Uncle’s Repeated Neck Squeezing Shows Intent to Kill Girl: State

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Good morning. We began this journey together approximately two weeks ago. And we began that journey by talking about the function of the jury. What is your function? We talked a little bit about how you perform your function. We talked a little bit about the law. Now we're going to talk and remind you what your function is. Your function, as we discussed, and as the judge will instruct you, is to listen to the evidence. And we thank you for sitting here for the last two, two and a half weeks. Thank you on behalf of the state. And we thank you for on behalf of Peyton Fields. As you listen to the evidence, and as you go back into the deliberation room, you're to determine the facts. You're to judge the credibility of witnesses. And I'll remind you, you can choose to believe all, none, or some of what a witness tells you. We spoke about direct and circumstantial evidence. And I will remind you, direct evidence is testimony from a witness that has direct knowledge of a particular fact. But circumstantial evidence, and we spend a lot of time on this, is a proof of a chain of facts leading to the guilt or innocence of that defendant. We spoke about this, when you're analyzing facts, when you're judging the credibility of witnesses, you must not do it in a vacuum. You must analyze facts and credibility of a witness against all other believable facts in the case. And we went through some of the examples of that, if you remember the RAIN analogy. And we talked about, if you see someone walk in and you have one fact, and it could be a possibility of something. Then we added more facts to it. And that possibility, the first time, or the first possibility, kind of went away. Because as you looked at all the facts, you were able to come up with a different conclusion. Possibilities versus reasonable. You're to applaud the law as the judge instructs you. You're to render a verdict. And you're not to be influenced by any potential sentence. That's your function. That's your function. Analyze the facts against all the other believable evidence. Apply the laws that were about to go over. Render a verdict accordingly. I'm going to remind you of the burden of proof. The burden of proof, the state is only required to present evidence that fully satisfies and entirely convinces you of the defendant's guilt. That's the burden of proof. It's not required to prove, the state is not required to prove beyond all doubt. And I told you this. That you're going to have some doubt. But is it beyond a reasonable doubt? We're not required to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt. There's no such thing as a shadow of a doubt. Is the doubt based on reason and common sense? Is the doubt based on reason and common sense? A reasonable doubt is not vain and it's not fanciful doubt. Hold us to our burden, but don't hold us to more than our burden. So let's go through the law. And you'll get a copy of the judge's instructions. And it will talk about the law and the instructions. But you're going to decide two charges. The first one being statutory sexual offense of a child by an adult. And we talked about that in our criminal law, there are elements. And we must prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt each element. So for statutory sexual offense, there's only three elements. The defendant engaged in sexual act with the alleged victim. Our courts have said a sexual act means any penetration, however slighted by an object into the genital or anal opening of a person's body. State v. Lucas, our Supreme Court in 302, NC 342 says this. Second, we have to prove that the victim, Peyton Fields, was a child under the age of 13 years. Lastly, the defendant was at least 18 years of age. There's only three elements. There's only three. When we talk about penetration, our Supreme Court in State v. Johnson and our Court of Appeals in State v. Bellamy have said that in the context of rape cases, evidence that the defendant entered the labia is sufficient to prove the element of penetration. And the Court of Appeals in State v. Bellamy went further and said we find no reason to establish a different standard for sexual offense. Penetration of the labia. So let's go back. Defendant engaged in sexual act with an alleged victim. Sexual act means any penetration of the labia, however slighted by an object into the genital or anal opening of Peyton Fields. Any object encompasses any object, including human body parts. The second charge that you're going to consider is first-degree murder. And we discussed this. There are two ways to prove first-degree murder. The first is by premeditation and deliberation. The second is felony murder. And we'll take these one at a time. You may find the defendant guilty of murder either based on malice, premeditation, or deliberation. We'll start there. There's five elements. Defendant intentionally and with malice killed the victim with a deadly weapon. Defendant's act was approximate cause of the victim's death. The defendant intended to kill the victim. The defendant acted after premeditation. And the defendant acted after deliberation. So let's take each one