MIAMI, Florida – A Miami jury began to hear evidence on Tuesday in the second-degree murder trial of Damon "Red Rock" Darling, accused of killing nine-year-old Sherdavia Jenkins caught in a crossfire at the housing project where she lived.

Damon Darling, left, and victim Sherdavia Jenkins

Darling was shooting at another man, Leroy Larose. Darling and Larose each say they fired in self-defense. Larose had a .44 caliber revolver; Darling had an AK-47. Larose has pled guilty to second-degree murder and will testify against Darling.

The State started with the brief, uncontested testimony of Sherdavia’s younger sister, Catherine, now 11 years old, and her mother, Sherrone Jenkins. Each discussed the trauma of that Saturday afternoon, July 1, 2006, when Sherdavia fell at the threshold of her home and died in her mother’s lap. A bullet from an AK-47 struck her in the right side of her neck and, in the words of prosecutor Monica Gordo, “internally decapitated” her.

The first officers on the scene testified about finding Sherdavia in a pool of blood with no signs of life. The officers secured the scene until more investigators arrived.

Arnold Yen, a crime scene technician, told jurors that he collected 20 spent shell casings from an assault weapon in the area where Darling allegedly had been shooting. Yen, who supervised the videotaping and photographing of the area, also recovered two projectiles fired from a handgun. One was found in the area of the shell casings, the other was inside a car whose door was punctured by the bullet.

Two bullet holes that entered and exited a palm tree in the vicinity of the shootings were photographed. The bullets that struck the tree traveled from west to east. The tree was west of Sherdavia’s apartment. It’s possible that one of the bullets from the assault weapon penetrated the tree and then struck the child.

The jury of four women and two men was attentive for most of the day, taking notes from time to time and glancing at Darling now and then. In the public gallery, Sherdavia’s mother, father, older sister, grandmother and great-grandmother sat behind the prosecutors.

On the other side of the courtroom were Darling’s mother and other family members and supporters. There didn’t appear to be any interaction between the two families. In fact, police escort the families out of the courtroom separately.

Stay tuned to In Session for gavel-to-gavel coverage of this case.

–Beth Karas, In Session correspondent

ORLANDO, Florida – Opening statements are scheduled for late Tuesday morning in the second-degree murder trial of Damon Darling. Darling, 24, is accused of killing nine-year-old Sherdavia Jenkins in July 2006. Jenkins was caught in a cross fire as Darling fought with another man, Leroy Larose, in a Miami housing project known as Liberty Square Apartments.

Damon Darling

Jenkins and Larose each claim self-defense saying that the other was the first to fire. It is unclear what motivated the shooting but what is clear is that Sherdavia Jenkins had nothing to do with the dispute between the two men.

At about 3:00 p.m on Saturday, July 1, 2006, Sherdavia was outside her ground floor apartment where she lived with her mother, father, and four siblings. Her younger sister Catherine and a neighbor were with her when shots were fired nearby. The three girls ran to the door of the apartment but Sherdavia didn’t make it beyond the threshold. A bullet from an AK-47 hit her in the neck just as she was about to enter her home, killing her almost immediately.

Several residents in the housing project heard or saw parts of the battle between Darling and Larose and, somewhat reluctantly, fearful for their own safety, aided the police investigation. Within five days, Larose turned himself in and has been in custody since then. Darling was on the lam for about three weeks. He was arrested on July 21, 2006 not far from the scene of the shooting. Police stumbled upon an illegal dice game and arrested Darling. Only when he was in custody did they learn his true identity.

Liberty Square Apartments, nicknamed Pork ‘n Beans, is known for its violence, by day and by night. At one time, the apartment buildings bore the scars of gun battles but the city of Miami has apparently repaired the infamous pock-marked walls. Today they appear freshly painted.

