Suspect testifies on ’07 stabbing

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Whisman is being tried for the Sept. 25, 2007, murder of Rodney ‘‘Rudy” Barry Gray, 20, of St. Leonard.

Defense attorney Robert Bonsib of Greenbelt then asked Judge Warren Krug for an acquittal for the first- and second-degree murder charges saying that the state failed to prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt the intent and motive required as a standard for the charges.

Assistant State’s Attorney Francis Longwell disagreed and said testimony given by Whisman stated that he opened the buck knife when he got it, which shows premeditation, and put the knife to Gray’s chest showing his intent to kill Gray. Sufficient evidence was given for the charges, she said.

The judge’s decision on the acquittal was not made before press time.

Gray was stabbed once in the heart after an altercation in the backseat of a Ford Explorer with five occupants as it was parked at the end of a driveway just off Ball Road. Gray died from his injuries later that night and Whisman was indicted for first and second degree murder and first-degree assault, according to court records.

Longwell called numerous Calvert County detectives to the stand to recall the events and the interviewing of Whisman and other witnesses at the scene. Detectives testified to the written statements made by the witnesses and Whisman, and verified that all his rights were given to him prior to all questioning.

Longwell used diagrams plotting the layout of the crime scene and had witnesses draw out pictures labeling their proximity and angle to the vehicle in which the stabbing occurred after 9 p.m.

Whisman took the stand as the defense’s only witness and Bonsib asked him numerous questions on the events two weeks prior that led up to Whisman and the other four going to the house on Ball Road.

Whisman said he went to Ball Road to settle a dispute about stolen property, and he did not know Gray or other people at the residence.

Whisman painted a picture of chaos at the scene in the brief moments prior, during and after the stabbing. He said he took the closed buck knife from the driver of the vehicle because he was scared and used the knife to try to get Gray out of the backseat of the vehicle while he was pushing him with the other hand.

During Whisman’s cross examination by Longwell, she grilled him on his statements to Bonsib and said he escalated the then-quiet demeanor of the crowd at the home by yelling and shouting profanity at a woman, and then smashing a beer bottle at her feet.

Longwell asked Whisman why he did not hold the knife up to Gray’s face if he was just trying to scare Gray, and not to his chest. She also asked the court if Whisman used the knife in self defense, ‘‘why did he not contact the police and tell them he was attacked?” She also reminded the jury of testimony from the previous day when Whisman denied knowing that there was a knife or stabbing Gray during four to five hours of police questioning.

‘‘You figured you were going to skate on this, didn’t you?” she said to Whisman.

Whisman said he was afraid to tell the police the truth during the questioning that night. He eventually told police about stabbing Gray the next morning after he talked with his longtime friend Michael Credeur, who was in the vehicle at the time and told Whisman that he told the police Whisman stabbed Gray.

Evidence, such as the knife that was allegedly used in the stabbing, was identified by several of the witnesses. And the blood-spotted and hole-laden shirt Whisman had on the night of the stabbing was also identified by witnesses.

Testimony from Sgt. Gregory Hollinger of the Calvert Investigative Team filled up Monday afternoon, with segments of an audio tape of his interrogation played to the jury as they viewed more than 80 pages of transcripts while listening to the tape.

Hollinger questioned Whisman from just before 2 a.m. until 4:30 a.m. in the hours after the stabbing, but Whisman did not admit knowing anything about the stabbing or a knife, according to the audio tape.

Dfc. Vladimir Bortchevsky, who is a member of the Calvert Investigative Team, led the investigation and took the stand telling the court about the specifics of the investigation and the questioning of Whisman.

Hollinger used information obtained from witnesses at the scene by other investigators to set up a scenario of what happened and relayed it to Whisman during the interrogation. During Hollinger’s cross examination, Bonsib asked Hollinger if his scenario was based on factors of witness testimony and Hollinger said that it was part truth and part speculation.

Bonsib listed 17 factors on a large tablet in front of the jury that Hollinger speculated on during the two-and-a-half-hour interview with Whisman. Factors included that Whisman did not intend to hurt anyone, he reacted out of reflex or survival instinct, it happened very quickly and some guy was ‘‘coming in the [car] door.” Hollinger said some of the factors came from testimony and some from speculation, and he explained that he created a self-defense theme to try to get Whisman to admit to the stabbing.

Bonsib was laying the groundwork of his case on self defense, which he said in opening statements was the reason Whisman stabbed Gray. Bonsib also suggested in his opening statement that the stabbing might have been accidental.

The recording was made after Whisman was charged with murder and while he was being held at the detention center the day after the stabbing. It was after that taped phone call that Whisman admitted to police to possibly stabbing Gray, or that Gray may have jumped into the knife.

Sgt. Tim Fridman of the Calvert Investigative Team also interviewed Whisman about two hours after the crime, and told the court that he saw no visible injuries on Whisman, who said he had glass in his eye when he arrived at the sheriff’s office. Whisman’s eye was flushed, and then Whisman signed a medical form waiving any other medical treatment, Fridman said.

Testimony from numerous young adult eye witnesses varied somewhat as to the events leading up to the stabbing and whether the windows of the Ford Explorer were smashed out before, after or during the stabbing. Witness testimony also showed discrepancies as to the positions of both Whisman and Gray during the altercation. Testimony said both that Gray voluntarily jumped into the backseat of the vehicle to confront Whisman and started hitting him, and some witnesses said Gray was pulled into the vehicle and held there in a head-lock prior to being stabbed.

Bonsib used written statements collected by police the night of the crime to try to discredit several state witnesses who did not accurately follow their written statements while they were on the stand. Longwell suggested that the witnesses were not clear-headed the night of the stabbing due to the speed in which it transpired and their heightened state of anxiety. Bonsib argued that the written statements that night would be more accurate because it was fresh in their minds.

The courtroom was filled with Gray’s family and friends during all four days of testimony as they listened along with the jury.