Anthony Clark — Direct/Cross
155 linesJUDGE EVERETT: Members of the jury, we will continue with the State's case at this time. State, you may call your next witness.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State calls Dr. Clark.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may take your seat.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Judge, before I get started with this witness, the clerk advised me that State's Exhibit 121, a glass removed from, um, Mr. Markel's face, was identified but not admitted. So I'll move 121 into evidence at this time. Any objection?
JUDGE EVERETT: Any objection?
MR. RASHBAUM: No objection.
JUDGE EVERETT: State's 121 is admitted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And I'd also like to ask Your Honor to read the stipulation regarding the swabs that Ms. Maltese collected from the crime scene.
JUDGE EVERETT: In terms of the jury, when parties agree that certain facts are true, that's called a stipulation of fact.
JUDGE EVERETT: You must accept stipulated facts as having been proven. However, the significance of these facts, as with all facts, is for you to decide. In this case, the stipulated facts that you must accept as true are the following: Ms. Carrie Rosanna, a crime laboratory analyst in the biology section at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, conducted DNA testing in this case and reported the following results. The swabs collected from the crime scene by Joanne Maltese were tested for the presence of DNA.
JUDGE EVERETT: Ms. Rosanna analyzed the swabs and opined that, due to the limited nature of the DNA results obtained from the swabs, the data was not interpretable, meaning there was not enough information present to make an identification.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May I proceed?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sir, please introduce yourself and spell your name.
ANTHONY CLARK: I'm Dr. Anthony J. Clark. A-N-T-H-O-N-Y, J. Clark, C-L-A-R-K.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How are you employed?
ANTHONY CLARK: I'm currently employed as an Associate Medical Examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Division of Forensic Science, in the Central Medical Examiner's Office in Macon, Georgia.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about back in 2014?
ANTHONY CLARK: I was employed as an Associate Medical Examiner with District 2 Medical Examiner's Office here in Tallahassee, an employee of KWB Pathology Associates.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How long were you employed here as a medical examiner?
ANTHONY CLARK: About 16 years.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you briefly go through your education and training that qualifies you to do your job?
ANTHONY CLARK: I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
ANTHONY CLARK: I then did two years of animal research at MIT, then was accepted to the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
ANTHONY CLARK: I graduated from the college and went to New Britain General Hospital in New Britain, Connecticut, and did a two-year general surgical residency internship. I then went to the Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, and did four years of anatomic and clinical pathology. I graduated from that program and traveled down to Atlanta, Georgia, where I did a two-year forensic pathology fellowship at the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office in Atlanta, Georgia, in association with Emory University.
ANTHONY CLARK: I finally got my first job as the Southwest Regional Medical Examiner for the GBI DOFS in Moultrie, Georgia, and then I traveled to Tallahassee where I was District 2, and then back to Georgia now. I am board certified in anatomic and forensic pathology. I have medical licensures both in Georgia and in Florida.
ANTHONY CLARK: As an Associate Medical Examiner, I am involved in death investigation.
ANTHONY CLARK: I'm the individual that examines the dead person and determines the cause and manner of death.
ANTHONY CLARK: It's well over 7,500.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Have you testified as an expert in a court of law before today?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How many times?
ANTHONY CLARK: Several hundred times.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Tender the expert, Judge, in the area of forensic pathology.
JUDGE EVERETT: Does the defense wish to voir dire the witness any further?
MR. RASHBAUM: No, ma'am.
JUDGE EVERETT: Any challenge to his qualifications to render an opinion?
MR. RASHBAUM: No, ma'am.
JUDGE EVERETT: Members of the jury, the witness will be permitted to provide you with an opinion in the field of forensic pathology. You may continue.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Dr. Clark, did you conduct the autopsy of Dan Markel?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When was that autopsy conducted?
ANTHONY CLARK: We performed the autopsy on July 19, 2014, and we started at 1155 hours.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where was the autopsy conducted?
ANTHONY CLARK: This was performed at the Tallahassee morgue at that time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, and did you take photographs to assist you in documenting the autopsy process?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, I'm going to show you what I've marked as State's Exhibits 25 through 34.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Ask if you recognize those exhibits.
