to the roof i'm not real sure i don't know someone drove it back out yes sir somebody drove it out and they were able to drive it backwards yes sir and front words yes sir who got into what car to leave the gravesite me and allen got in the lincoln and then they got in the rx8 who drove the lincoln allen where were the shovels in the trunk of what the lincoln i know until i came to jail that they were in the trunk they weren't left at the gravesite because you've seen them in the truck no sir so you were in the passenger seat and alan was drunk yes sir where did you all drive to we drove to sanderson why did you drive there to drop the car off who followed you to sanderson michael michael jackson and tiffany and they're in the mazda cell yes sir and tiffany was driving yes sir what happened when you got to the sanderson side we got out of the car and we wiped it down and stuff who's wait me michael jackson alan wade and did you leave the car there yes sir did you leave the shovels in the trunk yes sir did you take anything else out of the car no sir where did you and alan wade and the defendant go we went to the rx8 where tiffany and michael jackson were and where did you sit i sat we both sat in the back seat you and alan wade sat in the back seat yes sir where did your job go we went to the hotel after that no we went straight to the atm did you go to the atm late at night yes sir did you all go to walmart late at night yes sir did you also go back to the hotel room and go through the property you all had found yes sir tell the jury what was taken out of the house when you michael jackson allen wayne were there the first time coins and coins and bank statements and stuff like that and the atm card yes sir now going back to the gravesite was there did you notice michael jackson with any pads yes sir he had a yellow pad like them right there just like what the jury has yes sir what did michael jackson tell you about what was on that pad numbers atm numbers pin numbers yes sir did anyone ever go back to the sumner home yes sir tiffany and alan did and when was that when i was at the hotel with michael i was in the bathtub my knee was messed up i was soaking my knee i got out and he said they went back back to the sumner's house who is he michael jackson said that is that when the computer was taken yes sir and the computer was later pawned not sure now did you get money for your involvement in this case yes sir how much money did you get approximately about 200 that's all you could get at the time that was all you could get out of the atm yes sir how long did you stay with this group like a day later and then what happened a day later i went home they dropped me off at my house did you ever go to south carolina no sir did you know they were going to south carolina yes sir that was part of the plan that they were going to go to south carolina yes sir they had rented a car or something they rented a car they had to get took back did you receive a call from allen a couple days later yes sir tell the jury about that he said that the car got found in sanderson why did he call and tell you that why did he call he called to tell me he just called and told me did he tell you to be cool don't worry about it yeah be cool don't worry about it during this period of time after you got dropped off but before you got arrested did you go to a party and get wasted yes sir tell the jury about how you got so inebriated i was taking i was on pills and i was drinking drinking beer out of a keg where did you get all these pills from the sumner's house and i had some because i had pills too do you remember everything that happened that night no sir is it possible you may have talked about this case that night and you just don't remember it's possible i could have talked about it i want to talk to you a little bit about your relationship with alan wade when did you first become friends with alan wayne when i was 13 and did you remain friends from the time you were 13 until the time you were 18. yes sir did y'all play basketball together yes sir did you consider him one of your best friends yes sir what was your relationship with frida gainey frida wade gang his mother she's like my mama when i got in trouble or i ran away from home i used to go to his house and stay with him tell the jury about how she treated you she treated me like her son did you love her yes sir did you actu did you actually have contact with her after you were arrested yes sir did you all discuss your predicament in this case no sir did she provide any counsel or support for you during this time yes sir what was your relationship with michael jackson my co-defendant did you know him any more than the two days you spend with him no sir how about tiffany cole no sir was she ever your girlfriend no sir dude you know her any more than the two days you spent with her no sir why do you know michael jackson and tiffany call because we did we did this robbery and stuff did alan wade know either tiffany cole or michael jackson to your knowledge yes sir he knew michael jackson alan seemed to know michael jackson fairly well yes sir tell the now tell the jury about when you were arrested when you were interviewed by the police yes sir did you cooperate with the police yes sir now initially did you tell the police the truth no sir and why not because i didn't want to get in trouble and i didn't i was afraid of getting in trouble did you eventually tell the police the complete truth part of it after i done found out that my other two co-defendants was saying stuff did you deny or tell the police that you did not know the summoners were going to die yes sir why did you lie to the police and tell them you did not know the summoners were going to die because i was afraid of getting in trouble but you did know the summoners were going to die yes sir did you take the police to the gravesite yes sir and what were you feeling or thinking when you were at the gravesite i felt bad but at the same time i thought it would help me that's why i did it so both of them i ain't gonna sit here and lie and say i felt bad i would be lying that's what i'm saying both it's a mix of both of them a mix of both you felt remorse and you were scared you were gonna get in trouble yes sir you also thought it would help yes sir now how are you acting at the scene i was on i was on methadone and i was on pills and stuff i was crying i was out of my mind have you seen the video of that taking the police to the gravesite yes sir and tell the jury how you were acting in that video i was crying the whole time and were you putting your head on someone's shoulder yes sir officer dobson he's the sheriff in mclenny there was a time mr mixon were you michael were you michael jackson alan wade and tiffany cole were together and you actually saw freda wait is that correct yes sir tell the jury about that after we dug the hole we went back to allen's house his mama wasn't supposed to come home but that morning she came home and when she came home she was cussing at me and she i don't think she was cussing but she was yelling at michael jackson she didn't like michael jackson did she ever that's the first time i've ever seen them talk to each other that's the first time you've ever seen miss freda and michael jackson talk but she was screaming at him telling him to get out of the house and all that and did you all leave the house yes sir because you weren't even supposed to be there right sir y'all weren't supposed to be at her house oh me she didn't care about me she was surprised to see me she was like bruce where you come from she didn't like to see michael jackson no sir and you all left yes sir and that's when you started staying in hotels yes sir you tell the jury mr nixon what you have pled guilty to second-degree murder and armed kidnapping and armed robbery and at one time were you facing the death penalty is that correct yes sir and now you are not no sir tell the jury what your sentence range is 52 to life 52 years yes sir to life yes sir who will decide your sentence judge weatherby judge whether be this judge yes sir have i promised you any sense no sir as mr plucking promised you any sense no sir does anyone in my office promised you no sir so you can get a life sentence yes sir and that will be completely up to this judge yes sir you understand that yes sir now you do hope to some degree that your testimony helped you right yes sir why else are you here testifying obviously you're wanting to help your sentence but why else are you here telling the jury everything that you know sir what do you mean by that well do you feel bad about what happened yes sir i feel bad about what happened tell the jury about it well i felt i felt bad for what happened you know what i'm saying me and alan got in this situation we were