PUBLISHED FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2004

Defense wraps up case in Carter murder trial

`Everything has been said,` defendant says

Amber Bollman
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Daniel Carter decided not to testify in his own defense Thursday, as attorneys finished presenting evidence at the 16-year- old's first-degree murder trial.

"I believe everything has been said that needed to be said," Carter told Circuit Judge Terry Terrell.

Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer and defense attorney Patrece Cashwell are expected to offer closing arguments this morning before the jury begins deliberations.

Carter, who faces life in prison if convicted, kept his head bowed as graphic photographs of his uncle's dead body and the room where his uncle was killed were displayed in court.

Former associate medical examiner Michael Berkland presented dozens of slides depicting knife wounds on Jack Carter's arms, chest, head and neck.

Jack Carter suffered at least 10 cuts during a violent struggle with his teenage nephew on the night of July 16, 2002.

Daniel Carter has maintained that he cut his uncle with an antique knife in self-defense.

In interviews with investigators, Carter said his uncle charged into his bedroom that night, pulled him out of bed by his hair and beat him with his fists, feet and a large steel flashlight for 20 minutes.

A recording of the frantic 911 call placed by Cindy Carter as her brother lay bleeding in her arms was played in court Thursday.

Jurors heard sobs and screams on the recording of the call.

"Why isn't somebody here?" Cindy Carter asked on the tape after explaining to an emergency dispatcher what had occurred. "He's bleeding to death."

Berkland discussed in detail the wounds Jack Carter suffered and explained the patterns of blood found spattered at the crime scene.

A forensic pathologist and crime scene analyst, Berkland said the evidence he reviewed seemed to support Daniel Carter's claims of a sudden struggle in the cramped bedroom.

"These are struggle kinds of injuries," Berkland said. "They're not wounds that seemed to be inflicted intentionally."

Berkland's statements contradicted earlier testimony by former District 1 Medical Examiner Gary Cumberland, who performed the autopsy on Jack Carter's body.

Cumberland had said many of the wounds appeared to be "classic defense injuries," indicating that Jack Carter was trying to fend off an attack.

Rimmer reminded jurors after Berkland's testimony that Berkland was discharged from his position by Cumberland last year.

In addition to autopsy and crime scene photos, Cashwell presented the ripped, bloody T-shirt Daniel Carter was wearing the night of his uncle's death and two knives and a 7-foot piece of rope that Jack Carter was carrying when he was killed.

Daniel Carter told investigators his uncle had threatened to tie him up and castrate him for disobeying his mother and getting into trouble.

An employee at the juvenile assessment center where Carter was taken after his arrest said the teenager did not appear angry -- just "traumatized and glazed over."

On Wednesday, friends and neighbors of Jack Carter defended the Navarre Beach man's character -- saying he was not violent and did not appear to be angry or upset that night.

However, his brother, David Carter, said tearfully on Thursday that he and Jack often received violent punishment as children.

He said they often were beaten by their mother, who David Carter said equated discipline with physical pain.

While Cashwell has argued that Daniel Carter was trying to protect himself from an abusive and enraged uncle, witness Brian Voeks testified Wednesday that he heard the teenager make a comment about slitting his uncle's throat earlier on the day of their fatal struggle.