Trial: Third Day

More reportage (from Angela) of the Kevin Driscoll trial, in Deschutes County Circuit Court, Bend, Oregon. This covers Thursday, 5 Nov 2009:

"Thursday’s Theme: I’m pretty sure her pants are on fire!

"Before I get into the events of the day, I first would like to take a second and refresh your memory of all the men of Melissa. I talk about these people every day and I still get confused… here is a quick rundown:

"Ryan Rossow – Melissa’s husband. While they were “separated” at the time, they were still living in the same residence. Patrick Murphy – Melissa’s boyfriend at the time of the alleged event. Dennis Baker – A mutual friend of Ryan & Melissa’s, also the guy Melissa had sexual relations with earlier that night. Detective Chris Wick – The guy who took Melissa’s statement. Kevin Driscoll – The last person Melissa slept with that night, and the true victim in this case. Ted Coran – Kevin’s attorney. He is doing a GREAT job by the way. Jody Vaughan – We all know who she is, I just couldn’t resist listing her with all the other “Men of the case” ;) [Editor's Note: I'm surprised that Angela neglected to mention Mike Dugan, the District Attorney.]

"While the Rape Shield law prevents Kevin’s attorney of bringing up Melissa’s sexual history and past, there are bits and pieces that are relevant and allowed to be heard. This is what happened today. Melissa neglected to tell Detective Chris Wick that she had a sexual encounter with Dennis Baker earlier that night. Then in March, Melissa went to the police and told them she needed to clarify a few things. In this 2nd report, Melissa stated that she indeed did have sexual relations with Dennis Baker that night, but to protect her new relationship with Patrick Murphy, she declined to offer up that information.

"She had also stated in her original report in January, that when Kevin started having sex with her it was weird because she told him that she had a husband and a boyfriend, and he didn’t want to mess with all that… Today in court, Ted asked her about that… He asked her to clarify saying she had a husband AND a boyfriend. She said that she did not have a boyfriend, she was not in a relationship with Patrick Murphy, she said that he liked her, but she was not in a position to be in a relationship and they were in no way dating.

"This was a direct contradiction of what she had stated in a previous report. Since she LIED on the stand under OATH, the judge allowed Ted to question her about this… While that itself is not a case breaker, it proves that she has lied on the stand and in turn has shown character. Ted said this was HUGE. It will also be brought up again, in greater detail during his closing argument.

"There were several other inconsistencies that were brought to her attention, such as, where her clothes were, why she didn’t use her cell phone to call a cab to take her home, why she sat on Kevin’s couch (while Kevin was in the bathroom/bedroom) with her phone for 45 minutes the next morning after being brutally raped and called no one or made any attempt to leave. Of course Melissa had no answer. She also had no answer why she sat in the car making conversation with Kevin after he took her back to her car, instead of making a mad dash to the safety of her own vehicle.

"She was dressed like a nun today, it was ridiculous, and the tears she cried were out of the worst of the worst lifetime movies… I have to admit, she had me nervous in the beginning of the morning… but as soon as Ted called her out on the lies regarding Patrick Murphy, her tears turned to glares and copped a MAJOR attitude. In my opinion, the jury has had enough of her…. And to be honest, so have I… I was glad she is done, I don’t think anyone in the courtroom (with the exception of her victims assistance advocate) could handle another minute of her bullshit.

"After the lunch break, Jody showed the video tape of Kevin’s interview with the police, minutes after being arrested. I was not present for this half of the day, so I will do my best to relay what happened, and will ask for someone who was there to help fill in the blanks. I guess the whole thing was pretty hard to watch, Team Kevin was shocked that the DA even chose to play this video, as Kevin clearly admits to having consensual sex with Melissa, but is absolutely shocked and very emotional about the allegations she is making towards him.

"They also played an audio tape of a recorded phone call Melissa made to Kevin later that day, trying to get him to admit to raping her. In the recording, Melissa makes statements like “WE shouldn’t have done that” “I don’t usually do that” “What did WE do?” etc. She then went on to say that she had bruises on her ass… Kevin was basically speechless (this was prior to his arrest, and his first and only contact with Melissa after dropping her off to her car after staying at his house).

"She then dropped the bomb “I told you NO”, Kevin was pretty angry, and stated that she initiated the sex the 2nd time, she did not say no, and who did she think he was… someone else while she was pursuing him? ARE YOU READY TO HEAR HER RESPONSE… YES, I (guess/think) I did. I thought you were someone else. Why Oh Why, dear Judge Tiktin, is this case NOT being dismissed. This is absurd. Jody Vaughan questioned Detective Chris Wick about the interview and phone call with Kevin; Ted will cross-examine tomorrow.

