Witnesses Testify In Robbery Trial
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
After hearing eyewitness accounts of a 2003 robbery Monday, the 12-person jury in the Richard Mitchell trial heard testimony from law enforcement Tuesday.
Mitchell, 45, of Fort Wayne, is accused of robbing Stimmelators Gentlemen's Club at gunpoint Aug. 12, 2003.
Tuesday, the prosecution called 11 witnesses to the stand before resting its case. The defense then called two witnesses to the stand.
Deputies with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, Syracuse and North Webster police officers and representatives from the Indiana State Police laboratories in Indianapolis and Bremen took the stand before the defense called its first witness.
Several police officers testified that when they attempted to speak with Mitchell at Stimmelators Aug. 21, Mitchell tried to flee on foot. After an employee of Stimmelators called the police and said the man who robbed the club Aug. 12 was present Aug. 21, two officers in plain clothes entered the bar, identified themselves as police officers and asked Mitchell to step outside with them.
Mitchell allegedly argued briefly with the officers then went outside. When Mitchell reached the bottom step of the club, he started to run south to the alley between Pilcher's Shoes and the North Webster Post Office. As Mitchell was running, officers testified that a gun fell out of the back of his pants. After a short chase, Mitchell was apprehended, arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail.
While at the jail, Mitchell was put into a live lineup with other inmates who look similar to him. Then the bartender who was working the night of the robbery, Angela Richmond, picked Mitchell from the lineup. She told police she was absolutely positive Mitchell was the robber.
In other testimony, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Carpenter testified he responded to the Stimmelators the night of the robbery. Once he arrived at the bar, Carpenter talked with Richmond and put a glass the robber allegedly drank into evidence.
Carpenter later took the glass to the Indiana State Police lab to be processed. Fingerprints on the glass were treated and sealed, then brushed with black fingerprinting powder and photographed.
Photos of the fingerprints were sent to Indianapolis where they were analyzed by Rodney Robertson, a latent fingerprint examiner. Robertson determined the prints were from the second or third joint of the finger. He compared the prints to a fingerprint card from Mitchell.
"Based on the prints submitted to us, (the fingerprints were) not from Richard Mitchell," said Robertson.
However, Robertson said it is possible that someone touched the glass and did not leave a fingerprint or that the fingerprint could have been wiped off with a napkin.
In later testimony, Linda McDonald of the Indiana State Police lab in Bremen testified that she swabbed and extracted a DNA sample from the same glass.
After explaining the DNA harvesting process and telling the jury how DNA samples are extracted, McDonald testified several DNA strands were found on the glass. However, only one of the strands was complete enough to be considered a major strand.
That strand of DNA was tested and compared with Mitchell's DNA, but the samples did not match.
McDonald said the glass had a mixture of several DNA samples. Along with the major sample, DNA from at least three other individuals was on the glass. The minor samples could not be compared because there were not enough looksites of the DNA to enter into a database.
McDonald explained all people do not cast off cells the same way. Some people leave much DNA when they touch surfaces and some people leave very little, if any.
The last witness to take the stand for the prosecution was Craig Robinson, a New Haven city police officer who specializes in analyzing and transferring videotape to digital media and DVDs. Robinson explained how he took the video surveillance tapes from the night of the robbery.
Robinson extracted video segments containing the suspect and showed them to the video. Although the suspect's face was not clear, the jury could see his build, his clothing, his gun and the existence of a tattoo on his left arm. The tattoo was not clear enough to decipher the exact symbol or drawing, but a tattoo was visible on the left arm.
Testimony began at 9 a.m. today as the defense continued to present its case. [[In-content Ad]]
After hearing eyewitness accounts of a 2003 robbery Monday, the 12-person jury in the Richard Mitchell trial heard testimony from law enforcement Tuesday.
Mitchell, 45, of Fort Wayne, is accused of robbing Stimmelators Gentlemen's Club at gunpoint Aug. 12, 2003.
Tuesday, the prosecution called 11 witnesses to the stand before resting its case. The defense then called two witnesses to the stand.
Deputies with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, Syracuse and North Webster police officers and representatives from the Indiana State Police laboratories in Indianapolis and Bremen took the stand before the defense called its first witness.
Several police officers testified that when they attempted to speak with Mitchell at Stimmelators Aug. 21, Mitchell tried to flee on foot. After an employee of Stimmelators called the police and said the man who robbed the club Aug. 12 was present Aug. 21, two officers in plain clothes entered the bar, identified themselves as police officers and asked Mitchell to step outside with them.
Mitchell allegedly argued briefly with the officers then went outside. When Mitchell reached the bottom step of the club, he started to run south to the alley between Pilcher's Shoes and the North Webster Post Office. As Mitchell was running, officers testified that a gun fell out of the back of his pants. After a short chase, Mitchell was apprehended, arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail.
While at the jail, Mitchell was put into a live lineup with other inmates who look similar to him. Then the bartender who was working the night of the robbery, Angela Richmond, picked Mitchell from the lineup. She told police she was absolutely positive Mitchell was the robber.
In other testimony, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Carpenter testified he responded to the Stimmelators the night of the robbery. Once he arrived at the bar, Carpenter talked with Richmond and put a glass the robber allegedly drank into evidence.
Carpenter later took the glass to the Indiana State Police lab to be processed. Fingerprints on the glass were treated and sealed, then brushed with black fingerprinting powder and photographed.
Photos of the fingerprints were sent to Indianapolis where they were analyzed by Rodney Robertson, a latent fingerprint examiner. Robertson determined the prints were from the second or third joint of the finger. He compared the prints to a fingerprint card from Mitchell.
"Based on the prints submitted to us, (the fingerprints were) not from Richard Mitchell," said Robertson.
However, Robertson said it is possible that someone touched the glass and did not leave a fingerprint or that the fingerprint could have been wiped off with a napkin.
In later testimony, Linda McDonald of the Indiana State Police lab in Bremen testified that she swabbed and extracted a DNA sample from the same glass.
After explaining the DNA harvesting process and telling the jury how DNA samples are extracted, McDonald testified several DNA strands were found on the glass. However, only one of the strands was complete enough to be considered a major strand.
That strand of DNA was tested and compared with Mitchell's DNA, but the samples did not match.
McDonald said the glass had a mixture of several DNA samples. Along with the major sample, DNA from at least three other individuals was on the glass. The minor samples could not be compared because there were not enough looksites of the DNA to enter into a database.
McDonald explained all people do not cast off cells the same way. Some people leave much DNA when they touch surfaces and some people leave very little, if any.
The last witness to take the stand for the prosecution was Craig Robinson, a New Haven city police officer who specializes in analyzing and transferring videotape to digital media and DVDs. Robinson explained how he took the video surveillance tapes from the night of the robbery.
Robinson extracted video segments containing the suspect and showed them to the video. Although the suspect's face was not clear, the jury could see his build, his clothing, his gun and the existence of a tattoo on his left arm. The tattoo was not clear enough to decipher the exact symbol or drawing, but a tattoo was visible on the left arm.
Testimony began at 9 a.m. today as the defense continued to present its case. [[In-content Ad]]