young and just got we had bad role models at the time we was hanging out with somebody we shouldn't have never been hanging out with we supposed to be better than this supposed to have been going to school and staying out of trouble and just having fun but somebody came into our life and messed up our life and got stirred the wrong direction we wasn't even supposed to be going through this we supposed to be on the street right now having fun staying out of trouble it seems like all the good people got locked up do you understand mr nixon that there is a pretty decent chance you could get a life sentence in this case yes sir i know it and you were going to be okay with that if you get a life sentence no i'm not going to be okay with it but i'm going to have to face it you understand you could get yes sir that's all the questions i have i'll defer to cross-examination all the good people get locked up is that what you just said sir yes sir oh you consider yourself a good person yes sir may i approach your honor sure sir you picked up this shovel didn't you yes sir picked up this shovel up didn't you yes sir you picked this big shovel up didn't you yes sir you picked this shovel up didn't you yes sir you did that alan wade didn't do that did he no i did it tiffany cole didn't do that did she no sir jeff michael jackson didn't do that no sir and sir you were familiar with georgia weren't you you grew up and were taken on a school bus past that road up there weren't you yes sir you picked that graveside out didn't you we all did you knew it didn't you yeah i knew it it was right across from where you used to live the fire station wasn't it yes sir you went in that house didn't you sir yes sir you had duct tape and duct taped their eyes and mouse and arms and legs didn't you yes sir you didn't put it on real tight is that what you're saying yes sir but you did it right yes sir anybody drove you to do that no sir anyone forced you to do that no sir threaten you to do that no sir you picked the summoners up and put them in the trunk of the lincoln didn't you yes sir anybody drugged you to do that no sir nobody forced you to do that no sir no sir you sir back to lincoln into the gravesite by the whole didn't you yes sir you got your hands on the steering wheel right yes sir you're backing looking around by the bushes aren't you yes sir anyone drove you to do that no sir i'm threatening you to do that no sir you went out there two nights before right yes sir you feel sorry for the sumners then i ain't know them then no sir you wanted money didn't you yes sir and you wanted lots of money didn't you yes sir because you like money and you like girls you like partying don't you yes sir remember a fellow by the name of alec griffis yes sir he was at a keg party wasn't he yes sir when you were drinking kegs or handstand or keg stands right yes sir you feel sorry for the summoners then no sir did you get to sheriff dobson and put your head on the shoulder and cry about it then no sir when you were digging the graves two days before did you have gloves on no sir was it easy work heavy work were you sweating yes sir what shovel did you use which one of those four both the middle ones middle medium-sized ones yes sir are you sweating yes sir in georgia weren't you yes sir you testified that the rx-8 with michael and tiffany was leading the way to the burial site with the summoners me and allen was with them they were driving she was driving right but they've never been there before other than two nights before right no sir did they knew how to get there no sir what time was it when you got there with the summoners when we got there with the summoners yeah when you banked the lincoln up to the grave and helped bury them alive what time was it about not real sure about 11 o'clock 12 o'clock about what time i'm not sure i think about 12 o'clock 12 o'clock about midnight yes sir and if i recall your testimony correctly sir the trunk was opened at the gate or something like that and the summoners had managed to get free because you didn't put the duct tape on that type yes sir you got more duct tape and tape their eyes again take their mouth again take their arms again and take their legs again didn't you serve yes sir made it tight didn't you sir i did it the same way i did it at the house and then you sir along with jackson and cole buried the summoners didn't you no sir you didn't lift one shovel and put dura on there no sir what were you doing i was up there walking with tiffany cole so you don't really know who bury the summoners do you no sir at the at the gravesite i think you told mr miss razzie mr mizrahi that's when you finally realized the sumner were going to die is that right no sir i thought you just said that to mr mizrahi no i didn't say that you knew they were going to die yes sir before that before that yes sir you didn't go for help no sir nobody drugged you threatened you or forced you to do this right no sir didn't go for help before no you didn't go for help at the graves but did you no sir you're in a separate car right yes sir you go for help when you got back to jacksonville mclennan no sir you go for help when you're doing keg stands no sir you only went for help on march 12th sir when i got in trouble for it march 12th of 07 when you gave a sworn statement in this case with your attorney mr chipperfield who's in the courtroom right repeat that question you only went for help march 12th when you gave a statement against alan wade isn't that true yes sir that's going to help you right help me or hurt me but i already helped you right you were looking at the death penalty sir weren't you yes sir that's off the table right yes sir because you got a plea agreement now with this man right here right yes sir and you're not you didn't get convicted of first degree murder he let you plead the second degree murder didn't he yes sir it don't really matter it doesn't really matter sir i can get first degree murder and still get 52 to life i don't think the charge i don't know how that goes you just testified to this jury you played a second degree murder from 52 years to life right yes sir i don't see the difference between getting first degree murder and get 52 to life same thing it's carrying the same amount of time i don't know about all that how old are you sir i'm 20. okay do you see a difference between life never getting out in 50 years do you see a difference to that sir no no sir you feel you see a difference between life and death by lethal injection yes sir you don't want that do you no sir march 12 2007 is when you decided to get help right for yourself yes sir you gave a sworn statement right yes sir that's the same day you were allowed to plead to reduce charges and you signed a blue form right yes sir and you stood in front of judge weatherby and you raised your right hand you swore to tell the truth right yes sir you pled certain two counts of second-degree murder right yes sir two counts of armed kidnapping yes sir two counts of armed robbery yes sir and you got your deal didn't you 52 to life yes sir and that's your advantage don't you think yes sir i ain't get the death sentence and they're hoping after all this is over and after all this testimony is over and you stand in front of judge weatherby you're hoping this prosecutor will stand up there and recommend a sentence of less than life aren't you yes sir doesn't matter who would be sitting in that chair sir you would testify against anybody to get a sentence better than death or life wouldn't you yes sir i want to make sure i understand what you said about the 18 atms and the walmart and all that according to you this was after the gravesite thing right yes sir the pictures i think he showed you some pictures from south carolina he says you saw these pictures way before the gravesite thing didn't you the limousine and the champagne and all that yes sir that wasn't after this was it no sir did you ever tell freda wade or freda gainey that you're gonna get forty thousand dollars for this crime no sir i think you said you lied to the police in the beginning you lied to them a little more until you found out the other codependents were telling of you yes sir you didn't like that that made you mad and angry didn't it yes sir you have a moment your honor i have one other question judge mr mizrahi asked you about these keys to the link and i thought you said michael had control of the keys right yes sir he was the one popping the trunk open michael pretty much had control of the whole thing didn't he yes sir that's all i have your honor thank you was there a redirect mr nixon mr eller began his cross-examination by asking if anyone took you kicking and screaming into this crime he asked you that a bunch of times do you remember those questions no sir anyone take alan wade