Wednesday
Aug262009
After two years of waiting, Dunbar Village trial could conclude quickly
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 7:05AM The Blogmother C.B. Hanif for WAOD:
After two years of waiting for it, the first trail of assailants in the horrific gang rape assault on a mother and son at the Dunbar Village housing development in West Palm Beach could be over very quicky.
Assistant State's Attorney Craig Williams said at the conclusion of Tuesday's proceedings that it is likely that the victims will testify today.
He added that it is hard to imagine that the defense will keep them on the witness stand at length.
The attorney for defendant Nathan Walker, however, attorney Robert Gershman, wants to ask about what he said is a $1 million settlement that the mother has received from the West Palm Beach Housing Authority.
He may be calling as a witness the agency's much-criticized director, Laurel Robinson.
Gershman also would like to enter into evidence what he says is 1997 housing authority paperwork in which the mother claimed having no income, "even negative income," he said, when she had just been awarded a $50,000 settlement.
He has alluded to a slip-and-fall accident settlement in suggesting a pattern of settlements since the mother came from to the U.S. from Haiti.
In addition Gershman would like to a letter or other reference to what he says was a settlement between the mother and a boyfriend who reported innapropriate sexual contact between the mother and her son.
But Circuit Judge Krista Marx doesn’t seem interested in any of that unless it relates to what happened to the mother and son on that horrific night two years ago. She has placed the burden on Gershman to show relevance, and repeatedly has upheld the state's motions to exclude.
So depending on the number of defenses witnesses, and the length of their testimony and cross-examination, the attorneys' closing arguments could be imminent.
In which case matters will soon ride on the deliberations of the juries.
As soon as possible I'll be posting comments from an interview last night with Vanessa Lee, Avion Lawson's former alternative education teacher, who now live and works in Texas.
Lawson is to return to the witness stand again this morning, in a reprise of his spellbinding testimony for the jury that will judge Walker.
C.B. Hanif for WAOD:
After two years of waiting for it, the first trail of assailants in the horrific gang-rape assault on a mother and son at the Dunbar Village housing development could be over very quicky.
Assistant State's Attorney Craig Williams said at the conclusion of Tuesday's court proceedings that it's likely that the victims will testify today.
He added that it is hard to imagine the defense will keep them on the witness stand at length.
However, the attorney for defendant Nathan Walker, Robert Gershman, wants to ask about what he said is a $1 million settlement the mother received from the West Palm Beach Housing Authority.
Gershman also would like to enter into evidence what he says is 1997 housing authority paperwork in which the mother claimed having no income, "even negative income," he said, when she had just been awarded a $50,000 settlement.
He may be calling as a witness the agency's much-criticized director, Laurel Robinson.
He has alluded to a slip-and-fall accident settlement in suggesting a pattern of settlements since the mother came from to the U.S. from Haiti.
Gershman also would like to reference letter or other evidence of what he says was a $10,000 hush-money settlement between the mother and a boyfriend who reported innapropriate sexual contact between her and her son.
But Circuit Judge Krista Marx doesn’t seem interested in any of that, unless it relates to what happened to the mother and son on that horrific night two years ago.
The judge has placed the burden on Gershman to show relevance, and repeatedly upheld the state's motions to exclude.
So depending on the number of defenses witnesses, and the length of their testimony and cross-examination, the attorneys' closing arguments could be imminent.
In which case matters will soon ride on the deliberations of the juries.
As soon as possible I'll be posting comments from an interview late yesterday with Vanessa Lee, Avion Lawson's former alternative education teacher, who now live and works in Texas.
Lawson is to return to the witness stand again this morning, in a reprise of his spellbinding testimony yesterday against defendant Tommy Poindexter, but this time for the second jury that will judge Walker.
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Reader Comments (15)
Keep giving us the news we can't get anywhere else! Did you see that your coverage was mentioned in Journalisms?
I certainly appreciate your coverage of this trial; will you be able or willing to cover the others at a later date?
I'm not feeling very comfortable with the comment that this trial may be over soon. Does that mean soon as in justice will be served AND police, et.al., will do a diligent search for the other suspects that A. Lawson mentioned?
Or does it mean soon because this case is so horrorific people want to move on and forget about it, forget that this happened? :( :(
The police might have suspects in mind, but they need hard evidence to make arrests. The defendants who are currently on trial know who all was there, but of course they're not saying a word. The really sad thing is there are probably adults in that community that know who was involved, but they are either too scared or too indifferent to come forward with information.
However, I believe eventually these remaining suspects will slip up and be arrested for another crime. While incarcerated their DNA could be matched to what was collected from the crime scene. DNA evidence collected from the crime scene in 2007 may help convict them many years into the future.
That's why I support the need to continually expand our current DNA databases used by law enforcement. If you're arrested for a felony then your DNA profile should be collected and stored in the database. DNA evidence may not always be a “smoking gun” guaranteeing a conviction, but it can help to reopen a case that has gone cold.
oops, perhaps I spoke too soon. I just finished listening to the testimony, watching the video of accused A. Lawson testify about what happened to the mother and her son. This is on the Palm Beach Post website.