separately. Malice means this, and the judge will instruct you on this. Malice means feel, will, hate, or spite. It also means a condition of mind which prompts a person to take the life of another intentionally or to intentionally inflict serious bodily harm which proximally results in death without just cause, excuse, or justification. Malice. The condition of mind that prompts a person to take a ligature, wrap it around a five-year-old's neck, and squeeze until she dies. That's malice. Premeditation. Premeditation means you've formed some intent over some period of time, however short or short yet. We talked about this in jury selection. Some would say, well, I need, it's a plan. You don't have to go into a particular situation with a plan before you form premeditation. It can be over some period of time, however short. I would contend that when you wrap a ligature around a five-year-old's neck, you've begun your premeditation. I would contend as you squeeze for minutes, you're continuing to form your premeditation. I would contend you lay a little girl back on the sofa, whether you knew she was dead or not, she continued to suffer. But as you're doing it, as you're squeezing, as the ligature is being placed around her neck, as you're cutting off blood flow, you're forming an intent to kill over some period of time, however short. You have to act within a cool state of mind, you have to act within a cool state of mind, intent to kill was formed with a fixed purpose. Again, we go back to it. It's not some suddenly aroused, violent passion. There was a conscious decision to place a ligature around a five-year-old's neck and squeeze. And you've heard from multiple experts that said, we believe it wasn't just squeeze, it was squeeze, release, and squeeze due to the amount of petechia or petechiae in her face, her eyes, her gums, her scalp. There, above the ligature mark. Fixed purpose. [00:10:47] Speaker 2: So, how do you prove it? [00:10:50] Speaker 1: Peyton isn't here to tell you how it happened. Peyton isn't here to tell you how it felt. Peyton can't tell you with her own voice what was said before and during. So, you must look at circumstantial evidence. Look at the lack of provocation by the victim. A five-year-old? A five-year-old? What provocation is there for a five-year-old to place a ligature around her neck and squeeze until she's dead? Conduct of the defendant before, during, and after the killing. And we'll get to this later when we talk about the defendant. Use of grossly excessive force. You placed a ligature around a little girl's neck. And you squeezed for minutes. And experts would say, you let go. And you squeezed for minutes. Is that grossly excessive? First of all, placing a ligature around a little girl's neck and squeezing is grossly excessive. But sitting there and releasing and doing it again, absolutely, it's grossly excessive. Brutal or vicious circumstances is the killing. What's more brutal than squeezing the life out of a child? Manner and means by which the killing was done. It takes some thought to reach over and grab a ligature. It takes some thought to take the ligature and wrap it around the neck. It takes some thought to squeeze, release, and squeeze. So if we go back and look at premeditation and deliberation. Do we have malice? Yes. Do we have proximate cause? We didn't get into that. You've heard three experts talk about what caused her death. Do we have someone intending to kill the victim? What's the other reason for placing a ligature around somebody's neck and squeezing? Cutting off the blood flow. Was there premeditation, no matter how short? And was it done with fixed purpose? The answer is yes to every one of those. The question you're going to have to answer, was it the defendant? And we'll get to that. For those five elements, Peyton Fields was intentionally killed by strangulation. The question we'll have to answer is, was it the defendant? So the second way we can prove this is under the felony murder rule. And if you remember, we spoke about this in jury selection, that during the course of a dangerous felony, you kill somebody. And we use the example of a robbery. But let's look at this case. There's three elements. Defendant committed statutory sex offense of a child by an adult. That while committing the felony, the defendant killed the victim with a deadly weapon. The defendant's act was a proximate cause for the victim's death. Again, proximate cause is not an issue. You've heard from three experts. Peyton was killed by strangulation, from a ligature. She was killed with a deadly weapon, the ligature. Is there any question that she was sexually assaulted? Not a bit. You heard from a critical care doctor who said, his nurse said, doc, there's something wrong. He looks down, says something wrong. He calls the same nurses, two of them. Actually, one of them and another one came. They both saw her injuries. They walked you through the pictures. We have hemorrhaging within the labia, past the labia. We have injuries. We have hemorrhage on the 3 o'clock. We have hemorrhage on the 5 to 7 o'clock. We have the hemorrhage on the 11 o'clock. We have a laceration to the clitoral hood. We have anal lacerations. Is there any question that Peyton Fields was sexually assaulted? The answer is no. Again, the question you're going to have to answer, was it the defendant? And we'll get to that. Therefore, if you find sexual assault and you find that she was killed by strangulation, guilty of felony murder. Now, you may be asking yourself, was the killing done before the sexual assault or after the sexual assault? