Editor’s Note: The attached video was released on Wednesday, January 26.
10:45 a.m.
Judge Jackson supports a prosecution objection that the defense cannot ask the GSR tester why the FBI discontinued GSR testing.
The defense said not allowing the question would be a violation of the 6th Amendment. They take 5 min. pause before the arrival of the jury.
10:05 a.m.
A hearing is held without the presence of the jury to discuss whether the trace analyst will testify. This is the last prosecution witness.
9:45 a.m.
Lawyers are reviewing instructions to be given to the jury later today. The prosecution still has one witness to call. This will be a trace analyst for the bullet residue test.
With lawyers reviewing instructions to the jury, this likely means the defense has very few, if any, witnesses to call.
to sum up
TYLER, Texas (KETK) – Smith County prosecutors should close their case in the murder trial of a Tyler man charged with a 2018 shooting at a mall in broad daylight.
The defense is not expected to call many witnesses, if any. Before the jury was called Thursday morning, the two teams of lawyers reviewed the instructions that would be given to the jury.
Kristian Perdomo, 28, is charged with killing Bradley Brockman, 45, by shooting him in the head near a Taco Bell at the intersection of Highway 31 West and Loop 323.
At the time of the arrest, law enforcement claimed that Perdomo was also the shooter in four other murders in 10 days. However, he was never charged in these cases and it is not known why.
The jury was not told of this suspicion of Perdomo in the other shootings, due to his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial since he was never charged in the other murders.
On Wednesday, prosecutors showed the jury body camera footage of Perdomo’s arrest, about 30 minutes after the shooting. A police officer who had learned that Perdomo might be heading towards him arrested him. The license plate matched what witnesses told police and it had trunk damage that also matched the getaway car.
The video showed that Perdomo had not resisted being taken into custody. Although it was not shown on camera, officers put bags over his hands to potentially retain evidence of gunshot residue.
Officers briefly searched the car and found a receipt for ammunition of the same caliber type used in the Bradley Brockman murder. The police then obtained a search warrant to carry out a more thorough inspection.
This led to the eventual discovery of a firearm matching the type used in the shooting. He was hidden behind a panel in the car.
A crime scene investigator also testified with several photographs of the mall. The scene featured images of blood-soaked clothing as well as Brockman’s personal items left behind.
The defense team objected to several pieces of evidence, including photographs and personal effects from the scene of the shooting.
Judge Austin Jackson overruled these objections and allowed most of the evidence to go to the jury.
The only exception was a begging sign created by Brockman. It said, “Please help keep my children dry and warm.” On the back of the panel was a statement about Brockman’s Marine Core service.
Jackson said it might cause the jury too much emotional bias. The photo had been seen in body camera footage, but it was rarely the focus of the video.