The jury of four women and two men, seated late last week to hear evidence in Darling’s second-degree murder trial, is unlikely to learn much about Sherdavia. She was a stellar student with a scrapbook full of certificates for honors and awards bestowed upon her in the last years of her life. She was a chess champion by the age of six and a budding artist who told her father she wanted to be a web designer some day. She would have entered fourth grade later that summer.

Larose pled guilty to second-degree murder two weeks ago and was sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by ten years’ probation. He has already served three years. Larose is expected to be a key witness for the state.

Darling is facing life in prison if convicted of second degree murder.

Stay tuned to In Session for live coverage of the trial.

-Beth Karas, In Session correspondent

NEW YORK, New York – Cynthia Sommer, released from jail last year after a San Diego jury convicted her of first-degree murder, is suing the federal agencies that investigated her and the district attorney who prosecuted her more than two years ago.

Cynthia Sommer

On Thursday, Sommer filed a multimillion-dollar suit in federal district court in San Diego, California alleging fraud, false imprisonment, violation of her civil rights and other tortious conduct on the part of the federal and state agencies and individuals involved.

She is seeking $20,000,000 in damages and other relief including a court order that murder charges can never be refiled against her.

Sommer was arrested in November 2005 and charged with poisoning her husband, Todd, 23, an active duty Marine who died at their home on the Miramar base nearly four years earlier. Sommer was tried and convicted in San Diego in January 2007. The district attorney presented evidence at trial that tissues recovered from Todd Sommer at autopsy showed high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.

The trial judge threw out the murder conviction and ordered a new trial in late 2007 after finding that her attorney, Robert Udell, committed tactical errors which deprived her of a fair trial.

Sommer continues to claim that the tissues tested were contaminated in the government lab. While awaiting a new trial, her new attorney, Allen Bloom, requested that the state search for more tissues that may have been recovered from Todd Sommer and never tested for the presence of arsenic. In early 2008, the government did, indeed, find some tissues preserved in paraffin and sent them to an independent lab for testing. When the results came back negative for the presence of arsenic, Sommer was immediately released from the San Diego County jail where she had spent about a two and a half years.

The district attorney dismissed the first-degree murder charge for the time being but wants the right to bring charges in the future should new incriminating evidence arise. The current dismissal is “without prejudice.” Sommer wants the district attorney to dismiss “with prejudice” which means she could never be charged again. Another hearing on that issue is scheduled for this Friday in San Diego state court.

Since April 2008, Sommer has been re-establishing herself. She is now enrolled in college, has custody of her four children, and plans to work with the Innocence Project. Her youngest child, Christian, is the son of Todd Sommer. Christian, now 9 years old, was not quite two when his father died.

Sommer is suing the United States of America, three NCIS Special Agents Rob Terwilliger, Rick Rendon, and Mark Ridley, the Naval Medical Center in San Diego County, the Medical Examiner’s Office of San Diego County, Glenn N. Wagner (chief medical examiner in San Diego), the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn who handled the trial in 2007.

-Beth Karas, In Session correspondent

NEW YORK – The lab technician who worked in the same building as a murdered Yale graduate student Annie Le has been released by New Haven police.

Raymond Clark, left, is a person of interest in the murder of Annie Le, right

Raymond Clark, named a person of interest in the investigation, worked in the same Yale Medical School campus building where Le performed experiments as a pharmacology student. Authorities were able to take Clark into custody Tuesday night by executing what is called a search and seizure warrant. This warrant allows officials to hold someone who is not charged with a crime in order to obtain DNA samples. The warrant is based on probable cause and allows law enforcement to search the person described in an accompanying affidavit that also lays out the particular facts known to law enforcement at that time.

The Fourth amendment to the Constitution, guards against unreasonable search and seizures. Last night’s search of Clark had to be limited in nature, sanctioned by a judge and based on a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed and the person searched may have committed it.