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. We don't have to prove the timing of it. What our courts say is if the killing is part of a series of incidents that form one continuous transaction, it is immaterial whether the felony occurred prior to or immediately after the killing, says our state supreme court and state bewilded news. The temporal order, meaning the timing of the killing and the felony is immaterial where there's a continuous transaction. And it's immaterial whether the intent to commit the felony was formed before or after the killing, provided that the felony and the killing are aspects of a single transaction. You've heard from our same nurses. That was an acute injury. It wasn't healing. It didn't happen days before. They are seeing these lacerations and hemorrhages on Peyton Fields hours after she was brought to Pender ER. Do not get caught up in the timing of it. We do not have to prove to you the timing of it. So let's talk. That's the law. You'll get a copy of it. Walk through it. So let's look at our case. Because the question is going to be, who did it? Who did it? November 12th and November 13th, 2017. We know at 104 Blackwater Drive, there were five individuals in a house. Five individuals in a house. Lisa Hunt. Dale Hunt. Savannah Fields. Peyton Fields. David Prevatt. Only five people. Inside the house. One of them is dead. We know that the door was locked. We know nobody could have broken in there. There are no signs of forced entry. You can see pictures of the door. You know there's two pit bulls in. You know that nobody broke into that house. Nobody broke into that house. So this isn't someone coming from the outside to the inside. There are five individuals in the house. There are five individuals in the house. One is dead. And somebody inside that house. And somebody inside that house did it. So let's look at the timeline. And this timeline is based on testimony that you've heard. And this timeline is based upon testimony that you've heard. In the evening hours, the defendant was outside smoking weed with friends, goes riding around with Melissa Brown. So at some time in the evening, David Prevatt is outside the house. We know while he is outside the house, there are four individuals inside the house. Lisa Hunt, Dale Hunt, Savannah, and Peyton. We've heard from Lisa there was nothing wrong with Peyton at that time. While David is outside, there's nothing wrong. She's sick. She's been feeling ill, you know, a couple of days before that. You've heard her testify to that. You've heard the doctor say, yeah, there's some congestion there. She had pneumonia. The question is, when did the pneumonia come about? But you heard from Savannah and from Lisa. Peyton was sick, but she was fine. She had no ligature marks. She was conscious. So David's outside. You've heard from everyone that was outside with him. Jamie Sykes, Melissa Brown, Michael Hall. We were outside. We never went inside. We never went inside. We were hanging out with David on the outside. But what were they doing? Well, they were outside smoking weed. Both Jamie Sykes says that. Both Melissa Brown says that. We know David comes back in at some point. But before he does, Dale goes to bed. You heard from Dale. You've heard from Lisa. He goes to bed. Why does he go to bed so early? Because he wakes up in the early morning hours to go work at the pig farm. So he goes to bed sometime between 8 and 9. There's no distress in the house. None whatsoever. Payton is fine. She is sick. But she is fine. Lisa will tell you that while David was outside, she, Dale Hunt, and Payton Fields are laying in the bed in their bedroom. Payton Fields falls asleep. Dale's asleep. She says that she hears a knock at the door. Let's David in. Sometime between 10 and 11. Some 10, 10.30, some 11. But sometime between 10 and 11, she lets David in. She lets David in. David goes with his dog into his bedroom that he was sleeping in, which was the girl's old room, that northeast bedroom. She called it the front bedroom. We know which one it is. It's the closest one to the living room. He goes in there with his dog and closes the door. She takes Payton, puts her on the couch where Savannah's already at. She goes back to bed with Dale. So now, we have David in the house. We have Savannah and Payton in the house, sleeping on the couch. We have Dale and Lisa sleeping in their bedroom. Doors locked. Dogs are in. Fast forward. Sometime in the middle of the night, early morning. Savannah wakes up. Undisputed, Savannah wakes up. Undisputed, Savannah sees something wrong with Payton. Her eyes. Undisputed. Undisputed. She is so concerned, in the middle of the night, she goes, not to David's room to say, something's wrong with Payton. She goes into Papa and Nana's room to say something's wrong with Payton. And when she does, you've heard her testify. Right here. When I go