Even is SOME of what he is saying are lies, it's still very disturbing, terribly graphic and like Hanif said, very damming of all of them. But there are still two or more other suspects running loose; A. Lawson named two other teens, Melvin Young and Gus Fontaine as also participating in this crime. Do we have to start a phone and/or letter writing campaign to pressue the police, DAs office, the community, etc., to find these other two and all the other suspects? Even if these four are convicted and sentenced to life, these others are still loose, so that's not total justice, at least not for
me. :( :(
Thank you so much for covering this. I wish I had known about this site when I was finishing up my book. I certainly would have mentioned you all.
I hope this wraps up quickly so we can get on with the next trial.
One question though: What about the other two men that were named in court but have never been arrested? Is someone going after them? Please if anyone knows the answer to this question, post it.
I think people are too quickly willing to just throw these boys away. Remember there's always more to a story than meets the eye! I just don't think it went down the way it's being portrayed!
@Concerned...
???
Throw these "BOYS" away. No one threw these boys away. They were running as fast as they could to the nearest jail cell as soon as they decided this woman and her son were good for sport.
In what reality, is anyone throwing these boys away? Tell you what. Let's place them all under house arrest ---in your house, with your family.
How do you think it went down? Do you think she invited a hoard of young men into her house and then when they had their way with her and her son...she insisted that they leave so she could walk bruised and battered (with her terrorized and battered 12 year old) to the hospital, because she had nothing better to do.
Did she attempt to blind her own son with chemicals to try to erase the crime scene? No one's throwing these boys away.
These individuals (and forgive me...I can't even call 'em animals...I don't know a single animal that would do what these people did).
I think we're just sick of buying what you're selling. Now, we want our communities back.
Concerned you are clearly in DENIAL. Your "boys" are basically admitting to participating in the attack, they are just fighting over who held the gun. What more to the story has been left out? They are all dangers to society. They all need to be under the jail. Nobody THREW the "boys" anywhere. They walked into the jailhouse willingly when they invaded and attacked this woman. You choose not to acknowledge this because you don't want to, but even the "boys" aren't disputing what happened. They are just fighting over who received/performed which sex act.
Quote of the week. Quote of the week. Yes, let's invite all these deniers to host "the boys" in their home with their children.
@ concerned, you must be one of those lurkers or whatever, right?
have you noticed that not once, NOT ONCE, have their attornies insisted their clients are innocent, they were not there, no physical evidence, etc.? Even Jakaris Taylor's mother threw her own son under the bus once they told her his finger prints (and other evidence) tied him to these vicious crimes against the humanity of this mother and son.
Or are you just guilty of some of these same kind of crimes? :( :(
I suspect that "concerned" has a direct connection to at least one of the defendants. That is all I am saying about it.
@ concerned, if my son or daughter did something like this, and some one showed me the concrete evidence, I'd put them in jail myself. Don't think so? Well, you don't know me. Given this crime, there is absolutely nothing else to do with them but put them in jail for the rest of their lives! They didn't go in for a snatch and grab and run; they spent a few hours of torture on the mother and son. Had the presence of mind to pour various liquids on them to try to rinse away, destroy evidence. And they thought about setting them on fire? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? :( :(
“Sympathy for the devil” as they say. I shake my head in disbelief at the lack of empathy from the comment about “throwing these boy’s lives away.” In a civilized society, we need to protect ourselves from predators and if that means lifelong incarceration then so be it.
I also blame the major news networks for not adequately covering this story. There are too many people out there who are not aware of the basic facts in this case. This woman and her son after being tortured and raped had to walk to the hospital for help because the attackers stole her car.
“Rehabilitation” is possible for someone who breaks into a house and steals your TV. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the correct “punishment” for raping, torturing, beating, and throwing household chemicals onto a frightened woman and her child.
First, American Blacks have an extreme hatred for Haitians, which explains the brutality of the attack, and why no neighbors in the public housing complex called the police or helped the victims afterward.
Second, gang rape is common in the black underclass, except it's called 'running a train' on an unsuspecting woman or girl. It's been happenning for decades.
Third, no one will turn in the other suspects because the culture in the community would label that snitching.
The neighbors who heard what was going on and did nothing are just as guilty, and will pay now or in the afterlife.
IT'S A COMPLETE DISASTER .IT'S A SAD CASE BUT AT THE SAMETIME THEY WERE OLD ENOUGH TO NO BETTER THAN TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT BUT I FEEL THERE IS A LACK OF ACTIVITY IN THIS COUNTY AND WE NEED TO TRY TO FIND WAYS TO GET THESE YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS INVOLVE IN SOME EDUCATED THINGS INSTEAD HAVING SO MUCH TIME ON THERE HANDS TO WALK UP AND DOWN THE STREETS BUT I DNT FOUGHT THE KIDS I FOUGHT THE PARENTS AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT.....................