Police said in a late night press conference on Tuesday that Clark’s DNA was taken by officials through saliva, fingernail scrapings and hair. Clark cooperated with authorities and according to the New Haven Police Department Clark was released at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The reason Clark was almost immediately released after being taken into custody is that it would have violated his constitutional rights under our Fourth amendment to hold him for a longer period of time.
As Chief Justice Rehnquist stated in the 1990 case of United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, “the driving force behind the adoption of the Fourth Amendment…was widespread hostility among the former Colonists to the issuance of writs…and general search warrants permitting the search of private houses. The purpose of the Fourth Amendment was to protect the people of the United States against arbitrary action by their own government.”

Authorities have also executed a search and seizure warrant on Clark’s apartment in Middletown, Connecticut.

Le’s body was found on Sunday within the basement wall of her lab building on the Yale campus. She was set to get married that same day. Raymond Clark has not been charged with her murder.

-Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

NEW YORK–Our friend Dominick Dunne was buried this weekend in a small cemetery about a quarter mile up the road from his beloved country home in Hadlyme, Connecticut. About 50 close friends joined his family for the cemetery service conducted by Father Daniel Morrisey.

The service included a military salute, followed by the playing of Taps. The United States flag and shell casings from the gun salute were presented to his granddaughter, Hannah. Family and several friends then placed single white roses on the grave.

After the service, mourners walked back to Dunne’s home and spent the next few hours reminiscing and walking through the two-story home chock-full of memorabilia.

What was forecast to be a rainy day turned out to be quite the opposite. Folks mingled in the back patio overlooking a gazebo at the bottom of a hill and a marsh beyond.

In his living room, books fill the shelves lining the back wall. More books are neatly stacked in piles on the tables around the room. Every inch of wall space is used. Framed photographs of Dunne and his family are everywhere. Paintings by close friends adorn the walls throughout the house as well as poster-sized images of his book jackets. The downstairs guest bathroom has the framed ballot from the U.S. Senate’s vote on the impeachment of President Clinton, each checkmark beside a yeah or nay in Dunne’s distinctive left-handed scrawl.

In his second floor office, drafts of Dunne’s last novel, to be published later this year, lie in large binders on top of his desk. The bookcases contain multiple copies of his bestselling novels. A few shelves hold nothing but those little dark green leather notebooks Dunne always carried in his breast pocket to jot down notes. Newspaper clippings and photographs of cases he’s written about are neatly pinned to large bulletin boards. The headline of one column pinned to a board reads: “Dunne not done battling cancer.”

It wasn’t the star-studded affair that his funeral had been two days earlier in New York City. The folks who showed up included his Connecticut neighbors, attorneys who handled cases Dunne had written about, and an inner circle of friends.

It was an eclectic group, which is a testament to the man who never forgot the despondency of losing his Hollywood career, his marriage, and then his daughter. He rebuilt his life, became a voice for crime victims, and always made those who were lucky enough to be called his friend, feel very special.

–Beth Karas, In Session correspondent

SARASOTA, Florida–The jury in the trial of Michael King has recommended that that the defendant be sentenced to death by a vote of 12-0 in the rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Lee.

–In Session staff

SARASOTA, Florida – Closing arguments in the penalty phase concerning convicted killer Michael King have now concluded and the jury is deliberating over whether he should face the death penalty.

Prosecutor Lon Arend, foreground, delivers his closing argument in the penalty phase as defendant Michael King, second from right, sits with attorneys at the defense table

Prosecutor Lon Arend argued to the jury that King's actions in committing the murder of 21-year-old Denise Lee were heinous, atrocious and cruel. Arend described how King was abducted from her home and taken to King's home where she was then raped. Lee was was in the back of King's car and saw the shovel that King got from his cousin. The dramatic 911 call, from Lee herself using King's cell phone, came with her knowing that shovel was in the car with her, Arend told jurors.

Lee was taken to the woods, stripped naked and with one shot to the front temple of her head was shot dead. There is no evidence, Arend argued to the jury, that Lee had duct tape over her eyes. She saw everything up to and at the time of her death.