in, Papa and Nana are asleep. Papa and Nana are asleep. She says, something is wrong with Payton. Dale says to her. Get your butt back in a minute. Don't wake up, you sister. Go back in the bed. Lisa says, I did not hear that. You know why Lisa didn't hear? Because she was asleep. But you've heard her also say this. I woke up when Dale goes to the bathroom. So, Savannah walks in. They're both in the bed. She says, something's wrong with Payton. Get your butt back in the bed, says Dale. He gets up. He goes to the bathroom. That wakes up Lisa. They're both awake in the bedroom. Lisa says, TV's real loud. Well, you heard Savannah say, I went back in. They told me to go back into the living room. And I turned on the TV. Lisa says then, she gets up. Here's the TV. Says she checks on it. Sometime between 3 and 3.15. When she comes in, she sees Payton. And all hell breaks loose. She screams for Dale. She screams for David. She's urinating. Something is wrong. She's in distress. David comes out. He grabs her. David and Dale go to the Pender County Memorial. They arrive at 3.42 at the front or at the side door. Lisa, while they're on their way, she calls 911. Tries to call them a couple of times. I think they called her back. But she talked to them while they were on their way. What else did Savannah say? Well, the day her sister died, when she was 7 years old, she said, I don't want to talk about it. Makes me sad. A weird answer. She says, Peyton's sick. But I don't want to talk about it. Because it makes me sad. Two and a half months later, January. Two months later. I don't want to talk about it. Makes me sad. Something's wrong with Peyton. By the way, in that interview, in the first interview, she says she was purple and something around her neck. And in the second interview, she says that's what Manif told her. She also used the word seizure. Does a 7-year-old know what a seizure is? Maybe, maybe not. But what did she tell you in 2022, 11 years old? There's only her and Julie Osher in that interview room. You got to see it. You got to see the video. She says, same thing she said in January. I see something wrong with Peyton. With an additional fact of this. She sees David standing where Peyton is laying. And I see him walk back to his bedroom. And at that point in time, when he's back in his bedroom, I go and get Nan and Papa. Why is the timeline important? Well, if you'll see here, if you remember, Dr. Stoico says this. He believes, based upon his training and experience, and based upon how she presented at the ER and what he has seen, what he knows about strangulation, is this. This could not have occurred multiple hours before. It couldn't have. Not based upon her injuries. Not based upon how she's presenting. It had to have been, the strangulation would have had to been within an hour. Within an hour of when she presented to ER. Well, she was presented at the ER at 3.42. And why do we think that's a true statement? Well, listen to Dale. Listen to Lisa. They didn't see anything. They didn't see any marks around her neck at that time. They didn't see fatigue. All they saw was a little girl sees it. In distress. Well, you've heard from the experts that say this. It doesn't come, the petechia doesn't show up right away. It's just like a bruise. You don't see a bruise right away. It takes time. Well, Dr. McGrath and his staff, at 3.42, she's run through the door and into the ER. They see the petechia. They see the ligature mark. Stoico says, had to have been an hour before. Well, what's an hour before 3.42? 2.42. 2.42. What time does Lisa say that she was woken up? Between 3 and 3.15. What does Savannah say when she goes in to wake up Nana and Papa? Look, when she goes in sometime before Lisa wakes up 3, 3.15, Nana and Papa were asleep. We've got a tight timeline. That's without her disclosure in 2022. When she goes in, Nana and Papa were asleep. McGrath and his staff are focused on the strangulation. You heard what he testified to. I'm trying to save this poor girl's life right on my table. I'm trying to get her stabilized enough where I can get her to the critical care unit and Dr. Stoico in Wilmington. I'm not focused on anything in her genitalia region. Yes, they cleaned her up. First of all, they took off her panties and they discarded. Never to be able to be collected. You know that she was cleaned up. She had deprecated and urinated all over herself. You knew she was cleaned up. They said she was cleaned up. You see the pictures from Alice earlier. She had been cleaned up. There was not defecation. She had been cleaned up. She arrives at New Hanover Regional Medical Center 654. She went from a healthy little girl to one that had been sexually assaulted, both fatually and anally, and strangled her. She went from a healthy little girl to one that had been sexually assaulted, both fatually and anally, and strangled to death. They want you to believe that A, somebody else did. Now they harped a lot in their opening and a cross-examination for this. What about the dog leash? What about a collar? What about Savannah? Witness after witness after witness said there was no dog leash found. There was no collar found. There were three dogs in there. There was none found. None at all. Since 2017, have