ANTHONY CLARK: The State's Exhibits 25 and 26 are photographs of the x-rays we took prior to performing the autopsy, and the rest of these are the photos from the autopsy itself.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are they fair and accurate photos of the autopsy?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, would they assist the jury in understanding your testimony today?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Judge, I'd ask to move into evidence State's 25 through 34.
JUDGE EVERETT: 25 through 34 are admitted over the defense's objection.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Permission to publish?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, let's start with 25, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, doctor, what are we looking at in State's Exhibit 25?
ANTHONY CLARK: This is an x-ray of the decedent's head, and what we want to see here is that these really dense white areas here and here, these are the bullets that are recovered from the head at the autopsy.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so one in the center of the forehead there and one on the side of the face?
ANTHONY CLARK: Center of the forehead and here on the left side of the face.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, let's take a look at 26, please.
ANTHONY CLARK: As part of the x-ray series, we like to look at what we call laterals, also to see where they are in the skull. And you can see that even though it looks like it's in the center of the head, it's towards the back of the head here. And then this one is near the left side of the jaw here.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, 27, please. How many times was Professor Markel shot?
ANTHONY CLARK: Twice.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Both in the head?
ANTHONY CLARK: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where were the entrance wounds?
ANTHONY CLARK: Okay, this is actually the identification photograph to show who this decedent is, but you can see the trauma here. You have a gunshot wound right here just inside this left eyebrow here, and then you have another gunshot wound here on the outside left cheek.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State's Exhibit 28, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does this photo show?
ANTHONY CLARK: This is the gunshot wound number one I described in the autopsy report. This is the entry wound here, and you can see around it are all these irregular abrasions. These abrasions are from shattering glass that's exploded onto his face and causing these little bits of scraping all the way down here on his ear and on his neck here. Also, you can see the massive amount of swelling and soft tissue injury in this area. The bullet actually winds up just about where the pointer is right now, just below this earlobe, just above the corner of the left side of the jaw, lower jaw here. You can see that there's been some hemorrhage around the eyelid, the eye here, and then you see gunshot wound number two here just inside the left eyebrow.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does calling them gunshot wounds one and two, does that correspond with your opinion as to the order of the shots?
ANTHONY CLARK: No, ma'am. That just tells you — that's a way for me to easily describe what they are. Actually, I think I did it backwards. This is one and this is two. Sorry.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Do you have an opinion as to the order of the shots?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am. I do now, after I found out about the scene investigation and what was going on, that this was most likely the first gunshot wound because of the glass-dam causing injuries around the wound itself, and then the second one actually has some characteristics of what we call gunpowder stippling, where out of the muzzle of the gun comes burning and unburnt gunpowder particles, and they strike the skin, also causing scrapings, but those scrapings are more homogeneously the same size, so it looks more like a gunpowder injury.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, so first in time, in your opinion, is the one to the cheek?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The lower one?
ANTHONY CLARK: This would be number one in time sequence, and then this would be the second one.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And can you tell the jury anything about the range, meaning how far away the muzzle of the firearm would have been from Mr. Markel when these shots were fired?
ANTHONY CLARK: This one here on the cheek, I cannot tell because it's what's called an intermediate target — something in between that's blocking any of the gunpowder characteristics on the skin. On the top one here, just inside the left eyebrow, again, you're talking within inches.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, so very close muzzle.
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, and when you're talking about the intermediate target in reference to the gunshot wound that happened first, would that be consistent with the bits of glass hitting his face?
ANTHONY CLARK: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And causing those abrasions around the entrance wound?
ANTHONY CLARK: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Would the gunshot wound that happened first in time have caused his death immediately?
ANTHONY CLARK: More likely not. It may have stunned him because of the impact to the face, but most of the damage is to the face, and I don't think there was much energy damage to the brain at that point in time. The second one actually went through the right side of the brain, and that would have rendered him unconscious almost immediately. But there was a survival time after that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Meaning he didn't die right away.
ANTHONY CLARK: That's correct. His heart and lungs kept working.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Were the injuries survivable, meaning if he had gotten medical attention sooner, if something had been done differently, he could have survived?
ANTHONY CLARK: Well, he got medical attention, but it did not help him. So, yes, they were a non-survivable injury to the right, with a gunshot wound to the head.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State's Exhibit 29, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does this exhibit show?