kicking screaming into this crime no sir anyone threaten him no sir he did this as voluntarily as you did this right yes sir mr eller asked you if you would testify against anyone now are you testifying against your best friend to get a deal is that what you're testing is that why you're testifying against alan wade no sir well why are you saying that alan wade's involved in this crime let me ask you this bruce was he involved in this crime yes sir was alan wade with you the whole time yes sir and did he do it yes sir are you just saying that no sir and mr eller made a big deal uh about this this deal or sworn statement that you got in march of 2007 right that's when you gave me a statement right yes sir now mr nixon when you were arrested back in july of 2005 did you tell the police that alan wade was involved no sir in your statement that you gave afterwards yeah tell the jury what you told the police about who was involved in this crime when you were interviewed i told them alan wade tiffany cole and michael jackson did you say anyone else in the world was involved no sir did you say ricky weisner was involved no sir was ricky with you when you gave the police portions of the statement yes sir now mr nixon when you were arrested you had no idea about what anyone else had said about your involvement in the case at least specifically did you what do you mean well did the detectives in this case tell you what they had found in south carolina no sir did they tell you where the property was located no sir did they tell you about fingerprint evidence no sir they ain't said say nothing about that and all they said is your people up in south carolina say you were involved they pl they played me what they said and stuff now when you told them about allen wade you were the person that brought alan wade into this thing is that right at least you mentioned his name not in connection with this cry but you mentioned his name yes sir after they played the statements tiffany cole and michael jackson's statements and stuff saying that's when i started talking because i wasn't going to say nothing and then i seen that you know what i'm saying they were telling on me so i was like i'm trying to get out of trouble so i'm going to start you know what i'm saying try to flip on them they never played you any allen wade statements did they no sir they only played you tiffany cole and michael jackson's yes mr nixon you very easily could have told the detectives that just tiffany cole and michael jackson were involved in this case correct yes you could have kept your friend out of it yes sir would that have been the truth no sir michael jackson was in control of the lincoln keys at before the gravesite and at the gravesite correct yes sir then you and alan wade left the gravesite in that lincoln correct yes sir and alan wade was driving that lincoln yes sir and then there were some court questions your honor i'll just read these as quote questions um this is a court question from a juror regarding drugs and or alcohol were drugs and or alcohol involved prior to the robbery or kidnapping yes sir can you be more specific we smoked weed and we drank lord calvert how much money were you promised and how much was mr wade promised promised a lot of money about fifty thousand dollars like somewhere between that supposed to be split up even do you smoke or did you smoke at the time yes sir what brand are you talking about cigarettes yes i didn't smoke cigarettes what about mr wade did he smoke at the time i'm not sure when when he get messed up he'll smoke but he smoked black and milds and stuff you remember what that's what i smoked black and milds and weed that's all i don't smoke cigarettes well we're talking about cigarettes no sir did mr wade smoke cigarettes i'm not real sure sir i'm not real sure all right would you dig the hole why would you dig the hole without ever asking why you were doing it because i knew i was getting money for it so he said you want to dig a hole for money i was going to dig a hole for money did mr wade help you put the summoners in the truck yes sir did wade cole or jackson ever explain to you why it was necessary to kill the sumners after robbing no sir and then a follow-up on the cross mr nixon who promised you money michael jackson paul that's all the questions in that there's a couple other testimonies that we're going to read in somehow my computer unless mr johnson has the uh [Music] we're on page of the redirect examination by mr mizrahi you have that mr county yes i do thank you mr nixon mr kurtz asked you a series of questions about whether you what you and alan wade did he kept asking questions did you and your best friend do this did you and your best friend do that did you and your best friend access the atm card hundreds of times to get money no sir who had control of the atm card michael jackson who had control of the proceeds of this crime michael jackson did if you were the mastermind if you were the killer if you would have done all the things in your mind would you have let anyone else have that atm card no sir i would have tried to get as much money as i could would you have trusted michael jackson to get your atm for you and then have your hand off whatever it felt like no sir now you did at one time you were talking about alan wade may have told you about a couple in san marco two months before you said that in deposition yes sir and subsequent to that have you thought that maybe that was a little bit too long of a time yes sir you have any idea how long before this crime that he mentioned this couple in san marco no sir i'm not really sure i was just answering the best that i could but my memory ain't real good when you answer that question two months was that about two years after this incident yes sir all you know is he told you sometime before yes sir mr kurtz asked you a series of questions about being a fighter i want to make sure this jury is clear are you telling this jury that you participate in this crime because you're scared of michael jackson no sir tell the jury why you did everything in this case that you did for money did you listen to what michael jackson said because you thought he would beat you up or hurt you no sir why did you listen to what michael jackson said because i knew i had to listen to him because he was the one with the plan i didn't know how i was going to get money from him when he was telling you the plan he seemed confident yes sir he seemed like he knew what he was talking about yes sir did he talk a good game yes sir mr kurtz asked you a series of questions about whether you actually saw michael jackson in that reed avenue house yes sir tell this jury how sure you are that he was in that home i'm positive i heard him i know his voice his voice is different from alan's he had an up north accent where did you grow up sir what's where did you grow up what city in tampa tampa florida tampa florida and where did you move from tampa florida to mclennan yes sir how long have you been living in the clinton on and off since i was 13 14. something i think that was unclear were you taping the summoner's eyes so they couldn't identify you later no sir so they couldn't identify michael okay tell the jury why michael said he wanted their eyes taped even though the plan was to kill them tell the jury why he wanted their eyes taped he said it was a mind thing what does that mean sir what does that mean a mind thing tell the jury i guess he didn't want he didn't want them to see him kill them i guess ricky asked you you told ricky about when you were leaving to go do this crime to he know of them know about us robbing yeah yes sir did ricky want to come with you yes sir what did you do i told him no did ricky weisner do anything to help y'all commit this crime no sir the shovels that were used you know that a pre-dug grave the two main shovels were used correct yes sir and you testified that the snow shovel would not be good at actually breaking ground is that fair it's like plastic-like do you have any idea what shovels were used to cover the summoners in dirt no sir mr nixon the snow shovel would you hold that please you've dug holes before correct yes sir would you knock against that against would you not bat against the ground do you think that snow shovel would be effective in lifting loose dirt from a pile of dirt onto something yes sir the fact this is the biggest shovel of all the shovels correct yes sir if you were lifting a pile of dirt you could lift the most dirt with this shovel yes sir in fact this shovel has dirt on it right yes sir mr kurtz asked you a series of questions about whether or not the plan was to bury them alive and that wasn't the plan you never heard about bearing a lion did you no sir how did michael jackson jackson tell you he was going to kill