you been presented in a dog leash or a collar? No. Since 2017, have you been presented a leash or a collar? The answer is no. So they want you to believe a seven-year-old little girl in the middle of the night and put a dog leash or a dog collar around her sister's neck and choke her and strangled her. And I assume that you're also saying that she sexually assaulted her sister. That's what they want you to believe? Blame the seven-year-old? You got to see what that seven-year-old looked like on November 15, 2017. Did you believe that she had the motor skills, the strength, the domain, the character? Throw any other adjective in there. Did you believe that she choked and sexually assaulted her own sister? Where's the proof? Where is the proof? There is no dog leash, no collar. You know why? Because it's a rabbit trail. It's a red herring. It didn't happen. You heard Dale and Lisa's interviews on the morning of and in the afternoon of the 13th. Did they mention a dog collar? Did they mention a leash? Did they even mention they believe that Savannah did this? Of course not. Because they know they didn't. They know she didn't do it. But the defense would like to think she did it. It's a red herring. Don't fall for it. They also said, well, don't believe Savannah. Whatever she says, don't believe her. She's been coached. Was she coached on the 15th of November, 2017? When she says this, makes me sad. I don't want to talk about it. Was she coached on the, in January of 2018? Makes me sad. I don't want to talk about it. Was she coached inside with Julie Osher? The only two of them in there. You saw the interview. Was she coached? Why didn't you say something earlier, Savannah? I don't know. I was seven. I don't know. I was seven. Fast forward five years. Savannah comes in here, and she testified in front of you. Not only did she testify in front of you, she's less than 50 feet from the defendant. Nobody who they say coached her was in this courtroom. You get to judge the credibility of a witness. Many of you said, here's how I judge the credibility of a witness. Do I make an eye on it? Do I fidget? Do I tell the same story consistently? What she's told you is this. I was asleep. I wake up for unknown reason. And I see that defendant standing over my sister. I see him go back to his bedroom. I go to Nana and Papa's. And I try to wake him up. Get on back in there. Don't wake your sister up. Turn on TV. Did Savannah seem credible to you? If she was coached, do you think maybe she would have said, I saw David do it? She would have said, or not said, I don't remember on some things. You got to hear her testimony. You got to hear her on cross-examination. She's 16 years old now. She was 11 when she first said it. Did she sing, coached? Was it consistent? The answer is yes. [00:38:01] Speaker 2: But what supports Savannah's statement? Because there's other things. It's just not Savannah's statement. What supports her statement? Her whole statement. [00:38:14] Speaker 1: Well, Lisa and Dale support her statement. She came in there. She says something's wrong with Peyton. I told him to get out. Or I told her to go back to bed. She goes in and turns on the TV. That's what she says. Lisa and Dale confirm every bit of that. They confirm every bit of it. Peyton's condition confirms it. So what confirms that David was standing over there? Again, are you going to analyze the facts in a vacuum? Are you going to analyze them against all other believable evidence? I'm going to ask you to analyze them against all other believable evidence. Connect the dots. Put the puzzle pieces in. The defense will say this. There's no DNA in the vagina. That is not accurate. In the clitoral hood, there is male DNA. Albeit a small, small, small amount of male DNA. One that two analysts could not amplify. There's male DNA. That's the number one thing that supports Savannah's statement. And why is it so small? I'll use your reason and common sense. She had been cleaned. Pender County did not know that she had been sexually assaulted. They're going in trying to save her life from a strangulation, which was obvious to them. And they're going to clean her. That's why there's no DNA in vaginal swabs, vaginal smears, anal swabs, anal smears, peri-anal swabs. But you know what? In one place, it's a little bit difficult to clean completely in the clitoral hood. There's folds in the clitoral hood. There's a small amount of male DNA. It doesn't point to who, but it doesn't point to a male. Because you know what? There should be zero male DNA in a five-year-old's clitoral hood. And there's .0002 male DNA in a clitoral hood, when there should be zero. They also want you to believe, and they said in close, or excuse me, in opening. Well, there's no DNA on the wire. The DNA analyst swabbed the earbuds and the pieces. Wrong. Ms. Chowdhury testified she swabbed the wire, not the earbuds. And whose DNA is on that wire? David's, later on determined to be Hayden's, and some unknown's. Are we starting to cooperate? Savannah? Because what do we know about those earbuds? What do we know about what Dr. Kempley will tell you that it's consistent with? Those earbuds are consistent with the ligature marks on Savannah that strike that Payton's neck. It's