A man on trial for a home-invasion robbery and subsequent attempted murder of a Vancouver police sergeant had visited the home weeks before the crime, a witness testified Monday.
Summer Sterrett, the mother of defendant Jeffery S. Reed’s son, told jurors she used to live at the Delaware Lane home with her three children, including Reed’s 10-year-old son.
She said she was visiting from California and staying with a resident there — a friend — in March 2009, when Reed came by to give her a ride to the airport. It was then that Reed discovered the resident’s new roommate, Albert Watts, had a medical marijuana card for a back disability, she said.
Reed, 27, and co-defendant Daylan E. Berg, 23, both of Portland, are on trial in Clark County Superior Court for allegedly robbing the home on April 15, 2009, and then shooting a Vancouver police sergeant who followed and stopped their car. The prosecution alleges Berg was the shooter and Reed was the driver.
The two also are alleged to have held Watts to the ground at gunpoint while stealing his cell phone, wallet, flat-screen TV and marijuana plants.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Denny Hunter has identified the medical marijuana as the motive for the robbery.
“Was the growing of the marijuana noticeable?” Hunter asked Sterrett in court Monday.
“Very,” the 28-year-old said, noting the plants, kept in the garage, gave off a strong odor.
Sterrett also told jurors that because she used to live with the resident and his dogs, they knew Reed and didn’t bark when he would come by.
In opening statements last week, attorneys had noted the dogs weren’t heard barking during the robbery.
When cross-examined by Berg’s attorney, Jeff Sowder, Sterrett clarified her testimony:
“They bark at every knock or doorbell,” she said. “They have to be told to stop barking.”
Several other witnesses testified for the prosecution Monday, including several Portland police officers who came across a white Kia Spectra the night of the shooting. Reed and Berg are alleged to have driven the car from the home in Vancouver to Southeast Portland, where they allegedly ditched it.
The trial in Judge Robert Lewis’ courtroom started May 14 with jury selection. It is expected to last at least until Thursday.
Source: The Columbian
If you know of an event that you feel should be listed on our calendar, please send details to info@mjdispensaries.com ~Thank You
Posts
