RAINES TO FACE TRIAL VICTIM'S GIRLFRIEND GIVES CHILLING TESTIMONY IN HEARING.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - Fatal beating victim Christopher O'Leary's girlfriend testified in court Friday that he was kicked in the head by Littlerock High School Littlerock High School is a public, co-educational high school located in Littlerock, California. It is the a part of the Antelope Valley High School District (AVHSD). External links
Asked by prosecutor to describe the kick, Stacy Holzer said: ``Very hard.'' After testimony from Holzer, other people at the party where O'Leary was beaten, and a coroner's official, Lancaster Superior Court Judge Carol Koppel ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to justify a trial on murder and assault charges. In her testimony, Holzer said she had been attempting to hug O'Leary when Raines' football teammate Richard Newton Richard Newton (1777 – 1798) was an English caricaturist. Short lived but brilliant British Caricaturist. He published his first caricature at 13. Pioneer of the strip form of cartoon. punched her boyfriend. The blow caused O'Leary's eyes to roll up, and he fell to the ground, she said. ``I knelt down and he was just kind of shaking, pretty much his whole body,'' Holzer said. ``I got on top of him and tried to grab his head.'' As she was doing so, Raines kicked O'Leary in the side of his head, Holzer said. With the kick, she said, her boyfriend's head ``jumped, it went toward the side.'' Newton and Rodney Woods, another former football teammate and Littlerock High track star, have already pleaded no contest to lesser charges, leaving Raines the only one of the three original defendants still facing a murder charge. Newton, 17, was sentenced last week to four years in state prison for involuntary manslaughter The act of unlawfully killing another human being unintentionally. Most unintentional killings are not murder but involuntary manslaughter. The absence of the element of intent is the key distinguishing factor between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. and assault. Woods entered a no-contest plea to assault and was sentenced to a year in jail. The assault charges were for beating Kevin Walker For other persons of the same name, see Walker. Kevin Walker is the name of:
O'Leary, an 18-year-old former Littlerock High School student, was punched and kicked just after midnight May 20 when he went to pick up his girlfriend, a Littlerock High cheerleader, at a football team member's birthday party. Since O'Leary's death, witnesses' accounts have differed over whether he had argued with Woods or anyone else, or if anybody tried to intervene in an argument between O'Leary and Holzer. They also have differed as to who kicked O'Leary. In court Friday, Holzer acknowledged that O'Leary had raised his voice while talking about why she had gone to the party without him, but she said they hadn't been arguing. She said nobody tried to intercede as they talked, and she didn't see O'Leary arguing with any partygoer. But she also said she didn't know if O'Leary somehow angered any of the three defendants. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if they hit him out of the blue,'' she said. Friend William Stiles Stiles can refer to: People
tr.v. dis·o·ri·ent·ed, dis·o·ri·ent·ing, dis·o·ri·ents To cause (a person, for example) to experience disorientation. Adj. 1. O'Leary home from the party, said he saw O'Leary talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Woods sometime before he was hit, but didn't know if they had been arguing. ``I don't know if I would call it an argument. It could have been an argument or not. I was not really paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard ,'' Stiles said in court. Partygoer Jared Hernandez said he saw an exchange of words between Woods and O'Leary. Other people broke it up, he said. Prosecutors originally said they considered Woods the instigator in·sti·gate tr.v. in·sti·gat·ed, in·sti·gat·ing, in·sti·gates 1. To urge on; goad. 2. To stir up; foment. [Latin of the attack. They said Newton and Raines said Woods told them O'Leary wanted to fight him, and they went to help their friend. Another partygoer told investigators he restrained Woods while O'Leary was attacked. Forensic pathologist Dr. Eugene Carpenter said O'Leary died from blunt trauma blunt trauma Molecular Any injury sustained from blunt force, which may be related to MVAs, or mishaps, falls or jumps, blows or crush injuries from animals, blunt objects or unarmed assailants. Cf Penetrating trauma. to head. ``It was severe impact to the head, either from the head falling and striking a hard surface, or a direct impact into the head, or a combination of both,'' Carpenter said. O'Leary's injuries are of a type more commonly associated with a fall to the ground, the pathologist testified. A blow also could cause them, but that's more unusual, he said. Defense attorney William McKinney William McKinney (17 September, 1895 - 14 October, 1969) was an American jazz drummer who led a series of musical groups, most notably McKinney's Cotton Pickers. William "Bill" McKinney was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky. said the pathologist's testimony undermined the prosecution's case that Raines' kick killed O'Leary. ``The coroner's testimony was devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. ,'' McKinney said. ``He indicated more than likely the cause of death was Christopher O'Leary hitting the sidewalk. More than one witness said he was kicked by more than one person. At least one witness said that Marcus kicked the victim in the stomach, which is what Marcus had told the police.'' Deputy District Attorney Melita Montgomery disputed McKinney's interpretation of the pathologist's testimony. ``He said either one of those injuries was sufficient in and of themselves to cause the death. It's not devastating to the prosecution,'' Montgomery said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Marcus Raines enters a Lancaster courtroom for his hearing Friday. (2) Former Littlerock High athlete Marcus Raines appears in a Lancaster court Friday. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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