lying pretty close to her right foot, and an empty shell casing was found between her ankles. The police also found a bra next to her body.
Mary was unconscious and had a week pulse when the paramedics began to treat her injuries. The bullet entered her neck just above her clavicle and had struck her subclavicular artery, causing severe internal bleeding. In an attempt to preserve evidence, one of the police officers taped brown paper bags on Mary’s hands. She died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Jaeger told one of the officers that when he arrived home from work at about 7:30 p. m., the house appeared empty. However at 8:30 p. m., he discovered Mary’s thirteen-month-old daughter alone in a back bedroom. He admitted that he was angry and upset that Mary had left the child unattended. He called Judy Clark, Mary’s mother, in an attempt to locate Mary, but she did not know Mary’s whereabouts. Jaeger also told police that when Mary finally returned home at around 12:10 a.m., he told her that he was tired of her lying and wanted her out of the house by the next day. He said that he then called her mother again and that after a struggle, Mary reluctantly took the phone. He asserted that after Mary began talking to her mother, he threw a blanket and pillow into the hall for her and he then went to bed. He stated that he later awoke to a bang and that he found Mary lying unconscious on the kitchen floor. He maintained that she shot herself.
However, other evidence contradicted Jaeger’s story. The police swabbed both Jaeger’s and Mary’s hands for gunshot residue (“GSR”). These swabs were then taken to the state crime lab and examined by two separate experts. Both experts concluded that the swabs taken from Jaeger’s hands contained elements of GSR while the swabs taken from Mary’s hands did not. Thus the GSR evidence suggested that Jaeger, not Mary, had fired a gun. In addition to the GSR evidence, Dr. Edward A. Leis, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, performed an autopsy on Mary’s body. The autopsy showed that Mary died from a gunshot wound to the neck. Moreover, on the basis of the autopsy results, Dr. Leis opined that Mary’s death was a homicide, not a suicide.
The State charged Jaeger with second degree murder. However, at the preliminary hearing on that charge, the magistrate dismissed the information for lack of probable cause. The State appealed from the dismissal, and the court of appeals reversed. The central issue at Jaeger’s trial was whether Mary’s death was a suicide or a homicide. During trial, Jaeger sought to admit certain medical records from Valley Mental Health’s Adolescent Residential Treatment & Education Center (“ARTEC”). Mary was a resident of ARTEC from 1986 to 1987 because she was ungovernable, ran away from home, and abused alcohol and drugs. The ARTEC records contained statements Mary allegedly made admitting that she had attempted suicide in the past but denying any suicidal ideation while a resident of the program. The State objected to the admission of the records; the court sustained the objection, ruling that they were irrelevant.
Jaeger was ultimately convicted as charged and was sentenced to serve a term of five years in prison. Thereafter, he moved for a new trial on the basis that the trial court erroneously excluded evidence of Mary’s past suicide attempt. The court denied the motion. Jaeger now appeals.
UNIT 6. TEST YOUSELF
1. ( ! .
1.The adversarial system of justice means that ________
a) judges investigate the cases before them
b) judges reach the decisions based only on the evidence presented to them by the parties to the dispute
c) judges investigate the case and collect evidence
2.Criminal proceeding is brought by _________
a) the police