the sumners again medicine give them some kind of shot give them some kind of shot you don't know if that happened or not no sir all you know is the summoners were left in that grave yes sir the video that mr kurtz played played you he played you a few seconds yes sir before he can tell you before that can you tell the jury what you were discussing with the detectives was it whether or not you want a lawyer or not yes sir ricky came in when you were posing him well what if i tell them miss are you saying that it's a story what if i make something up no sir explain that further to the jury of why you're asking him in question form the detectives didn't want to answer my questions about going home but they want to answer about everything else so when ricky came there i asked him what if i tell them this are they going to let me go home i was asking him the questions because they wouldn't answer me what you told ricky in there first of all did you know that you were being recorded sir did you have any idea that you were being recorded no sir i wouldn't have said nothing and were you whispering because you didn't want anyone to hear you is that fair yes sir when you were inquiring when you're inquiring of ricky you're inquiring to see whether or not you should tell them tell the police yes sir i was asking should i tell them he was like yes tell them where the bodies are and so i was asking him a question i wasn't asking making a lot about it you know what i'm saying and the way to where if i tell him this are they going to let me go home it wasn't nothing like that i was asking a question if you should actually talk yes sir if i should talk to them because i didn't know what to do and that phrase when you said in that phrase when you said what happened was that the truth sir when you said when you said that when you said that i was what if i was at the grave and then walked away with tiffany was that the truth yes sir now we've had meetings correct mr nixon before you gave your testimony on multiple during your deposition and before your plea and all things like that yes sir have we ever had discussions about whether you were at the grave scene yes sir have you have we ever had discussions about being at the grave scene and whether or not you would help or hurt your case yes sir you told me that if i told them told them that uh that i was there it would help me more because i'm telling the truth and they would know i'm telling the truth but you've never said you were at the grave scene no sir have you told anyone that you were at the graves have i told anybody yeah have you ever said i for sure was watching them being buried alive no sir that's all the questions i have and we have one more that mr johnson will start uh good morning mr nixon how are you sir 242 242 thank you all right could you tell us your full name bruce kent nixon jr mr nixon are you currently incarcerated yes sir where are you incarcerated washington at washington chip lee florida washington correctional institute yes sir and you're serving what sentence 45 years okay sir mr nixon were you a co-defendant with alan maid allen wade in the murder case involving the victims reggie and carol sumner yes sir and for what i understand you testified during mr wade's penalty phase is that correct yes sir okay prior to your testimony in that penalty phase do you have an opportunity to speak to mr wade's attorneys and by them i mean just identify them one would be frank desony a fairly large fellow with dark hair tall and the other being refector shorter also with dark hair no sir not that i remember specifically mr nixon do you recall a conference in the holding cell in the shoot at the old courthouse where mr sony would have prepared your penalty phase testimony no sir now prior to this case that you became involved in with mr wade how long have you known mr wade since i was 12 did the two of you grow up together yes sir in what city baker county how did you characterize your friendship with mr wade since he was 12. my best friend did you did he make you aware of his relationship with his father yes sir and what was that relationship he ain't have one i'm sorry he didn't have no relationship with him you know why that was his dad his dad lived too far away i don't know i really don't really don't understand too much but his dad really ain't have nothing he really had no relationship with his father now you indicated you were best friend since you were 12 how often would the two of you do things together always that be every bit day just about since you were 12 yes sir you ever meet his father he never came around okay did you know did did alan wade jr share with you how that made him feel i know it hurt him he always used to be talking about it how did he feel i know it killed him killed him okay i'm from a young age mixer nixon you okay did you become aware that alan wade started using drugs and alcohol yes sir okay how young was mr wade when he began using drugs and alcohol we were young how young is young 12. and we were talking about drugs what kind of drugs did you know allen way to use we smoke marijuana and stuff anything else that he graduated to stronger than marijuana got older yes what was that cocaine what else pills popping pills and stuff what kind of pills methadone xanax oxycontin all types of pills lortabs percocet do you think if you had some stronger parental supervision that he may have been able to keep him in line a little bit better yes sir what about his mother what about his mother freda did she work a lot yes sir did she ultimately come involved with another man yes sir okay did you come to meet a man named michael jackson yes sir did alan wade ever relate to you an incident that occurred between him and michael jackson approximately two weeks before these homicides yes sir what did allen wayne tell you about the incidents between himself and michael jackson he told me he always told me somebody picked him up or something threatened to put a gun in his mouth talking about i'm going to kill him about his old lady you said that i found out it was michael jackson that did it i'm sorry you said that michael jackson threatened him and put a gun in his mouth yes sir and it was involving alan wade's relationship with michael jackson's old lady yes sir would that have been a woman named carmen massanette yes sir did you ever meet her yes sir was she a person who associated closely with both michael jackson and alan wade immediately preceding the events that y'all got yourself in trouble with did carmen massanette hang out with you and not with you but with alan wade and michael jackson immediately preceding these homicides i'm not sure we were hanging out with him i'm sorry me and alan was hanging out with him you and alan were hanging out with michael jackson and carmen uh uh with with the two with the two girls there's two girls carmen and of vanessa something were they and you knew them as having what occupation strippers so you you and alan wood were hanging out with carmen massanette and a woman named vanessa who was a stripper yes sir okay now was any of this information that we're talking about told to you told by you to mr wade's attorneys no sir okay now specifically mr nixon during the homicides during this two-day or three-day period in which carol and reggie sumner were robbed and killed was alan wade high on drugs yes sir what drugs was he high on cocaine alcohol to what extent messed up when you say messed up what do you mean he was beyond reality he wasn't here he wasn't he wasn't here no was this a constant thing i mean was there ever a period during the three-day period surrounding the homicides that he was sober no sir we were smoking and stuff getting messed up the whole time and were you doing the same thing i wasn't doing the coke i was doing alcohol and drinking smoking and popping pills so you were smoking popping pills and drinking he was smoking was he popping pills as well yes sir but he was also then adding cocaine to this mix yes sir this information that you imparted to allen's lawyers no sir okay now one other question about alan wade as kids and during this period from 12 to 18 that you knew alan wade did the two of you engage in a game called the choking game yes sir what is the choking game we all used to do it growing up it's when you breathe in and out and you stand up and you have somebody choke you out and you pass out and when you say that you have someone choke you out is there pressure put on a particular part of the body the neck and then the pressure when the pressure is put on the neck what's the result of that pass out you black out black out and did you see allen wade engage in this game we used to do it all the time you ever see him pass out yes sir and when he passed out what was the result fall down