Next day
By Kate Daher
Notes -- not being a lawyer it is sometimes difficult to figure out much of what is said or why something is of particular importance. But then, if it is difficult for me who has followed the case so closely, imagine how difficult it would be for the jury to cut a path through the lies and distortions. Joel made a point in his email which was to ask why the DA was letting so much go by unchallenged..today was equal to yesterday in method and approach. Therefore, when you read the newspaper accounts of the day's proceedings, read with caution, read with a critical eye, read with a challenging view.
The D.A. has led credence to the idea that Jonny Gammage was out of control. Today we got a similar dose of the same. I was there from the beginning of the proceedings until about 2:30 pm, so missed Ray Seals' testimony. Mostly what I heard was testimony from the paramedics, dispatcher, and the doctor who was called to the scene of the murder. The paramedics are from the Brentwood area and friends of the police. One of them referred to Vojtas as "Johnny" and to Mulholland as "Booming" or "Boomer" Nicknames - familiar, personal. Some highlights: It seems that the defense is trying to establish that the paramedics may have damaged Jonny Gammage by acting improperly. The tube put down his throat was an "invasive technique" and could have caused trauma. I imagine that this suggest *reasonable doubt* as to whether or not it was really Mulholland and Alberts that caused JG's death. The doctor said that the swelling of the face was consistent with cardiac arrest and that there was "no outward signs of trauma" The defense kept saying that the two officers near J G's head wore gray uniforms, and pointed out that their clients wore blue. The defense kept asking about the CPR and how strong the chest compression was/should be...I don't want to go on ad nauseum on these points, except to say that none of this was challenged by the district attorney. For example, could the swelling of the face been a result of the beating? (One paramedic testified that he noticed that JG's nose was displaced -- but the doctor didn't seem to notice that -- "no outward signs of trauma" The DA let all this stand...The DA did not challenge these discrepancies. One paramedic said that JG was lying on his stomach -- cops on top of him - but that he was trying to kick the cops. This had to be minutes, if that, before he actually died....No challenge by the DA. Kick the cops or just kicking in the air to CRY OUT that he could not breathe! Whew, this is tough. It is tough to sit through a "high profile" case and to realize that so little of the truth is coming out. Haywood Jones, a member of the coroner's jury, sitting next to me, said that he could hardly recognize this trial to be from the same case he heard testimony from a year ago. It is difficult to sit near Ray Seals or the Gammage family and watch their faces as this picture of a violent, out of control, unreasonable, Jonny Gammage is painted by the defense, with quiet agreement on the part of the DA's office. But then isn't this the DA, Bob Colville, former police officer, former homicide detective in the city of Pittsburgh who didn't think his office had much of a case from the get go... Go to the trial -- see for yourself. Kate
Postscript
Light somewhere in this tunnel? 11 O'clock news - channel 11 -- a mystery witness has come forward...he is the tow truck driver. He says he saw everything and *confirms* what the Gammages have been saying all along, and that is that their son was savagely *savagely* beaten. He testified today with more tomorrow.He said he was afraid to come forward before now...his livelihood dependson the cops....he is a brave and wonderful man for coming forward now! So many brave people we know...Richard Lyons, Woody..this new mystery witness. And who says there aren't any heros in this world....
Next day