Defense opens case in teen’s murder trial
Attorneys seek to pinpoint inconsistencies in the testimony of prosecution’s witnesses
A Houston police officer told jurors that she never picked up the murder weapon left behind at the home of a Bellaire-area couple who was found shot to death in 2016, contrary to another officer’s testimony earlier in the capital murder trial.
The questioning on Thursday marked the start of defense attorneys’ attempts to pinpoint inconsistencies and problems in earlier prosecution witnesses’ testimony in the case against Antonio Armstrong Jr., the teen son accused in the slaying of his parents.
After nine days of prosecution witnesses, the defense opened its case, calling Officer Portia Washington to the stand. Washington said that she saw the gun on the table while searching the home the morning of July 29, 2016, after Dawn Armstrong and Antonio Armstrong Sr. were discovered with gunshot wounds to the head. Armstrong Jr. was arrested that day.
Sgt. Tavis Parkerson told jurors early in Armstrong’s trial that an officer, whom he identified as Washington, picked up the gun as investigators were clearing the crime scene. He called the incident a “very bad” mistake, because Washington could have cross-contaminated the evidence with her own fingerprints.
Washington said on Thursday that she saw the gun, but did nothing else.
“No, I did not touch it,” she said.
Washington’s testimony was brief, and she was dismissed after a short period of questioning.
“I don’t care what her motive is, somebody lied,” defense attorney Rick DeToto said after the trial recessed.
Prosecutors took their turn afterward and attempted to poke
holes in the defense, calling an electronic security expert’s entire testimony into question.
Jim Parker, the expert who has several patents on alarm-related technology, said the security system in the Armstrong home was not reliable. Armstrong’s attorneys contend that an intruder was responsible for the slayings, despite reports that the alarm system did not detect anyone entering or leaving the home the morning of the slayings.
Parker said he visited the home several times and shot a video there, testing the system and casting doubt on the accuracy of the alarm records. He said it was entirely possible that someone got through a door in the garage without creating a record.
“They’re not working properly or there were multiple people in the house,” he said.
Prosecutors grilled Parker on the consistency of his statements.
“There’s a problem with your logic here, isn’t there?” prosecutor John Brewer asked.
Brewer mentioned several times that Parker was being paid nearly $50,000 for his work on the case, including the testimony. He raised his voice, accusing Parker of not being straightforward in answering his questions.
Parker’s statements countered earlier testimony from an employee at ADT, the company that operated the home’s alarm system. Morgan Harris, the company’s representative, spoke on behalf of prosecutors, saying that the alarm and motion detectors were working as intended.
While listening to the ADT expert’s technical testimony, several jurors smirked at defense attorney Chris Collings’ questioning over how someone might be able to bypass the technology.
The testimony by the ADT employee lasted close to two hours. Collings presented technical and hypothetical situations to the jurors, possibly to confuse them, eliciting a visible reaction from the jurors for the first time in the trial.
A forensic pathologist followed for the prosecutors, testifying as to the causes of death for Dawn Armstrong and Armstrong Sr. As prosecutors displayed photos of the parents, Armstrong Jr. began softly crying.
Dawn Armstrong died instantly after being shot twice in the head, said Ana Lopez, assistant medical examiner at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. One shot was behind the right ear, and the other went through the right ear. She described X-rays and photos of the brain, as well as one that showed severe injury to the brain stem.
Lopez outlined the father’s injuries, and his son further broke down in loud sobs. His father had an entrance wound and a partial exit wound, where the bullet fragmented. Part of it left the skull and part of it went into the brain, she said.
The shots at both of the parents were fired from at least 2.5 or 3 feet away, Lopez said.
“It could have been greater but I can’t say exactly how far,” she said.
Armstrong Sr. died at the hospital. Neither of the parents had any evidence of other major medical issues.
Trial will recess until Monday afternoon.