ANTHONY CLARK: So I think we need to — can we turn it so that it's like this?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What are we looking at in this image, doctor?
ANTHONY CLARK: Okay, again, what I was looking at was these coarse abrasions or scrapings of the skin on the ear. And there's some scattering on the neck here. Most of it's on the face up here. And, again, that's what I called pseudostippling in the autopsy report.
ANTHONY CLARK: Also, you can see that the side of this neck is kind of discolored, and it's very swollen here. There's been a lot of hemorrhage into the soft tissues from the gunshot wound that traveled from here down to here.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. State's 30, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What are we looking at in this image, Doctor?
ANTHONY CLARK: Now we're looking at gunshot wound later as number one. This is the entry here, and you see these fine specks up here. Those are small abrasions or scrapings of the skin consistent with gunpowder stippling. So there was no intermediate target at that point in time. So the gunpowder discharge from the muzzle of the gun struck the skin and left these marks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can you tell them anything about what type of firearm it would have been or could have been based on?
ANTHONY CLARK: Not from the stipple pattern of the gunshot wound injuries themselves. The bullets were more consistent with being fired from a revolver.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What's the difference between a revolver and other types of weapons?
ANTHONY CLARK: Well, the revolver usually can use just lead slugs, and they're usually not copper-jacketed or metal-jacketed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And is the revolver the one that has the cylinder like a cowboy gun that spins around?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does not eject casings when it's fired?
ANTHONY CLARK: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Next photo, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Doctor, what are we looking at in State's 31?
ANTHONY CLARK: Okay, this is depicting the gunshot wound to the outside of the left cheek here. You can see the core stippling going all the way to the nose, to around here. The injury around the left eye from hemorrhage from these two gunshot wounds. And then you see the other gunshot wound to the — what we call glabella, or just inside the left eyebrow.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So what we're seeing as a discoloration or what appears to be black eyes — is that secondary to the gunshot wounds or consistent with some other injury?
ANTHONY CLARK: No, that's consistent with the gunshot wounds.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Next photo, please. This is 32.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does State's 32 show?
ANTHONY CLARK: This is a close-up of his left forearm.
ANTHONY CLARK: His wrist is over here. His elbow is here. And what you're seeing here is a crescent-shaped deposit of soot. Okay? Now, soot in a revolver not only comes out of the muzzle, but it also comes out of what's called a cylinder gap.
ANTHONY CLARK: If you think about a cowboy gun or a .38 special or something like that, that cylinder — there's a little gap between that and the actual muzzle so that you can have soot coming out and even have other particles coming out.
ANTHONY CLARK: These are a little bit finer than I thought initially, but I called it pseudo-stippling. There are some irregularities here, but I think that this is probably soot deposition from the discharge from the cylinder gap, and that would imply that his arm was somewhere near that when that shot took place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, so potentially consistent with him perceiving the threat and putting his arm up and to try to defend himself.
ANTHONY CLARK: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State's Exhibit 33, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What is State's 33?
ANTHONY CLARK: State's 33 is the bullet that we recovered from the left jaw area. If you can see it — remember what the x-ray looked like, it looked like a barrel — and that's what we have here.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State's 34.
ANTHONY CLARK: And that is the deformed bullet that we pulled out of the back of the right side of the brain.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm going to approach with State's 122 and 123.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you recognize these exhibits?
ANTHONY CLARK: State's 123 is the packaging that I used to put the bullet in. The bullet is currently out, and this is from the brain.
ANTHONY CLARK: And State's Exhibit 122 is the packaging and the bullet that I pulled out for the gunshot wound to the left cheek area.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And are these in the same or substantially the same condition as when you recovered them from the body?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Judge, I'd ask to introduce at this time State's 122 and 123.
JUDGE EVERETT: Any objection?
MR. RASHBAUM: No objection.
JUDGE EVERETT: 122 and 123 are admitted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May I publish?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: These are the same items that we just saw in those last two photographs?
ANTHONY CLARK: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Doctor, what was the cause of death in this case?
ANTHONY CLARK: I put the cause of death as gunshot wounds of the face and head.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what about the manner of death?
ANTHONY CLARK: This was considered a homicide.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Thank you. Nothing further.
JUDGE EVERETT: Cross exam.
MR. RASHBAUM: No questions, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may step down. Will he be called at any point?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, sir.