FAIRFAX, Va. -- Prosecutors said the jury in the Jesse Matthew attempted capital murder and Jesse Matthew attempted capital murder and sexual assault trial assault trial could get the case as soon as Wednesday; day three of the case that was scheduled for nine days in Fairfax County.
The Commonwealth will call its 12th and final witness to the stand Wednesday when court resumes. The defense will then call its witnesses, including a DNA expert.
The prosecution does not expect the defense to have many witnesses. The judge instructed the defense to have jury instructions prepared by Thursday, but the state said it could be as soon as Wednesday.
Tuesday, testimony began with the Commonwealth's third witness, Fairfax City Police Lt. Joseph Trahey. Trahey testified that he was called to Rock Garden Drive on the evening of Sept. 24, 2005 for the report of a person screaming.
When he arrived he said he came in contact with the victim, "RG" and noted that she had a swollen face, bloody nose and grass in her hair. He testified that RG was "disheveled" when he rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital.
Lt. Trahey said RG provided him with a description of her attacker. She said, he was a bearded black male, around 6 feet tall, wearing a black sweatshirt, white t-shirt and light pants. Trahey testified that he gathered RG's clothes from the hospital for evidence. When asked whether RG had pants on when he arrived on the scene he responded "yes."
The state's fourth witness was Mary Lam-Williams, the sexual assault nurse examiner or "SANE" who examined RG after the 2005 attack. Lam-Williams testified that RG was a 114-pound female who came in disheveled, with grass in her hair, with a swollen nose, and dressed in a hospital gown.
She described RG as "concerned and embarrassed" and she was "tearful" during her pelvic exam. The defense repeatedly objected to the prosecution's questioning during her testimony which the judge overruled. Williams-Lam testified RG suffered injuries to her vaginal area, knees, thighs, neck, chin, cheek, nose, forehead, eyes and buttocks.
Williams-Lam testified that the injuries to RG's vaginal area are considered "painful."
Williams-Lam reported collecting hair from RG's head, pubic hair, genitalia smears, clothing, and fingernail clippings and scrapings.
She also collected RG's gray sweatshirt, red shirt, socks and white bra. She stated RG was not wearing underwear. In defense cross examination, Williams-Lam testified that she did speak to a Fairfax City police officer prior to conducting RG's exam. She also testified that she checked "unknown" on RG's medical report, on whether RG had been penetrated by her attacker's genitalia.
Fairfax City Police detective Michael Duncan was the Commonwealth's fifth witness. Duncan testified that RG was "physically injured and emotionally shocked" after the attack.
In defense cross-examination, Duncan testified that RG described her attacker as a black male, taller than her, with a mustache and beard, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. He said RG reported losing consciousness during the attack and when asked if she was raped, she did not answer in the affirmative. Duncan clarified for the state that when he asked RG if she was raped she answered, "Um, I think, I vaguely remember when he took me to the gutter."
She asked her attacker not to kill her.
Fairfax City Police Lead Detective Michael Boone took the stand as the prosecution's sixth witness Tuesday. Boone identified Jesse Matthew in court as the suspect he took a Buccal swab (DNA collection) from on Oct. 17, 2014.
In cross-examination, Boone testified that he responded to the scene of the attack in 2005. He said "we did a lot of searching that night."
He said canine units and a police helicopter were a part of the search. Boone said spoke briefly with RG the day after the attack. She described her attacker as being between the ages of 25 to 35, 180 to 220 pounds, with a "pot belly."
Boone testified that a police sketch of the suspect was generated a few days after the attack and a press release was distributed on Sept. 26, 2005. The defense spent a lot of time questioning Boone about multiple other suspects in the case that were eliminated. The prosecution pointed out that Boone left no stone unturned.
During Boone's testimony Jesse Matthew's sister whispered to his mother "I want this over."
Fairfax City Police Chief Carl Pardiny took the stand as the prosecution's seventh witness. The chief said, he responded to Rock Garden Drive for a call of a lady being dragged down the street.
He arrived to find RG sitting on a step with injuries to her face, wrapped in a towel or a blanket. He called for medical assistance. Pardiny roped off the crime scene and put out a “be on the lookout” for an African American male. He testified that he found evidence.
Retired Canine officer Joseph (J.J.) Greeves was the prosecution's eighth witness. Greeves testified, being called to the scene with his canine officer and German shepherd of four years, "Diesel."
Greeves came across spilled milk on the scene, but started searching the area with two tracks he noticed in the grass. He testified, Diesel got a "hard hit" and started circling, explaining that that indicated that the individual left in a vehicle. Diesel located a sneaker which he grabbed with his mouth, a cell phone and underwear.
The Commonwealth called Fairfax City Police Detective Albert Leightley to the stand as its ninth witness. Leightley handles digital evidence for the department. Leightley testified that he recovered a "milky" substance, two lenses from a pair of glasses, a cigarette butt, a reebok shoe, a cell phone, women's panties, a pair of frames from glasses, a red stain from the grass and a white fiber. Most of the evidence was collected behind a tree near the alleged victim's town home complex.
Kevin McCormick, with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, took the stand was the state's tenth witness. He provided the Commonwealth with a printout of Jesse Matthew's DMV records dating back to 2002.
The prosecution's eleventh, and final witness Tuesday, was forensic scientist Matthew Himes. Himes gave extensive testimony and explanation about DNA. He said in 2005 they used a "gel-based" system whereas today, a "capillary" system is used.
He testified that he examined RG's evidence in this case including underwear, a recovery kit with swabs, a stain, stained grass, fiber and a cigarette butt. He also examined RG's sweatshirt, bra, shirt and jeans.
He testified that in addition, he tested fingernail scrapings for the presence of blood which was found in RG's left fingernail but not her right. In her right fingernail Himes testified, that he found foreign DNA matching a male profile.
Himes went on the record that he was not paid to testify for the state in this case.
The prosecution said if the jury gets the case before Friday the judge could allow them to deliberate, even though court is not in session Friday. If they reach a verdict Friday, the judge will most likely make them wait until Monday to deliver it.
Jesse Matthew's mother, father and sister sat through Tuesday's proceedings.
The parents of Morgan Harrington, the Virginia Tech student who has been forensically linked to Matthew on the 2009 night she disappeared from Charlottesville and was later found murdered were also in court Tuesday, were there again.
Investigators with the Albemarle County Police department and Virginia State Police also attended day two of trial.
Matthew has also been charged with capital murder and sex crimes against second year University of Virginia student Hannah Graham who went missing last September and was found dead in October in Albemarle County.