fall down on the floor yes sir you black out did you see him you previously testified you saw him under the influence of alcohol and drugs did you ever see him lose consciousness when he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs yes sir how many times would you say that happened a lot we used to always do that okay just to be sure this choking game did this happen how many times do you think that he was choked till unconsciousness i couldn't count he used to do it all the time okay did you ever relate that information to alan wade's attorney or is gulpey's attorney never talked about it once you ended up accepting a plea of guilty to these charges in return for a term of years is that right yes sir okay did freda gaining alan wade's mother talk to you about that yes sir and did she recommend the plea to you yes sir and was she a person who helped influence you to take that offer yes sir i have no further questions so good morning mr nixon how are you all right good to see you again the story that was related to you about the gun in alan wade's mouth was told to you by him or by somebody else by him okay then you said you later and you later figured out that the person he was referring to was michael jackson yes sir okay so he didn't tell you it was michael jackson you figured it out late i didn't know his name at first okay and that incident took place before the several week weeks leading up to this crime correct yes sir okay a couple weeks so sometime before yeah sometime before do you know how long before i'm not exactly sure of the exact date it wasn't at the time you were playing the crime what do you mean planning the crime well when you got involved with the process of playing this crime it was a couple weeks before then before then a couple weeks before then a couple weeks before okay and mr wade was still hanging out with mr jackson at that time i don't know well when the four of you did this crime together y'all were hanging out together we weren't hanging out together i wasn't hanging out with them i know you were just there a couple of days before the incident but in that brief 36 48 hour period of time the four of y'all were together we were together yes okay you talked about the drug use that you and alan wave were doing at this time was tiffany cole and michael jackson also consuming drugs and alcohol to your knowledge michael jackson was i don't know about i think the girl was drinking and smoking okay and despite this alcohol and drug use you were able to accomplish many things in this case that requires you to have your normal faculties is that fair what do you mean by that well for example you were able to drive correct girl was driving well you took the leaking town car it was you that was driving right yeah allen actually had to drive that car as well right yes sir because if my recollection is correct you were at the grave site and you couldn't get the car back to the grave site and it was alan that had to come do it for you no you got it you got it mixed up i got it mixed up so alan's the one that drove all the way out to the graveside uh-huh yeah okay so he was able to accomplish the task of driving down interstate 10 for 30 miles until you got to the gravesite correct you're saying like because we can't drive it don't mean you messed up well you may have been high or drunk but you were still able to accomplish certain tasks like driving right well it's easy it's easy to drive make make make thoughts to try to think about what's going on at the time it's easy for me to get in the car and make a decision okay but nevertheless it was mr wade that drove first to the gas station to get gas and then out to the pre-dug grave right yeah okay but then he wasn't able to get the car back to the gravesite and you took the car back there yeah yes sir you actually left about what 24 hours after this incident you left the three of them correct and went back to baker county yes sir and you took some money with you correct yes sir and then the three of them you don't know what happened to them no sir okay do you know if you suffer any mental disease or defect based on your participation in this choking game i'm not sure i don't know okay how are you doing in prison are you taking classes taking what classes i'm asking are you taking any thing in terms of i'm not doing nothing you're not taking you're not trying to get your ged for what nothing okay so you're not taking advantage of anything the prison has to offer nothing i sleep that's what i do i'm sorry to hear that mr nixon that's all the questions i have i'm sorry does that conclude the reading of the prior testimony all right uh thank you mr kalahosti appreciate your time uh it seems appropriate to take a short break um i'm gonna ask the jury to step back in the jury room y'all will be in recess about 10 minutes the remainder please remain in the courtroom jury is in recess for 10 minutes um what's next okay um mr johnson yes sir uh your first witness is going to it'll be dr north steinberg it's an expert it'll be fairly long um an opening statement to do because of your research well yeah i mean what you do um i'm still awaiting your list of mitigators whenever you have a chance to do that um i i know this may seem you know something about the barn door and the cows have all gone uh but it occurs to me should we consider invoking the rule of sequestration at this point which no one ever did before i mean which is part of my you know earlier issue i don't uh and in that instance i will trust the council to handle the matter appropriately all right uh then we will also be in recess for 10 minutes so that was your first [Music] hey what's up um yes oh boy hmm here is [Applause] uh members of the deceased um somebody give me a current copy of it we have an amendment two paragraphs that we discussed members of the jury um i read this instruction to you uh early on it's the matter of the question of the victim impact statement but plea let me tell you this is actually what i will tell you the conclusion of this you have heard evidence about the impact of this murder upon the family or friends or community of the decedents plural the evidence is presented to show the victims uniqueness as an individual or individuals and the resultant loss by their deaths however you may not consider these as aggravating factors or aggravating evidence you may not consider this evidence when you decide whether aggravating factors are sufficient for the death penalty or when weighing the aggravating factors against the mitigating circumstances or when you make your final decision on the appropriate penalty summary please come and take a stand i understand mr sumner has a statement that you're going to read what his name is and what his relationship is my name is revis sumner i'm reggie's brother and i'm carol's brother-in-law yes yes i have my name is revis sumner i'm the brother reggie sumner i would like to tell you about my brother and his wife carol reggie and carol were the most innocent kind-hearted and wonderful members of my family they were good neighbors they were kind and they were trustworthy they'd help those that were in need and they had to get the hospitality reggie would give you the shirt off his back if you knew you needed it they were givers they were contributors to society we were raised in a large family reggie was the life of the family he was a party of a family reunions he was always funny telling jokes and keeping people happy was his trademark he would always insist on paying bills at a restaurant and he had a habit of showing up at your door unannounced with goodies and cheers he was a wonderful brother reggie had a roof growing up in a house of 11 brothers and sisters he was the seventh child of the sumner family he was the baby our father was killed in a motorcycle accident when reggie was just six weeks old at 32 my mother was a widow with seven children she remarried and had four more children mr clark our step-dad passed away in 1953 and as the older and brothers and sisters were moving out getting married or joining the military reggie stepped up to the plate and became the fatherlike figure and helped raise the younger siblings he's been such a good leader he always set a wonderful example for everyone he was so loved by his siblings reggie was retired from csx railroad and although he and carol were in poor health they loved each other they loved staying together the void in our lives would never be filled we missed them so much they were supposed to celebrate anniversaries and and birthdays with us instead all we all were left were just our memories thank you thank you all right thank you mr summer you may stand down and our next victim impacts families is that of reverend gene clark's sister of reggie's son hmm hey how are you doing