STORY: "Camm trial 9/24: Uncle testifies Camm was playing basketball," by reporter Gordon Boyd, published by Wave 3 News on September 24, 2013.
GIST: "Rob Stites called his notes "brainstorming," a place to collect his thoughts while investigating the murders of David Camm's wife and their two young children on September 28, 2000. But those notes included a conclusion that Camm could have gotten blood spots on his t-shirt, only as a result of high velocity impact spatter; namely, that he was so close by when at least one victim was shot that only he could have been the shooter. It was the linchpin in the Probable Cause Affidavit that led to Camm's arrest for murder three days later after the killings. Tuesday morning, Stites found himself answering for it as the first defense witness in Camm's third trial. "In hindsight, I would have kept my mouth shut," Stites told Special Prosecutor Stan Levco during cross-examination. Stites became part of the Camm murder investigation two days after the crimes, when then-Floyd County Prosecutor Stan Faith hired his boss, Rod Englert, an independent specialist blood-pattern analysis and crime scene reconstruction. Englert was unavailable initially so he sent Stites to take pictures and document evidence. Camm's team maintains that Faith misrepresented both the credentials and findings of Stiles when gathering and evaluating evidence; leading to miscalculations, erroneous conclusions and a rush to judgment. "I had done a lot of those (crime scene reconstructions) with Mr. Englert, but I don't know what I would define myself as," Stites told the jury. "You'd read only one book on blood stain analysis, and you'd not had any formal forensic training," said defense counsel Stacey Uliana......... Those conclusions also figured prominently in how Faith presented Stites' credentials and findings in Camm's first trial in 2002. "He (Faith) kept calling me ‘Professor', which made me uncomfortable," Stites told the jury. "I thought he was exaggerating a bit." Stites clarified his role during testimony in Camm's second trial. But such claims did not preclude presenting himself as a crime scene reconstructionist to a jury hearing another criminal case two months later. "Were you exaggerating then?" Uliana asked. "My roles were different," Stites answered. "During (Camm's) second trial I was referring to my role in the first." Stites also conceded errors in the Curriculum Vitae (detailing academic qualifications and experience) presented to jurors in Camm's first two trials. They indicated Stites was pursuing Master's or Doctorate degrees inn Fluid Analysis. "Saying that you had a course in Fluid Dynamics, you lied," Uliana said. "Yes, and I regret that," Stites replied.......
Sam Lockhart, Camm's uncle, was the first witness to establish Camm's alibi that he was at church playing basketball when the murders occurred. Lockhart told the jury that Camm already was on the court when he arrived at Georgetown Community Church sometime between 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. "David asked me to sit out the second game so he could work on getting his heart rate up," Lockhart said.........When jurors questioned, Lockhart said he'd spent "past six figures" for lawyers to defend Camm in his first two trials. He'd sold one company in Kentucky, and mortgaged a home. "I've invested my time, my money, my life," Lockhart told jurors. "I would not have invested one penny, if I believe David had killed Kim, Brad and Jill.""
http://www.wave3.com/story/23520756/camm-trial-924-uncle-testifies-camm-was-playing-basketball
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