Curtis Vance Murder Trial: Jury Sent Home, Defense Plans To Rest

The defense started its case in part by following the trail of witnesses laid out by the state. Attorneys recalled a state Crime Lab specialist and Little Rock police, many of whom were called by the state days earlier. The defense questioned them about their handling of the case, the evidence and the testing of trace evidence.

While the jury was sent home late Tuesday afternoon, attorneys will remain in court until 6 p.m. They are discussing evidence that was ruled inadmissible at trial and entering it into the record in case of an appeal.

Judge Chris Piazza is asking attorneys to begin closing arguments Wednesday.

Extra security has been brought in because they want the added security when the verdict is delivered. 
 
Prosecutors rested Friday after a medical examiner testified that Pressly died from blunt force trauma to her head. In great detail, Dr. Stephen Erickson said Tuesday that Pressly was the victim of a violent attack that likely included either a pistol-whipping or an attack with a club. He said that one blow knocked a tooth out of Pressly's mouth and that another shoved her jaw backward, cutting off blood flow to her brain.

Pressly's mother, Patty Cannady, was not in court during the testimony and has excused herself for most of Tuesday's testimony. When court recessed she did, however, break down in tears and was very emotional. Before Erickson began his testimony, the prosecutor asked Pressly's stepfather, Guy Cannady, if he would be all right and he nodded and said yes.

Morning testimony picked up where it left off Friday afternoon with testimony about Vance's four statements. Little Rock police lead Detective J.C. White said that Vance not only changed his story with each statement, but also changed his story four different times in his last four-hour video statement. Vance's lawyers said that police steered the interview back to their evidence when Vance's story was inconsistent with their evidence. White countered that they were getting him back on track when he would lie.

White gave the following examples:

• He said his car overheated and she offered him water. However, White said there was no evidence of this or a water glass.
• Vance said there were no dogs and there were two.
• He said there was nothing but wine in the refrigerator and White said there was no wine at all.

White said of Vance's four statements, the fourth one had some semblance of the truth. He mentioned in the statement that there was a dog gate and White said there was a dog gate. at Pressly's home. He also mentioned that he was hungry and looking for food in her pantry and Pressly's pantry doors were open. Vance also knew that one of the bedrooms in her home had been converted to a walk-in closet.

Vance's attorneys also mentioned that Vance didn't know he was being videotaped and detectives misled him by starting and stopping the tape recorder. White said that they had plenty of notes to corroborate his statement regardless of whether or not it was being videotaped. Arkansas is a single party state, so legally only one party has to know they are being videotaped.

Vance has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and other charges. He could be sentenced to death if convicted.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)