Forensic pathologist: 2017 Suisun City murder victim `bled to death'

Alfie Broussard, 41, of Elk Grove, and Derrick K. Dogan Jr., also 41, of Fairfield, are charged with the fatal robbery of Armani Harper-Reed, 21, in what investigators believe was a marijuana deal gone tragically wrong on Nov. 3 in Suisun City

A forensic pathologist who testified Tuesday in Solano County Superior Court said the murder victim in a November 2017 botched marijuana transaction in Suisun City, Armani Harper-Reed, 21, “basically bled to death.”

Dr. Arnold Josselson of Fairfield, on the witness stand in Department 1 during the ongoing murder trial of Alfie Broussard and Derrick Keith Dogan Jr., testified that a single bullet entered the upper left side of Harper-Reed's back, passed through an artery and “ended up in the front of his neck.”

Responding to direct questioning by Deputy District Attorney Mary H. Nguyen, Josselson, who performed the autopsy, said Harper-Reed suffered bleeding in his left chest cavity, “which is the reason he died.”

Josselson, who's performed autopsies for more than four decades, said his analysis did not determine “what position he was in,” standing up or crouched while fleeing, for example, when Harper-Reed was shot and ended up face down on a sidewalk in the parking lot of a Chevron gas station in the 1200 block of Anderson Drive.

But it was evident, he added, that the gun that fired the fatal bullet was not within close range.

Josselson's statements came during the fifth day of the trial in which Broussard, 41, of Elk Grove, and Dogan, also 41, of Fairfield, face first-degree murder charges for killing Harper-Reed in what investigators believe was a marijuana deal gone tragically wrong.

Upon cross-examination, Sean Swartz, deputy public defender in the Alternate Public Defender's Office and represents Brown, agreed that the gun used to kill HarperReed was fired “more than three feet away.”

During the morning session in Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman's courtroom, Nguyen also called Pamela Greenwood, a retired Suisun City Police Department community services officer to the stand.

In her job at the time of the fatal shooting, Nov. 3, 2017, Greenwood said that she weighed the amount of marijuana found in a backpack in the rear seat of the car, a white Chevrolet Impala, that Harper-Reed arrived in to meet Broussard and Dogan. She testified that the glassine bag of pot, seen in a photo that Nguyen displayed for the jury, weighed 55.7 grams, or a little less than two ounces.

Nguyen also called to the witness stand Mason Minemi, the supervising investigator for the Solano County District Attorney, who said he was part of a search team sent to a Fairfield residence where Dogan reportedly lived. There, Minemi said he found a magazine for 9 mm Glock semi-automatic handgun in a shoebox.

During the afternoon session, Nguyen showed a photo of the Glock magazine in the shoebox, found in a closet. It was also revealed that investigators also found a handgun in Dogan's apartment.

On cross-examination, Swartz got Minemi to admit he was unsure what kind of firearm it was, but Minemi, on redirect questioning by Nguyen, said he was not the only person searching for the firearm and did not find it.

Another witness, Amber Blanc, a part-time evidence technician with the Solano County Sheriff's Office, testified that she “processed” Harper-Reed's white Impala for DNA and collected items from the vehicle on Nov. 6.

As she spoke, Broussard, seated at the defense table in a dark suit jacket, took notes, but Dogan, clad in a gray suit jacket, did not.

Earlier in the trial, the girlfriend of Armani Harper-Reed, who was present when he was shot and killed during the marijuana transaction, often struggled to recall some details about the crime for which two men were charged with murder.

But on direct questioning by Nguyen, Arlina Brown testified she did not see Harper-Reed with a gun on Nov. 3.

And Brown reiterated, as she mentioned during her first day on the witness stand last week, that she did not see marijuana in Harper-Reed's backpack on that day.

Upon her cross-examination, San Anselmobased attorney Eileen Burke, who represents Broussard, spent nearly 30 minutes again questioning Brown about, among other things, where her client and Dogan were standing in the parking lot after they exited the vehicle she was in, the white Impala.

Brown admitted that, after hearing one shot, then two more, she had “glanced” at one of the suspects rushing to the driver's side of the vehicle the pair arrived in, a black Dodge Challenger.

Burke, referring to police interview transcripts, reminded her that she told investigators that she and Harper-Reed “believed they had been cheated” during the deal.

And were either Broussard or Dogan seen with a firearm in their possession?

“No,” said Brown. But during her first day on the witness stand, Brown said that, after some time, when all were in the white Impala, Broussard got out of the car and had a gun pointed at Harper-Reed. Then Brown heard a gunshot, then two more, but could not remember who fired the last two shots.

Broussard and Dogan drove off after the shooting, Harper-Reed fell to the ground, and she called 911, she said.

But Brown also told Burke that she did not know Harper-Reed was selling marijuana and also did not see him get shot in the back.

In her opening remarks on Jan. 13, Nguyen told the 12-member jury and five alternates that they would hear testimony that Harper-Reed told Broussard and Dogan, “If you're gonna take my weed, you're gonna take me.”

Cellphone tower records, added Nguyen, would show the defendants were near the area where the shooting occurred and that the car they drove was registered to Broussard.

Dogan and Broussard have pleaded not guilty to the crimes. Dogan remains in the main Solano County Jail in Fairfield without bail, and Broussard in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield, also without bail.

If convicted of the charges, Dogan and Broussard could face 25 years to life, plus more time for the robbery charge and an enhancement for use of a firearm. They were arrested on June 19, 2018.

Day 6 of the trial resumes at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Department 1 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.