consistent, in more than one way. And we'll get to the earbuds here in a minute. So what is left for the defense to argue? Well, Payton was not sexually assaulted. You've heard for, I don't know how many experts. One, two, three. Experts state she was sexually assaulted. You can see the pictures. Look at the pictures. Use your reasoning common sense. That's refuted. Payton wasn't strangled. Really? Dr. McGrath. Dr. Stoico. Dr. Kelly. She was straining. Well, Dale did it. We'll get to Dale in a minute. No, we'll get to Dale now. Where was Dale? Dale's in the bedroom. Who says Dale's in the bedroom? Lisa, you've heard her say the morning of, when she's being questioned by Detective Leatherwood, I know where Dale was. He was in the bed with me all night. What did she say again later that day? I know where Dale was. He was in the bed with me all night. Where does Savannah say he was? He's asleep. They don't even believe that Dale did this. The defense doesn't even believe Dale did this. He had him on cross-examination. He had Lisa on cross-examination. They could have questioned him three ways from Sunday. Where were you at? How did you? What time did you go to bed? Did you get up any? Did you do this? Did you do that? They didn't question him. Not one bit about it. You know why? Because they don't believe he did it. You know why? Because they're blaming the seven-year-old. If they don't believe Dale did it, you should not believe Dale did it. It's that simple. Plus, where's the other evidence against Dale? Where's the other evidence? We'll get to it in a minute. We've already talked about Savannah did it with a dog leash. Refuted. Stranger broke in. Refuted. So let's get to the heart of the matter. Why did David do it? Analyze every fact, not in a vacuum, but against all the other believable evidence. What did Dr. Stoico say about the extent of Peyton's injuries? She was strangled. She would have been fighting. She was strangled. She would have been fighting. Even for a five-year-old, she would have been fighting. It's not even a conscious decision, is what he said. You just react. When you're being choked, you're going to fight. You're going to thrash. If you can make noise, you're going to make noise. So was this done on a couch with the sister right there? Was this done in a bedroom with Lisa and Dale? Or was it done somewhere in secret? We've heard from some experts, and you can use your reason to come since. Think somebody's going to sexually assault and strangle somebody in front of others? So who had the opportunity? David. He was the only one sleeping in that room that night. It must have occurred within an hour of arriving at Pender. So somewhere between 2.42 and 3 o'clock. We're starting to see that Savannah is becoming more credible. What time does she go and get Dale and Lisa? Sometime right before 3.15. Why? Because Lisa says, I did not hear her come in. Dale wakes me up. When he goes to the bathroom, I hear the TV. I come in there about 3.15. Savannah saw the defendant standing over Peyton. Saw him wearing blue shorts. Maybe something black. [00:46:43] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:47:13] Speaker 1: So I'm wearing blue shorts, and maybe black. I saw him wearing blue shorts, and maybe something black. The color of these shorts, these boxers, blue and black. We know he's wearing them. They're inside the pants that everybody says he slept in that night, that were urinated on. He drops drawers right there, pants, and these boxers. And Savannah says, I see him wearing something blue and possibly black. Thank you. If Stoico says that she would have been thrashing around, do you think she would work? No, Peyton, do we believe, using the reason and common sense, that someone would not sexually assault a five-year-old and strangle her in front of witnesses? Do you think that she was really assaulted on that couch? The answer is no. Well, what was David doing there? Well, Savannah says he's standing over her. Or standing where she's at. All right. What supports that? Well, Lisa's own statement. Okay. Lisa's own statement. And if you remember Lisa testifying, she says this. I put Savannah down. Or Savannah's sleeping. Head here, foot here. She had even marked. Head foot. She says, I put Peyton here, feet down there. So they're head-to-head at the corner of the L. But when I go in there around 315 and find her in distress, she is sitting up. Peyton is standing here or sitting here with her head here and feet here. Her condition. Could she move? She couldn't move? So how did she get from a sitting position or a laying position to a seated position where she'd been strangled almost to death at that point? And if reason and common sense says she wasn't assaulted there, she was assaulted somewhere in secret, then how did she get sitting up? Savannah tells you. I see Uncle Boo Boo standing over Peyton. I would contend to you that she was not assaulted on that couch. She was assaulted in that bedroom. And when Savannah wakes up to see Uncle Boo Boo standing over Peyton, he's putting her back. But he doesn't put her back the way that Lisa put her. Which was laying down. He puts her back in a seated position. And he's starting to see Savannah's credibility. She was coached. She's