"Once again, we are all left scratching our heads at Jody’s tactics. The video of Kevin’s interview and the recorded phone conversation really seemed to be positives for the defense and didn’t seem to offer any type of help for the prosecution… I know that it is hard to read the jury, and we shouldn’t be counting our chickens, but we haven’t even started to present our side yet, and to me… it’s feeling pretty alright.

"Sorry this update took so long to get to you, I have been working hard to help Kevin to prepare for what tomorrow will bring. As always, we thank you for your support and dedication, and will update you as soon as we can.

"~Angela"

Dressed like a nun?? Ha! That's great!

All right, now it seems that after getting raped and battered, Melissa sat on the couch for 45 minutes before Kevin emerged from the bathroom (or wherever). And then he drove her to her car, and when they got there, they sat and talked for a while. Or so we are to believe.

On Wednesday, she testified that she sat on the couch for "a long time". In her original statement (if memory serves), she said nothing at all about when she and Kevin left, but only that it was after the incident under indictment.

Of course, I am told that the footage from Kevin's security camera tells a different story, but I am not told that this footage has been admitted into evidence for the trial. At any rate, the video shows Kevin and Melissa driving away in Kevin's car about 7:45 a.m. But if Melissa testified truthfully on Thursday, then they would have left at approximately 4:45.

So it looks like Melissa is patching and fudging as best she is able under the circumstances. When she made her first statement to the police, she knew nothing about Kevin's security camera. Therefore, she said, "the raping happened between 3:30 and 4 a.m., and after that he gave me a ride to my car", but felt safe in leaving the departure time open-ended. Then she learned about the camera, and realized that she was in trouble, so she changed her story apropos of sex with Dennis, but said nothing about how long she stayed with Kevin, and nothing about when they departed in Kevin's car. Really, what could she say upon that subject without wrecking her entire story? Maybe she was crossing her fingers and hoping THAT part would never be brought up in future questioning.

Yet if I have been correctly informed, the video record would NOT show Kevin and Melissa departing at 4:45 or thereabouts. And indeed, it seems to show them departing in Kevin's car three hours later than that - at around 7:45. In the photo at right, we see Melissa crossing the driveway clutching a bundle of something in her arms, while Kevin appears to be sitting in the driver's seat of his car with the door halfway open. The photo is time-stamped at 7:43 a.m.

(I'm guessing Melissa had a pretty decent hangover by then?)

So, when Melissa said she sat on the couch for "A LONG TIME", I guess she meant it. Four hours certainly is a long time to be sitting on a couch if you have nothing better to do than stare at the wall while the man who just raped and battered you is in the next room, doing . . . . what, exactly? Well, I suppose it is possible that Kevin had passed out stone cold on the floor for some obscure reason, and that when he finally "came to" around 7:15, he staggered into the living room rubbing his eyes and found Melissa sitting stock-still on the couch, and that she proceeded to ask him for a ride?

Oh my, what a cad Kevin must have been, to ignore a guest in that manner for four solid hours! I hope there was at least a coffee table in front of that couch, with some magazines on it, so Melissa could while away the time!

Or then again, maybe this is all baloney, and Melissa has been lying her ass off! I mean, you never can tell, right? It pays to consider all the angles, right?

I am told that the video record shows Kevin's last party guest departing at 4:38 a.m. Now, if I'm keeping my timeframes straight, that would be pretty close to the time when Kevin and Melissa were leaving - that is, if Melissa's 45-minute story is correct. So, consider that according to her earlier statement to the police, "the raping happened between 3:30 and 4 a.m.", and that according to her Thursday testimony a 45-minute gap followed this, after which Kevin gave her a ride to her car. Well it seems to me that Kevin and Melissa, and the 4:38 person, would have had a hard time being unaware of each other in all of their comings and goings. And it seems to me that if the raping happened between 3:30 and 4 p.m., then Kevin and Melissa would not have been alone on the property during that time, nor for a considerable stretch afterwards.

Yet whatever the scenario might have been, Melissa would have spent 45 minutes of her couch-sitting time in the near proximity of that last party guest, or guests.

You know what? I really, really, really think we need to subpoena that 4:38 person. But if the video has not been admitted into evidence then I reckon that is impossible, since there would be no admissible way that we could officially pretend to know about that person . . . right?