DES MOINES, Iowa — Testimonies from first responders and analysts filled most of Day 4 at Preston Walls' Starts Right Here shooting trial.
Walls is charged with fatally shooting 18-year-old Gionni Dameron and 16-year-old Rashad Carr at the alternative education program Starts Right Here back in January. The center's founder, Will Keeps, was also injured in the shooting.
The morning began with more testimonies from crime scene investigators and first responders.
One testimony came from a criminalist who surveyed the gun that Walls' allegedly used the day of the shooting.
However, in cross examination, the type of bullet found inside Dameron's chest sparked some questions from the defense.
The defense asked Michael Tate, criminalist for the Iowa Department of Public Safety Firearms and Toolmarks Labratory: "So is it fair to say that that gun, excuse me, that particular bullet in Mr. Dameron's chest came from another source other than the gun that you examined on this day? "
Tate confirmed this question, responding with "Yes."
Various detectives from the scene also took the stand.
One detective was sent to search the car used to drive Walls away from the scene, and another shared about his investigation of surveillance video at Starts Right Here.
Benjamin Carter with the Des Moines Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit pointed out that Walls was not in the same room with any of the victims that day — until the hour of the shooting.
Carter watched all the surveillance footage from the day of the shooting.
"Now there were times that Preston would sit down, he'd get up, he'd go to the front, he'd come back in the room," Carter said. "But that was the most concentrated time that they were at least in the same room."
Later in the day, the judge denied the defense's Tuesday request for a mistrial, but said he would consider a curated instruction.
That means that the judge can tell the jury to disregard a certain comment made by a witness.
The defense prompted for a mistrial after one witness took the stand and referred to the defendant as "the bad guy" before "smirking" at the jury when his response was objected.
"All we've been seeking, and we've been getting it throughout this entire process is a fair shot at this trial. The comment that he made wasn't elicited by the state, they didn't ask that question. He just threw it in there," defense attorney Darren Page said in response to the judge's decision.
"I'm not sure what most of that was other than complaining," prosecuting attorney Daniel Vogt added.
The trial will reconvene at 9 a.m. on Thursday.