got alcohol fetal syndrome at 11. You saw her at 16. At 16. What cooperates Savannah's statement? Well, Lisa. Because States Exhibit 24 is Lisa's marked up couch photograph. States Exhibit 34 is Savannah's marked up diagram of the couch. It's the same as Lisa's. States Exhibit 87. Savannah's marked up couch picture when she was 11 years old in 2022 explaining what she saw. 22 leases last week or the week before. Savannah. Is there evidence to cooperate, Savannah? You're seeing it. It's starting to unfold. What points to the defendant? Well, we know it's a male. Why do we know it's a male? Because you've got a small amount of male DNA in the clitoral hood. It is not Lisa. It is not Savannah. Well, it doesn't point to David. Okay? But it points to a male. Two same nurses have observed injuries to her vagina, anus, and bruising outside of her genitalia. That's why she was sexually... That's the evidence of sexual assault. Those injuries are consistent with some sort of penetrating trauma. Dr. Kelly confirmed the vaginal injuries days later, meaning they were starting to heal. You heard her testify to that. You heard her testify to the anal injuries. There's no medical intervention. You heard from every medical personnel that touched Peyton at Pender Memorial before the same nurses. Thamometers didn't cause it. Catherers didn't cause it. What other DNA evidence did you hear? Outside of the clitoral hood, you heard one other piece of DNA evidence. They took a penal swab of David on the 14th. You heard his discussion regarding that. Did you have sex with Haley Fawcett? Yeah. She's on her period. That's why you see blood on my penis. But what else is there? And it confirms that. DNA testing confirms that. David is assumed. Haley's the major contributor. But then there's a third contributor. While it doesn't point to a particular person, you can make inferences from the evidence. There's a third contributor. You've heard no other evidence that he was sexually involved with anybody else. I would contend that you can infer that that was Peyton's DNA. You can infer that. Well, it was from the urine. Well, you've heard urine is not a good conductor of DNA. Could be. [00:56:01] Speaker ?: Could be. [00:56:01] Speaker 1: But you know what else could be? Her blood or skin cells when he was assaulting her. You can infer that. So what else co-operates, Savannah? What else points to David? The red earbuds. Not orange, but red. Red earbuds. Let's first look at the red earbuds. Again. Again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. [00:56:51] Speaker ?: Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds again. Let's look at the red earbuds. Let's look at the red earbuds. Let's look at the red earbuds. [00:57:09] Speaker 1: Let's look at the red earbuds. Red earbuds. Where were these red earbuds found? Right next to David's bed. Right next to David's bed? Well, there were other ligatures found near David's bed. Yeah. [00:57:37] Speaker ?: There were. [00:57:38] Speaker 1: David's DNA are on these. Or David's DNA was on another one. Yeah. Peyton's DNA is on this. Peyton's DNA is not on any other ligature or possible ligature. What do we know about them physically? They're 52 inches long. A single strand is 0.115 of an inch, which is a little less than 3/16 of an inch. If they're doubled up, they're a little bit less than a quarter of an inch. They have a distinct, a distinctive characteristic that no other ligature in that, that was found, readily found, in that house contains. Hooks. Hooks. Hooks. readily found in that house contains. Hooks. Hooks. What else can be observed about this? Well, there's a 14 inch or approximately 14 inch section that has been stretched. Two knots in it. Splits at some point. So why is this important? You know why it's important. You [00:59:12] Speaker ?: know why it's important. You know why it's important. You know why it's important to use the same. You know why it's important. You know why it's important. You know why it's important. [00:59:47] Speaker 1: You know why it's important. You know why it's important because they were found next to David's bed. Readily available. But they're important because Dr. Kelly testified that they matched strike that are consistent with the size of the ligature mark around Peyton's neck. If you remember what she says, the area between this line and this line is about a quarter of an inch. A quarter of an inch. A quarter of an inch. Use your reason and common sense about how big a quarter of an inch is. That's a little less than. First of all, don't fall for the red herring. It was a belt. How many belts do you know that are a quarter of an inch? If you believe there's a quarter of an inch belt or less, there are certain parts of the ligature mark that's three sixteenths. A little bit bigger than a single strand. Dr. Kelly also opined that there was a split on the side of her neck right here where it looks like whatever the ligature split into two sections. Well, you've got this split. Or you could have a split like that. We don't have to prove to you the exact manner that these ear buds were wrapped around her neck. We do not. We have to prove to you a deadly weapon was used to kill Peyton Fields. A ligature. The only