okay uh my name is jean clark reverend jean clark i am reggie's sister and carol's sister-in-law this impact statement is a testimony of their lives with james reginald sumner and carol oxford summer the positive thing about reggie upon us was that he transformed our life even as siblings and neighborhood young people also reggie and carol impacted many communities impacted upon their communities the devastation negative impact of the loss of reggie and carol upon his family friends and community we grew up in charleston south carolina where we were raised by a wonderful godly mother my mother had 11 children and when people would ask well actually she had 12 about 11 living there they were who they were all these children she would always say they were cheaper by the dozen my mother had very much humor many times when i would see like mother ducks or mother chickens i would think of my mother she she nurtured all of us with love and raised in an ammunition of the lord she had many little ones and loved each and every one of us in a special way my brother reggie was number seven out of 11 children my mother would always say he was a sumner baby i was the clark baby and my little brother or was the craving baby our mother instilled in us to give to others during the holidays my mother would have us go out and collect kangas for the needy families this impacted all of our lives as we were in need too and didn't even realize it reggie lost his dad when he was only six weeks old that impacted his siblings during that time his dad was killed on a motorcycle accident reggie was the meekest meekest of all the 11 children that he grew up with he was easygoing and never liked to fight or wanted to fight anyone he was very gentle tender loving humorous person he cared very much about his younger siblings jan my sister me and my younger brother oral reggie was like a father figure and he was also known that way to the neighborhood children neighborhood teenagers i can get my paper we've got to get it stuck together okay he was like the neighborhood children the same way everyone loved reggie and he was meek humble spirit reggie would load up his car and take us in many places he could on islands everywhere he took us to the beach where we rode on his shoulders when the waves crashed against us he took us to the drive-in theater to see good movies like the ten commandments we would sit on the roof of the car and went and he would or either the hood of the car and he would buy us food to eat he would take us like to this place called the artificial mountain where we had climb up to the top and slide down on cardboard boxes reggie took us to fort moultrie where we would explore the tunnels we would be going through the tunnels sideways sometimes because it was so narrow we walked on the sandy floor there were openings at the bottom of some of the walls and reggie would disappear and then suddenly he would reappear and grab her legs we would scream and oh how we loved it and would laugh reggie also took us to the somerville light where we back then was a scary place a light would suddenly appear and disappear we all thrived on these adventures and they were so special in our lives he also treated us by taking us to the fair he bought our tickets on all kinds of rights and food delicious food to eat he did everything for us on our wonderful outings he would also take us to the old rice mill and where there was a pond and some would swim in it then all of a sudden he or someone would yell gators and everybody would run we would run and scream again loving every moment of it he would take us to the battery in charleston and we would have a wonderful time during these excursions it was a special place and so was hampton park we'll go to these places many times never ever getting tired of seeing the same places reggie loved pete to help people here we go newspapers he loved to help people and make their lives better i was young and can't tell you all that he did for us but he helped us make us who we are today he taught me how to ride my first bicycle and he rode me on a cushman's scooter reggie also had a car that he was going to sell and purchased to me but unfortunately i had an accident reggie joined the navy after graduating from high school in 1962. it was really hard on us siblings to see him go because we loved him so much so dearly i can remember when reggie came home from being stationed in japan he seemed even funnier than ever he was like a comedian and when he saw the christmas tree in the house he said in japan trees grow outside not inside he brought joy and peace in our lives and everywhere he went as time went by reggie moved to jacksonville and later bought me my first train ticket and we rode together to jacksonville what a treat that was i stayed a short time there and went to numerous places in jacksonville he bought my first flight on an airplane on a plane back to charleston my siblings my life and the lives of others were enhanced through his life of my brother reggie reggie and carol dated in high school and many years later they connected and got married they lived in charleston and by this time we lived in jacksonville carol was easy going person and a good cook she kept reggie well fed and enjoyed the good food and the good cook she was the first time i visited them when they lived in lansing south carolina i spent a couple nights with them on that trip there again reggie became the neighborhood big brother dad and friend reggie and carol were only married a few years for the before they were taken from us reggie was faithful in supporting his church and also save a child foundation he reached out to people around the world in some way or another his heart for mission he had a heart for missions and went on two mission trips to russia he also went to other places after becoming active in missions myself he sponsored me in many missions around the world together he wanted he and i wanted to take a trip together but it never was fulfilled due to his health in 2006 reggie and carol were taken from us i had the opportunity to stay in their house and upkeep the place during this time many neighbors came up to me and shared their heart touching testimonies describing the kindness and generosity of raging harold one of the ladies that lived across the street shared how reggie would bring encouragement heard during difficult times through his words others received money for food and whatever else they needed if a person had a need the need was no more as reggie would take care of it without any hesitation or obligation the death of my brother and my sister-in-law carol has been very devastating on all of our families even through these many years have passed there have been many times that we've consumed with grief and felt like we couldn't handle our loss i must say the loss of my brother and sister-in-law have took a very heavy toll on all of us we have never been the same since our loved ones were taken from us and sorrow continues through the years sleepless nights with horrible visions and dreams tormented all of us and still affect all of us we will never be the same as a minister i could hardly maintain but i felt like i had to needed to be the strong one for everyone else many of us love lost love salt many of us suffered loss in different ways through the sadness of horror that our loved ones gone through many days months years and grief and torment has plugged our lives looking forward to that grand reunion when reggie and carol do we see in heaven as we hold fast to god excuse me i know my brother and my sister-in-law are gone and will never return where are they now can i see them can i call them on the phone no i cannot can i send them a birthday card to wish them happy birthday yes i can only to have the card return stamped no such person's address is unknown returned to cinder james original carol carroll oxford sumner or both have been missed by more than just our families through the years their love for people their humility their generosity will be continued through the lives of those he touched now but now is void in the communities and lives of others the giving quite peaceful moral kind upright couple are not here to help those who are down and out anymore our family as well as the community has lost the valuable to rage and care i'd like to say thank you for all you've done both done for helping mankind to my brother reggie i would like to say thank you for all you did for me in my childhood and adolescent years thank you for loving me unconditionally i still miss you and love you dearly even though many years have gone by you will always be the part of my heart i still hold fast to the memories of your nurturing love in my heart and my memories i hold fast until then till we reunite in heaven i want