lying. He had a knife in his chest. Blood was everywhere.'
'What did you do then?'
'I remained in the bedroom with the woman while Officer Guerrero cleared the house.'
'Did Officer Guerrero find anyone else in the house?'
'No, sir. The house was clear.'
'Was the front door locked?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Then what did you do?'
'I told dispatch to send out the homicide detective, M.E., crime scene.'
'Did you touch anything in the bedroom?'
'No, sir. I waited with the woman for the detective to arrive.'
'How long was it before the detective arrived?'
'Maybe thirty minutes.'
'And what was the defendant's appearance?'
'She was wearing a short white nightgown. It was bloody.'
'Did the defendant change her clothes or clean up prior to the detective's arrival at the scene?'
'No, sir. I was with her the entire time.'
'No further questions, Your Honor.'
Bobby stood and cross-examined the police officer.
'Officer Crandall, when you entered the residence, did you have your weapon drawn?'
'Yes, sir, I did.'
'Why?'
'Dispatch said the perpetrator might still be in the house.'
'But you and Officer Guerrero determined that the perpetrator was not still in the house?'
The Assistant D.A. stood. 'Objection. Defense is mischaracterizing his testimony. The dispatcher had no knowledge of any perpetrator. The officers determined that no one else was in the house. That does not mean there was in fact a third-party perpetrator.'
Bobby turned his palms up, as if confused. 'The witness said perpetrator.'
But the judge wasn't buying what he was selling.
'Sustained. Rephrase, Mr. Herrin.'
'You found no one else in the house?'
'No, sir.'
'But you found the French doors open?'
'Yes, sir.'
'So if someone else had been in the house before you arrived, he could have left through the open French doors?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And the beach there is dark, correct?'
'Yes, sir.'
'So he could have come down the back stairs just seconds before you arrived and hidden just down the beach and you wouldn't have been able to see him, correct?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Officer Crandall, you testified that Ms. Fenney was on the phone when you arrived. To whom was she talking?'
'The nine-one-one operator.'
'How did Ms. Fenney seem when she first saw you entering the bedroom?'
'Relieved.'
'Thank you, Officer Crandall.'
The judge recessed for lunch. Scott walked outside the courtroom and saw Renee Ramirez interviewing Officer Crandall in her booth.
'Gosh,' the cop said, 'I was so nervous. You think I did okay? That donut remark sounded stupid, didn't it?'
Like a contestant awaiting the judges' scores on Dancing with the Stars.
After lunch, Galveston County Medical Examiner Sanjay Sanjeev took the stand. Dr. Sanjeev appeared unaffected by the cameras; he wore a rumpled cotton suit, a blue shirt, and a black tie loosened at his neck. He was a board-certified pathologist, and he testified from his notes like an old med school professor teaching a class.
He had arrived at the crime scene at just after 5:00 A.M. on Friday, June 5th. The deceased was 'found dead.' He pronounced Trey Rawlins dead at 5:15 A.M. He observed the body on the bed and the knife in the body. His death investigator took photos of the body in situ. The body was then removed from the scene under his supervision at approximately 8:00 A.M. without removal of the knife. The body was transported to the medical examiner's office where he conducted a complete autopsy later that morning. It was his medical opinion that Trey Rawlins had died from a sharp force injury to the chest, that is, a stab wound that severed his descending aorta resulting in a sudden and massive blood loss; that he was alive at the time he was stabbed; that time of death was between midnight and 3:00 A.M. on Friday, June 5th; that manner of death was homicide. The Assistant D.A. did not show the autopsy photos to the jury.
Karen handed the autopsy report to Bobby. He stood.
'Dr. Sanjeev, you conducted a complete autopsy of Trey Rawlins' body, correct?'
'Yes. I performed an external examination, an internal examination, toxicology, and microscopics.'
'What did you find on your external examination?'
'The deceased was a well-nourished white male, well-developed musculature, seventy-two inches tall, one hundred eighty pounds, age-appropriate, blond hair, no scars, no tattoos. The body was unclothed.'
'Did you find any evidence that Mr. Rawlins had recently engaged in a physical confrontation? A fight?'
'Yes. There was bruising on his upper body indicating that he had been grabbed forcefully, there were scratch marks on his upper arms and shoulders, and his upper lip was swollen and blood vessels inside had been broken.'
'As if someone had recently hit him in the mouth?'
'Yes.'
'Dr. Sanjeev, was sand recovered from the body of Trey Rawlins?'
'Yes, it was.'
'From what part of the body?'
'The backside. In his hair, on his back, in his buttocks.'
'Indicating that Mr. Rawlins had lain in the sand recently and prior to his death?'
'Yes.'
'What did you do with the sand?'
'Bagged it, gave it to the criminologist. It's in the inventory.'
'Other than the bruises and abrasions on the body-and the knife embedded in the body, of course-were than any other remarkable findings?'
'Yes.'
'And what was that?'
'I found cocaine particles in the nostrils.'
'Indicating recent use?'
'Yes.'
'You then removed the knife from the body?'
'No. I first X-rayed the body in its entirety then clipped each fingernail and toenail.'
'Did you find anything?'
'No. I then examined the body with a forensic light, but that was of no value as the skin surface was saturated with his own blood. I took samples of the external blood and oral and rectal swabs and hair samples, head and pubic. I then took fingerprints and DNA samples.'
