Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,alt.politics.org.batf,alt.politics.usa.misc From: [w--g--s] at [lonestar.utsa.edu] (William W. Hughes) Subject: Branch Davidian Trial - 20 Jan 94 Date: Fri, 21 Jan 1994 02:48:53 GMT Branch Davidian Trial Update - Thursday, 20 Jan 94 Page 9A Headline - AGENT IDS DEFENDANT AS DAVIDIAN GUNMAN Livingston Fagan was identified by an ATF agent as the person "'who tried to murder me.'" Judge Smith admonished prosecutors for failing to tell defense that the witness had some doubts about the procedures used to identify Fagan. "Defense attorney Rocket Rosen poked holes in the testimony of U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Eric Evers." However, Evers was "unshakable", telling the "rapt" jury that there was "'no doubt in my mind'" that Fagan was the one who shot him. Evers said that a black man and two Anglos opened fire on him as he rounded a corner of the compound during the raid. Fagan is black; he showed no emotion during Evers' identification. Evers said he fell when he was shot, and looked up to see three men run towards the building, apparently to seek cover. Defense noted that Evers was shot before he looked to see who hit him, and challenged his identification of Fagan. Evers said he was sure that Fagan shot him, because Fagan "'was holding a rifle that fired a bullet that was taken out of me.'" "Despite that assertion, officials have said that no individual weapon has been linked conclusively with any bullets that killed or injured agents." Evers said he identified Fagan from a photo lineup provided by Texas Rangers some months after the raid, but admitted on cross-examination that he first saw Fagan on news footage taken when Fagan exited the compound in March. "Evers testified he didn't tell anybody he had seen Fagan because he 'felt it would be very prejudicial if I said the first black male to come out was the one who shot me.' He said he wanted to wait until other black Branch Davidians came out. Evers said that when nobody else emerged -- Fagan was the last to leave the compound before the April 19 fire -- he told Assistant U. S. Attorney Bill Johnson he knew Fagan had shot him." Rosen showed Evers a black-and-white photocopy of the color-photo lineup [mentioned earlier]. The color copy originally provided to the defense lacked a note that Evers had written where he said he was unsure of his identification, due to possible confusion between the photos and the news stories he had seen. Evers said his doubts were due to the "poor quality" of the color photos, and that he had written the note on the advice of the Texas Rangers. "After testimony recessed and the jury was excused, defense attorney Dan Cogdell protested the omission, citing laws that require prosecutors to share evidence that could help a defendant. U. S. Attorney Ray Jahn apologized, saying he was unaware of the problem until Texas Ranger Ray Cano talked to him in court. Smith said it was Jahn's responsibility to be aware of the law, and as Jahn vowed to be vigilant, Smith said: 'It's too little, too late, Mr. Jahn.'" After Evers testified, the stand was taken by ATF agent Dan Curtis. He said he returned fire toward windows where he saw "'muzzle blasts.'" Curtis blinked back tears as he recounted how ATF agent Steve Willis was fatally shot. Prosecutors introduced a photo of agents dragging Willis' body from the area into evidence. ======================================================================== Administrivia Comments on today's story: Failing to provide full disclosure to the defense is cause for charges of prosecutorial misconduct, as we saw last year in the Weaver trial. Judge Smith's rebuke of prosecutor Jahn gives me hope that this may actually be a fair trial. It remains to be seen if this information is made available to the jury, however. ATF agent Evers' identification of Fagan, based (at least in part) on a similarity between a weapon allegedly carried by Fagan and the bullets retrieved from Evers' wounds is, to my mind, shaky at best. POSTING Posted to Usenet newsgroups talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.org.batf, and alt.politics.usa.misc, with Distribution set to "world." Please feel free to forward to other groups that you feel may be interested. Sent to mailing list/newsgroup Info-Firearms/info.firearms.politics. Forwarded to FIDONet echoes DEBATE and CONTROVERSY by Terry Goodman ([terry goodman] at [support.com] / Terry Goodman 1:102/837) (Terry tells me that he weathered the earthquake in good shape.) If anybody is archiving these updates, and/or making them available for ftp, gopher, or other access, please let me know and I will include that information in further Administrivia sections. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This summary of the Branch Davidian trial is based on articles published in the San Antonio Express-News. The original articles, and any sections quoted herein are copyrighted by the Express-News. The remainder of the summary is copyright 1994 by William W. Hughes. Copying of these sum- maries, either by hardcopy or electronic means, is authorized and en- couraged, as long as this notice remains attached and intact. "I do not work for or represent the San Antonio Express-News" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -- [w--g--s] at [lonestar.utsa.edu] (William Hughes) | In memory of 85 un-charged, UTSA doesn't agree with me. They're wrong. | un-convicted victims of the U.S. Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants | government in Waco, Texas - Politically Incorrect and proud of it! | including over 20 children.