Truthful Politics

After two and a half days of deliberation the jury came back in the Robert Reaves murder trial of Latrese Curtis as guilty. After watching the trial for the past week I cannot figure out how they came to this conclusion as I would not have been able to convict him.

I will post more on the trials and evidence or lack thereof, and then we can all form our own ideas. In the meantime if you happen to have any information that can shed some light as to why all 12 said he was guilty please email me or call.

Thanks you.
Cathy

The state and defense attorneys rested their case today after 100 plus pieces of evidence was admitted and numerous witnesses and experts gave testimonies for the past 6 days. If I was on the jury I would have a very hard time deciding this case and Indo not envy them for the task ahead.

When the scene was first discovered by people on their way down I-540, until evidence was gathered, there were numerous cars and people on the scene. I was really not able to discern from testimony whether the scene was really kept pure from beginning to end. Tammy Malinowski, of the City County Bureau of Investigation (CCBI) sketched the scene and evidence, she also video-taped the path of the evidence leading to Latrese Curtis' body. However, there was a discrepancy in the sketch as it showed the cell phone was located differently than what the video showed.

In regards to Robert Reaves' (the accused) car it was not shown that Robert Reaves was actually behind the wheel. His boarder Steven Randolph also had access to the car and keys anytime he wanted to use it. Even though the car was reported on the scene other witnesses also said it was a white cargo van, one even stating that it had no windows on the side.

Shawn Lilyquist, also of the CCBI processed three vehicles; Latrese Curtis, Steven Randolph, and Robert Reaves. She collected evidence from Mr. Reaves vehicle but did not bag and tag all things in his car. She stated there was a screwdriver that she did not collect. All prints in Latrese and Robert's vehicles were there own. Here is where it gets sticky... over nine months later Robert Reaves' vehicle is again processed, but this time by Alfred Sternberg of the Wake County Sheriff's Office of Criminal Investigation. This time he found a knife in the rail under the back seat, he also found a fingernail, numerous papers, and another screwdriver among other things. Which made me wonder why didn't Ms. Lilyquist of the CCBI see and gather these things also. The defense asked Mr. Sternberg if he could tell if there was blood on any of the items and he stated that he could not tell. He was asked again by Mr. Kelly, Robert Reaves' attorney, and he said that he 'did not see anything overtly like a blood drop.' Defense then asked 'you collect not on your observation but on what SBI can find? Whereas, Mr. Sternberg replied that it is 'certainly an objective and his is to collect and preserve...' At no time did the defense ask if the vehicle was at all times in a secure area, at least not that I heard, I had made a notation ...if vehicle was secured from February '08 until October '08?

There were quite a few other things that made flags go up for me but I will not state them all here until after the jury has submitted a verdict. Tomorrow is closing arguments so we should hear from the jury sometime tomorrow.

September 29, 2009 was the first day at Wake County Courthouse for the murder trial of Robert Reaves. It is alleged that Robert Reaves murdered Latrese Curtis by stabbing her 36 times (according to the medical examiner's report) and leaving her body alongside Interstate 540 in Raleigh, near the Louisburg Exit.

This case is one where a score card is needed as there are threads of connections throughout.

Darin Curtis was her husband and he attended NC State while also working a part-time job.

Steven Randolph was Latrese's friend and lover who attended NC Central. He lived with the accused Robert Reaves in a basement apartment of Reaves' house. Also living in the house was Reaves' sister Wilma Mae Thorpe aka Poochie (spelling unknown as of this writing). Wilma, according to Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Lindow's opening statement, will testify that her brother did not go to church that evening like he stated.

Velma (last name unknown as of this writing) is a friend of Steven Randolph and supposedly had minor run-ins with Robert Reaves. According to the opening statement made by Ms. Lindow, Velma received threatening phone calls and phone records show that Robert Reaves had made a call to Velma's number. Velma also had her tires slashed but they did not state that Robert Reaves was found to have done this.

Kimberly Parker a friend of Latrese Curtis received a call at 2 a.m. from Latrese. Latrese did not speak but Kimberly could hear the sounds of someone walking on what sounded like gravel and cars passing by.

Testimony given by Darin Curtis explains the day before when he last saw Latrese. He awoke at 6:30 a.m., Latrese left for school around 7:15 a.m. and he left for work about 10 minutes after that. He talked to Latrese later that day around 5:00 p.m. and he told her he had a Beta Alpha Phi meeting at 7:00, and she said she was going to go to the library. Darin left the meeting when it let out at 8:30 p.m. to go home. He again talked to Latrese at 10 p.m. when she said she was going to leave the library, grab a bite to eat and then head home. Mr. Curtis went to bed around 11:30 p.m.

The next morning at 6:30 a.m. he awoke to find that Latrese was not home. He called her cell phone but got her voice mail and did not leave a message. He did not think anything was wrong, he thought maybe Latrese went to her parents to eat and she spent the night there. On his way to work he took I-540 passing the crime scene. As he was passing and noticed the tarp, thoughts came to the back of his mind regarding Latrese. He then went back home where he made more phone calls looking for Latrese. He went online to AT&T's site to look up Latrese's call history. He found one number that was called a lot that evening so he tried the number and asked how that person knew Latrese. The man on the other end kept asking if Latrese was okay and Darin Curtis hung up the phone. Turns out that man was Steven Randolph.

When the defending attorney cross-examined Darin Curtis he asked, how long does it take to get home from Central? Darin estimated it to be 45 - 60 minutes. He asked Darin what time he went to bed, with Darin replying 11:30. The attorney then asked what time Mr. Curtis got up the next morning and Darin answered 6:30. Defense asked if Darin had seen his wife's car on the news and he stated he did not. Darin said he was on the scene at 7:45 a.m. when asked by the defense what time he initially arrived at the scene. Darin also responded to questioning that he went back home and then went back to the scene after making phone calls. He was asked by the defense if he went to GEICO.com at 8:58 a.m. to check on the car insurance of Latrese and Mr. Curtis denied this. He also was asked if he checked Latrese's voice mail and he denied that allegation. He also said he had no knowledge of Latrese's affair until it came about during the investigation.

Frank David a detective with Wake County Sheriff's Department for 14 years testified that he interviewed Mr. Darin Curtis that day and pictures were taken of Darin's head, torso, top and bottom of hands and there were no injuries to him. The pictures used during this testimony were State's Evidence 12-15.

Lunch break until 2 p.m. was called.