to thank you all for allowing me to share my heart with you god bless you all thank you robert mr ms ryan um mr johnson i'm assuming that you would prefer to give your opening statement out for a lunch break or would you i think we're already doing your first proceedings much more so i very appreciate that all right certainly thank you [Music] thank you when alan wade was 12 he stopped going to school not because he wasn't enrolled but because there was no one there to take him his father not involved in his life and his mother had over an hour commute to work each morning and just wasn't always there frida allen's mother had to make the difficult decision as to whether she was going to make it to work on time to be able to put food on the table for her children or whether she was going to see to it that allen actually made it to school each day allen's well-being and his education had to give allen repeated the sixth grade twice repeated the 7th grade and when he was 13 years old his mother freda was diagnosed with breast cancer at this point frida is working a full-time job she's trying to care for alan she's trying to care for allen's brother andrew who is autistic and now she's fighting for her life soon after allen begins eighth grade at baker county middle school where he meets assistant principal brian dobson mr dobson sees alan struggling and takes a special interest in him alan talks to him about how difficult it is for him not having his dad around allen confides in him how scared he is to lose his mom to cancer and that he may be left alone mr dobson listens to him but begins to become concerned when alan says i don't think that my mom loves me mr dobson tries to reassure alan and tell him your mother she does love you but she is going through an awful lot right now mr dobson tries to reassure alan because there is nothing more important in this world to a child than the love of their mother but after the second time and then the third time that allan mentions to him that he doesn't think that his mother loves him mr dobson decides that he's gonna try to help he's gonna try to clear this up so the very next time that allen mentions to him i don't think my mom loves me he invites alan into his office he sits allen down and he picks up his phone and he dials frida's number he puts her on speaker phone so everyone can hear mr dobson explains to allen's mom his concerns that he doesn't love her and he says i think that he just needs to hear it from you can you let alan know that you love him so we can clear this all up i can't say that i can't say that those are the words that 13 year old allen wade heard coming from the other end of the line from the most important person in his life and the only parent that he had left she couldn't tell her that she loved him now members of the jury this is one small story this is one tiny fragment in the story that is alan wade's life and over the next few days here in this forearm we're going to tell you the whole story because you are sentencing the man that sits in this courtroom here today the whole man i submit to you that not all of alan's story will mean something or matter to each and every one of you and that's okay but i suspect that if you didn't learn of allen's whole story and you voted for death you voted for alan to die and then later on when we're gone out of this courtroom if you heard parts of that story that you didn't hear today maybe about his childhood trauma maybe about his sexual abuse or his drug addiction i suspect that you would say to yourself i wish that someone would have told me that now i want to be clear mitigation is never offered as a justification a justification an excuse or a defense to the crime of murder there is no such thing as an excuse or a justification to murder mitigation is a reason to choose life or a reason not to choose death mitigation does not have to be unanimously proven and it can be unique to each and every one of you and that can include your own personal sense of mercy now the facts of this crime are horrific that is absolutely undeniable and the testimony that we have heard in this courtroom over the past few days have been difficult for everyone to hear because we're all human but i can assure you that no one and i mean no one in this courtroom will ever suggest to you that what happened to reggie and carol sumner was anything less than a senseless tragedy that should not have happened nothing that anyone can say unfortunately can bring them back and nothing that we the defense do or say during this trial is ever intended to disrespect their memories or their family in any way nothing can undo the past and the pain that this crime has put their family through and we acknowledge that no matter what your verdict is after we're done here everyone will understand the respect that you hold for reggie and carol sumner and the deep empathy that you have for their family now we as a society and as our laws dictate do not execute people based solely on the facts of the crime if we did then we wouldn't be here today after alan wade was found guilty and convicted he would have been immediately executed instead the court's going to instruct you that you're going to hear both aggravation the facts of the crime and the mitigation the reasons for life put more simply the law requires you to consider not only alan wade's actions what he did but who 18 year old alan wade was at the time of this crime remembers the jury you promised in jury selection that you would consider not only the circumstances surrounding the crime but the circumstances surrounding what could have possibly happened in 18 year old alan wade's life that could have led him to do this so let's talk more about allen's childhood and what you're going to hear over the next few days from us alan wade is born may 22nd 1987. at the age of five the family home that he was born into and spent the first five years in it's foreclosed on and the family is forced out of their suburban home at the end of a cul-de-sac into an apartment between the ages of six and eight years old allen was molested or sexually assaulted by a babysitter a family friend and a member of their church at the age of eight allen's mother abruptly leaves his father and moves the boys from the apartment in daytona to a trailer in mclenny florida freda is now a single mother she's working full-time and she's trying to raise two boys one of which is autistic at the age of 12 allen's father walks out of his life that same year allen starts drinking alcohol and using marijuana allen struggles in school there's no one there to take him or encourage him for that matter he repeats sixth grade twice in seventh grade once at the age of 13 allen's mother freda is diagnosed with breast cancer and alan tells family members who you'll hear from scared that she's going to die and that he will be left an orphan around this time allen begins using cocaine alan wade's mother sent him to stay with his half-sister trish page in connecticut during the summers when allen was 11 and 12 and 13 years old because she his mother could not care for him he does well during those summers with trish because he has structure and he has stability the day after allen's 14th birthday his mother has a mastectomy then subsequently begins chemo and radiation treatment due to her cancer medications she begins to have cognitive difficulties she has trouble doing routine tasks like managing her bills that same year allen attempts to commit suicide and is baker acted at the age of 15 frieda kicks allen out of the house and he goes to live with a family friend named teresa rhoden whose children he knows from school he does well while he's at the rodent's home because he has structure and stability teresa asked freda for financial support for alan to raise her child and frida refuses a few days later frida picks allen up from theresa rhoden's home and moves them to an apartment in jacksonville at the age of 16 allen's mother's cancer progresses and so do allen's struggles allen's committed to gateway community service for alcohol and drug dependence at the age of 17 alan wade's mother would not allow allen way to move into a new apartment that she was renting leaving allen homeless this same year he meets michael jackson michael jackson was five years older than alan he had already been to prison multiple times and as mr mizrahi said in his opening remarks michael jackson was the brains of the operation in this crime that is who alan wade meets at 17 years old and while he's not living with frida she's still concerned she reaches out to an army national guard recruiter and begs him to save allen this recruiter does what he can he gathers paperwork he sets up a physical for allen but unfortunately allen fails a drug test and is deemed ineligible for