Ricardo Woods is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in the fatal shooting of David Chandler. Chandler, 35, was shot in the head and neck as he was sitting in his car in Cincinnati
on Oct. 28, 2010. He was paralyzed from his injuries and could only
communicate with his eyes when police interviewed him a few days after
the shooting.
Chandler was hooked up to a
ventilator in the hospital when police questioned him about the person
who shot him. They showed him Woods'
photo and instructed him to blink three times for yes and twice for no
as they videotaped his responses. Chandler didn't respond with blinks to
every question in the 17-minute video and sometimes blinked one time,
but triple blinks came in response to repeated questions asking if he
knew the shooter and whether the person in the photo was the culprit.
Chandler died 10 days after the interview.
Prosecutors say Chandler clearly
identified Woods as the shooter, and Judge Beth Myers found that the
blinks were reliable and were made by pronounced eye movements and not
by involuntary blinking. She ruled in 2011 that jurors will be allowed
to see the videotape. But the defense insists the identification wasn't
reliable and has asked the judge to reconsider.
The Innocence Project,
a criminal justice organization which has succeeded in freeing
wrongfully convicted prisoners through DNA evidence and also works to
prevent wrongful convictions, last week filed a motion supporting the
defense request. The motion asks the court to consider evidence not
previously presented, including scientific research on eyewitness
identification.
Among other factors, the motion says that the use of one photo rather
than a photographic lineup was "unduly suggestive." Also, the two
people in the car with Chandler that night did not identify Woods as the
shooter when shown photographic lineups, according to the motion.
Prosecutors are still reviewing
the recently filed motion, but "we are ready for trial on Monday," said
spokeswoman Julie Wilson.
Woods' attorney, Kory Jackson,
also maintains that Chandler's condition and drugs used to treat him
could have affected his ability to understand and respond.
A neurologist with University
Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland says while he can't comment
specifically on the Cincinnati case, instances of people being able to
communicate with their eyes after sustaining brain injuries that leave
other parts of their bodies paralyzed are not uncommon.
Dr. Michael Devereaux said
communication has been possible with patients suffering an injury to the
brain stem that prevents most communication with the body.
"Patients can be wide awake,
alert and responsive through things such as eye-blink communication,"
even though the brain itself is disconnected from being able to control
most of the body's other systems, he said.
But Jackson says he will present testimony from medical experts questioning the reliability factor.
"All the experts that we have
would say that they wouldn't have relied on Mr. Chandler to make a will,
to do anything that would be legally binding," Jackson said.
Prosecutors have declined to
comment on a motive, although authorities have suggested the men knew
each other through drug deals.
Woods, 34, could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
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