Day 3 of trial: State rests its case, defense attorney says 'long road ahead'
Save Email Print
Bookmark and Share
Updated: 12:20 PM Feb 23, 2012
Day 3 of trial: State rests its case, defense attorney says 'long road ahead'
The prosecution has wrapped up their case and the third day of Thomas Bradford's trial has come to a close.
Posted: 1:06 PM Feb 22, 2012
Reporter: Sheli Muniz
Email Address: sheli.muniz@wrdw.com
width:640 and height: 360 and picwidth: 240 and pciheight: 135
Day 3 of Thomas Bradford's murder trial (WRDW-TV, February 22, 2012)
Font Size:

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012

4:14 p.m.
The state rested after its fourth witness, investigator James Edmunds. Court is done for the day.

3:49 p.m.
Bradford says he was getting slapped. His glasses fell off and he really couldn't see much. Suddenly he heard something go off like a firecracker.

He says he pulled the gun out because he just didn't want to get hit any more. Bradford seems really unsure of details. He says there were no witnesses except his dog. Investigators say there were.

3:46 p.m.
In the interrogation tape, Bradford says the gun went off while he was being "popped." Bradford says as soon as that happened he wanted an ambulance to get there. He admits to being hot-headed, but says Lee is, too.

He says he has had issues with Lee overloading in the past and had previously spoken to his supervisor.

3:42 p.m.
Courtroom is hearing the interrogation tape.

3:15 p.m.
Third witness of the day takes the stand, Ron Van Vactor-lead investigator in the shooting.

Initial report
EVANS, Ga. -- The case against a Hephzibah man accused of murdering a Columbia County employee last year has continued into Wednesday.

It's day three and the state is continuing with witness testimony, trying to prove Thomas Bradford killed Raymond Lee out of anger, not on accident.

The state has four more witnesses before resting. On Tuesday, the court heard from four others and listened to a disturbing 911 tape where Bradford admitted to shooting Lee.

Proceedings were delayed a little bit on Wednesday to address some concerns with the media.

News 12 asked Defense Attorney Victor Hawk for an interview. He agreed to speak to the media during a brief break. The state brought it up to the judge's attention after the trial resumed, due to concern about discussing a pending case.

Defense Attorney Victor Hawk told the judge his understanding is that he cannot discuss the merit of the case and specific evidence. He did not discuss these with the media.

Judge David Roper said, "well, the rules say we should not speak, I don't think it's an absolute."

He continued by saying, "the jurors are sequestered so they are instructed not to pay attention to any of the news media."

In an interview with Hawk, he said Bradford is "scared, concerned, he's trying to stay as calm as he can. When he goes on the stand, he's going to be extremely nervous, but he's going to tell the truth about what happened."

Hawk told News 12 that Bradford will take the stand later this week.

As for the rest of the day, the court is hearing from a defense's expert because of scheduling. Dr. Andre is an expert on human perception. He is on the stand to tell jurors what he thinks witnesses can actually hear and see from more than 100 yards away.

We've also learned the judge wants to talk to the media after Wednesday's proceedings to discuss the visit to the plant that jurors will take later this week.

Just before lunch, jurors heard from two of the state's witnesses, a GBI firearms expert and medical examiner. Family members wiped away tears and some people closed their eyes as the examiner showed postmortem photos to the jury.

Stay with News 12 for the latest updates


Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.


Copyright WRDW-TV News 12. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without express written permission.

Online Poll
There are currently no active polls at this time.
Click here to view other polls on our site and past poll results.
Sponsored Headlines