the armed forces 47 days 47 days after alan wade's 18th birthday this crime occurs so why does all this matter well it matters because every single one of these events that i just mentioned to you contributed to the person that alan wade was at the time that this crime occurred dr yenis castillo is a clinical psychologist and she's going to walk you through everything that i just mentioned and more regarding allen's childhood trauma she's going to talk to you about not only the physical but the mental impacts of those adverse childhood experiences dr castillo will talk to you about the effects of sexual abuse she will talk to you about the effects of parental abandonment and parental neglect you will learn that in certain cases parental or abandonment can be more damaging than actual physical abuse because while the body may heal injuries within a reasonable amount of time emotional wounds can last forever the nation's foremost expert on juvenile brain development dr lawrence steinberg will tell you that the juvenile brain does not develop until closer to the age of 25. fully fixed he's going to tell you that since their forebrain is still developing which controls their impulsive decision making and their judgment that all of those things have an impact on decision making at that age however dr steinberg is also going to tell you that because the brain is still developing that juveniles have a greater capacity for change and a greater capacity for reform as they get older and they continue to mature and grow dr scali danzinger is a forensic toxicologist a forensic toxicologist is someone who studies the interactions between the human body and foreign substances such as poison or drugs she will talk to you about while some individuals why some individuals use drugs to cope with pain and suffering she's going to talk to you about how early drug use and adolescence can interfere with essential hormones needed for brain growth and development dr joette james is a clinical psychologist and a neuropsychologist and she's going to tell you why all of those things that i just mentioned early childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences drug use juvenile brain development she's going to talk to you about how all those things directly applied to alan wade in the weeks and months leading up to this crime she's also going to talk to you about how the allen way that sits in this courtroom here today not the same allen wade that he was when he was 18 years old ron mcandrew is a former warden in the florida department of corrections and an expert in the penal system he's going to talk to you about alan's time in custody alan's good behavior and how alan can meaningfully contribute inside the prison system now you will be instructed that mitigation it can come from anywhere can be from something that you hear from us during our defense presentation during the mitigation it can be something that you heard in the state's case mr mizrahi said or presented it can come from something that you noticed it can come from a simple reluctance to take human life members of the jury you can give life for any reason no reason or mercy alone you will have to make an individual moral assessment about whether you will take allen way's life the state of florida never ever requires a vote for death not in this case not in any other case not in the worst case than you can imagine the state of florida is always satisfied with a life verdict you're going to be instructed that for a death verdict to be returned all 12 of you must determine that death is the appropriate penalty if one of you thinks that life should be the verdict then life is the verdict 11 votes to one in favor of death is still a life verdict and even if you don't particularly agree with the law it is part of the laws that we all share and you must respect them and you must respect each other in each other's decisions because this is such a deeply personal moral decision it requires 12 individual moral assessments about whether alan wade lives or dies regardless of what you think of alan it's your duty and your right and your responsibility to make sure that all 12 of your moral individual assessments are reflected on that verdict form while there's only one four person that's actually signing the form that poor person is simply saying that all 12 of your individual moral assessments are reflected on it if you've made the decision that verdict should be life you can let the four person know write down my verdict i'm done i'm ready to go the definition of deliberate means to carefully consider not to debate and you're going to be encouraged by the court to discuss the verdict amongst yourself at the end when it's time but you also don't have to sometimes when it comes to these deeply personal decisions these individual moral assessments like whether you're going to have children whether you're going to practice a religion what religion how are you going to raise those children those are just things members of the jury that you know in your gut and they don't have to be explained no one is ever going to ask you to explain your verdict or justify your vote now in the first part of this sentencing we heard from the state their aggravation the facts of the crime and now in this second part of this hearing you're listening to us you're hearing from the defense regarding our mitigation the character and the upbringing of alan wade but that third part the final part your individual assessment members the jury that's about you what do you do how do you feel in your heart and your soul in your mind at 17 years old what alan wade needed was a parent and what he got was a master manipulator and a career criminal michael jackson that's what he got and make no mistake about it members of the jury he will pay for it with the rest of his life he will spend the rest of his days in a concrete cage and he will be carried out of the department of corrections in a concrete box he will leave in a casket the only question that remains now is whether he dies of natural causes or whether it's of lethal injection at the end of this trial you're going to vote on whether a man a human being alan lindell whether he lives or whether he dies and while some crimes do deserve the death penalty some defendants do not this is one decision that you will live with for the rest of your lives and i'm going to to suggest to you that you will never ever regret choosing life thank you thank you miss morris it is now appropriate mr ms morris mr johnson sorry so i would assume she would be all right ladies and gentlemen we're at the point where um it's appropriate to take a a lunch break um please remember my admonitions to you about not discussing the case amongst yourselves or with anyone else not amongst yourselves until it's time to do so anyone else never please be discreet about what you're doing at lunch please keep away from other people um you may leave your notes back in the back if you wish or on your chair it's entirely up to you in any event i'm going to ask that you return at 20 minutes after one by the courtroom clock which is uh private an hour from now where the jury is in recess if staff and the participants will remain for a moment please so all right the jury has left the courtroom i wanted to put on the record go ahead um note simply for record purposes um that while um after the jury had returned we had become i received notification [Music] [Music] my disqualification i have reviewed it i'm not sure of the impact because i believe these are matters that we discussed on thursday that it was filed at 10 o'clock this morning according to the e-filing system and i saw it about 10 15 or 10 30. uh in any event i wanted to put that on the record the motion is denied but it is on the record right that's why i'm or anything i will trust the council to make the appropriate arguments about that he got into the system at 10 o'clock i saw it 10 20 maybe something like that okay like i'm sorry oh okay this one this one sure no that's there's no reason to discuss that at this point because if you in fact establish these mitigators it's going to be clear from the record in any event so that's fine as i told you last week i only need some guide because i know that in three days of testimony i'm going to lose my place you know frankly so that does then bring to mind the question i'm still would like to know about verdict forms maybe today is not the day but i do need to discuss that at some point with council uh mr mizrahi anything further from the state or mr johnson all right we will be in recess until 120 by the courtroom oh i have no idea you

Channel: First Coast News

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Length: 199min 46sec (11986 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 13 2022