person that can opine how these were wrapped around Peyton's neck is Peyton and the defendant. Well, Dr. Kelly, they match in size, but so are these other ligatures. So were the TR-10 cable. The radio shack cable. The other phone charger. That's the 550 cord bracelet that was found outside. Well, Mr. Smith, it's because there's a distinctive pattern that shows on her neck that's consistent with these headphones. I would contend. You can see it. This is not an enhanced video or picture. That is a picture from the autopsy table. You can see something interrupted the ligature that had a hook pattern. It's very distinctive. The picture that was found readily available with that distinctive pattern was found right next to David's bed with Peyton's DNA on it and David's DNA on it. What about Savannah's testimony? Does that support Savannah's testimony? Absolutely. I saw David standing over Peyton going back to his bedroom. This is also a picture from 1120-1116 that Detective Leatherwood told me. You can see the distinctive pattern there, too. It's the same pattern. It hasn't been enhanced. It's not shadowing. It's not seeing ghosts where ghosts don't appear. You can see it. Go to the next one. Also from a different angle. There it is. Next photograph. 8:15 on the morning she arrives at the Pender Memorial in New Hanover Regional. Detective Leatherwood's hand showing the ligature mark at 8:15 in the morning and there it is. I want you to see this photograph. And when they talk about, well, it's 14 inches that are stretched. Peyton is five years old. Look how big her neck is. It's tiny. That is one finger. Look how tiny her neck is. Well, that's not enough. That's not enough for it to wrap around her neck. Use your reason and common sense. Next photograph. Here's a different photograph from the hospital. One hand, two hand, three hand. This is the right side of her neck. There's been some opining from Dr. Stoico. You heard a lay opinion from Eric Short. There's bruising right there. There's bruising right there. And I want you to see this photograph of what it is. Look how big her neck is compared to those hands. Her neck is tiny. Tiny. Compared to this. Well, these would break if you used it as a ligature. Remember what Dr. Kelly says? You only need one to two pounds of pressure on the jugular vein. One to two pounds of pressure on the jugular vein. Thirty to cut off the wind or cut off the air in the windpipe. More for the arteries. But one to two pounds for the veins. They're stretched. They're stretched. I want to go back. Opportunity. cooperates Savannah. Vaginal injuries and the DNA resulting from them cooperates Savannah. The murder weapon or the ligature next to David's bed with Peyton and David's DNA and the distinctive pattern cooperates Savannah's testimony. Now, when you look at first-degree murder, remember under premeditation deliberation, you can look at the defendants' actions before, during, and after. Well, you know what you're doing before. You're smoking weed. You smoke weed to get high. During violent death. After. I want you to focus on this. When Lisa finds Peyton on the couch and she screams, Dale! David! Well, Dale comes out in his pajamas. David comes out fully clothed. Isn't that weird? Isn't that weird? Savannah says a seaman, blue shorts, can tend his boxers. But he comes out fully clothed. Why? Because he knew something was wrong. Why? Because he caused it. We played two hospital videos, three hospital videos, but look at the second, when they were in, there's two videos of them in the, in the, uh, blog. [01:09:25] Speaker ?: Look at his demeanor. [01:09:26] Speaker 1: Look at his demeanor. Everybody else believed Peyton was having seizures, and you've heard from Lisa, when she'd been sick. I gave her Domitap. I gave her Chocotolidol or Ibuprofen. Everybody there believed she was sick. That these were seizures from being sick. And look at their demeanor while in the lobby. Look at Lisa and Dale's. Look at Savannah's. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then look at David's demeanor. Who was panicked, or appeared to be panicked, in the lobby? You can watch those two clips. You can ask to look at any evidence you want to look at, but, but, look at, look at his demeanor. You can look at his actions before, during, and after. Look at his demeanor. You know why he was so distressed? Because he knew what he did. He knew what he did, and he knew the extent of her injuries. He knew that she wasn't sick. He knew that he had wrapped something around her neck. Look at what else. On the night. The night of the 13th. The night of the 13th. The night of the 13th. As he's looking distressed. Inside that lobby. The night of the 13th. He goes and has sex with Haley. While she's on her period. [01:11:09] Speaker ?: Okay. [01:11:11] Speaker 1: Nothing wrong with having sex while you're on your period. But you remember what Detective LaBelle said? When he appears. During the day of the 13th. David's fingernails. Were nasty. David's fingernails were nasty. Then he comes back the next day on the 14th. The morning of, or the afternoon after, he has sex with Haley Fawcett. What did Detective LaBelle say? Detective LaBelle said this. Looked like his fingers had been manicured. