Late report suggesting discovery of alleged weapon halts testimony in Strawn homicide trial

Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige confers with Juneau Police Sgt. Shawn Phelps before responding to Judge Philip Pallenberg during trial on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige confers with Juneau Police Sgt. Shawn Phelps before responding to Judge Philip Pallenberg during trial on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)

Testimony in the Christopher Strawn homicide trial was postponed on Friday after a late revelation suggesting the alleged murder weapon had been found. If true, this could dramatically alter the course of the trial — though the prosecution says it’s not the right weapon.

On Thursday, Tiffany Johnson testified about her relationship with Brandon Cook. Cook was 30 years old in October 2015 when he was shot in the back of the head inside of Johnson’s new trailer. Strawn, who was helping Johnson and Cook renovate the trailer, is accused of first-degree and second-degree murder, and other charges related to Cook’s death. Johnson was expected to testify on Friday about witnessing Strawn allegedly kill Cook.

During opening statements on Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige told the jury that the shotgun allegedly used to kill Cook has not been found, but pieces of its stock were allegedly found during a search of Strawn’s trailer immediately after Cook’s death.

About midday on Thursday, Johnson notified Paige and Juneau Police Sgt. Shawn Phelps, the lead investigator in the case, that an acquaintance had contacted her about potentially knowing the location or current owner of the alleged murder weapon.

Then Friday morning, while the jury was waiting in the jury room, Paige told Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg that Juneau police investigators spent all of Thursday afternoon tracing the provenance of the weapon, from its purchase in separate pieces from Rayco Sales to the current owner. Police were certain the weapon in question was not used to kill Cook. Paige also said the weapon is still missing a firing pin.

Although that investigation wrapped up at the close of the business day on Thursday, Paige did not notify Strawn’s defense about the development until just before trial resumed on Friday morning.

As explained by Judge Pallenberg, a revelation that the alleged murder weapon has been found or still exists could have a dramatic effect on the course of the trial.

“One theory, the state’s view, if that’s what turned out to be case, would be that it’s the gun that Mr. Strawn used to kill Mr. Cook,” Pallenberg said. “Alternatively, the defense view might be it’s a gun that was used by somebody else to kill Mr. Cook. I’m not sure in either case that it’s much of a cross examination issue for Miss Johnson …”
“Miss Johnson is the one who took the call,” interjected Strawn’s trial attorney, Eve Soutiere of the Office of Public Advocacy.
“…And so, everything she knows about it is what she was told to her in hearsay form,” Pallenberg continued.

Soutiere was livid and openly frustrated about getting blindsided about the discovery on Friday morning, moments before Johnson was expected to retake the witness stand and resume her testimony.

“I need to have time to investigate this,” Soutiere said. “I’m not the one who put this on my plate at 8:15 this morning after knowing that it was there 6 o’clock last night when I could’ve started working on it.”

Paige apologized for failing to timely notify the defense about the firearm and their investigation.

“I assure you that it wasn’t an intention to gain advantage or hide the ball,” Paige said.
“I’ve no reason to think that it was,” responded Pallenberg.

Soutiere was adamant about not simply taking the prosecution’s word about the weapon’s history, and wanted to delay the trial so her own investigators could check it out. Pallenberg decided to give Soutiere and her investigators a full trial day to track down the past and present owners of the firearm.

The jury was finally brought into the courtroom about 90 minutes after they arrived at the courthouse on Friday morning. Pallenberg acknowledged to jurors that the trial was already behind schedule, but he could not tell them why they were being sent home without hearing any testimony.

“I’ve said before, my foremost responsibility is to give both parties a fair trial, and that really takes precedence essentially over everything else,” Pallenberg said.

Johnson was about a quarter of the way through her testimony when the trial day ended on Thursday. She had not yet testified about the night of Oct. 20, 2015, when the prosecution has said she watched Cook die in her trailer. As long as there are no further delays, she could resume her testimony as soon as Monday morning.

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