Public defender Carolyn Schlemmer started off her closing argument by telling the jury that regardless of their finding of aggravating circumstances, they are never required to return a recommendation of death. Schlemmer told them that a vote for life would mean King, now a convicted murderer, would take his last breath in a Florida state prison, and it doesn't diminish the loss of the precious life of Denise Lee.

The lead attorney urged the jury to focus on the entire life of King, one that included a life of non-aggressive behavior, being a good husband, father and boyfriend. She said witness testimony showed King exhibited good character traits during his life, a good record and background. Balance that, Schlemmer said, with the one "terrible, terrible day."

King's attorney also argued that harshest penalty is not appropriate because of the defendant's below average intelligence. There was no way he could calculate such a cold-hearted, pre-meditated murder. Schlemmer told the jury King would not have had the cognitive ability to murder Lee and plan to evade arrest.

The defense concluded by re-emphasizing the non-violent life of King and that nothing prior to January 17, 2008 contradicts those realities.

-Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SARASOTA, Florida – The death penalty phase has resumed today after a judge ruled that Michael King is compentent to proceed.

Judge Deno Economou rules that Michael King, right, is competent to proceed with the penalty phase

The proceeding was halted yesterday amid concerns over King's mental health. In a hearing outside the presence of the jury this morning, two psychological experts who examined King testified. Dr. Eddy Regnier said he believed King was mentally competent. The second doctor on the stand, Dr. Gregory Declue, had no ultimate opinion about King's competency, but did say King told him he wanted to proceed with the trial and was reluctant to talk about hearing voices.

That was enough for the judge bring the jury back and for witnesses to resume taking the stand for the defense. A prosecution rebuttal case will follow and then it will be up to a jury to recommend whether King should be executed for his crimes.

-Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

SARASOTA, Florida – In a shocking turn of events, Judge Deno Economou has halted the death penalty phase in the murder trial of Michael King.

The judge ordered a hearing to determine if Michael King, left, is competent

In his order, the judge cited the fact that the prosecution had brought up the issue of King's demeanor during the proceedings. The defense countered by raising the issue of competency. The judge said he was required to have King evaluated by experts.

Psychological experts will assess King Wednesday afternoon and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 am to determine if the penalty phase continues or not. 

If the court determines King does not have an understanding of the proceedings, a mistrial in the penalty phase of the case could be declared. If that occurred, a second penalty phase could proceed with a new jury if and when King is determined to be competent. The judge would also have the experts recommend what sort of psychological treatment King should receive.  

-Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SARASOTA, Florida – The defense put the brother of Michael King on the stand as their first witness on the second day of the penalty trial..

James King, the brother of the defendant, on the witness stand

James King testified that Michael came upon hard times in the fall of 2007, when his girlfriend left him, became unemployed and was subsequently facing foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings.

Defense attorneys will try to combine these facts with testimony from Dr. Joseph Wu, who testified that King's frontal lobe brain injury manifests itself through illogical actions primarily during times of stress. Under cross-examination with prosecutor Lon Arend, King's brother said  he never saw behaviorial or psychological issues with his younger brother as he was growing up.

Kerry King, Michael King's sister-in-law, testified she and her husband now have custody of King's son Matt, currently 13 1/2 years old. On cross-examination, the prosecution tried to point out that King's son is now in a good home, with parental guidance, well on his way to becoming a succesful adult.

In what the defense may believe was some of their strongest testimony, Michael King's former girlfriend Jennifer Robb testified she broke up with King Thanksgiving day, 2007, because of his extremely changed dimeanor. King was distraught, cold and dazed on a seemingly continual basis. He would have a blank stare on his face and took almost an hour to think about putting on clothes. "He acted like he was someplace else," Robb testified. On cross-examination, she admitted she was the aggressor in the relationship. She would throw things when angry and King would just walk away, never striking back.

-Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent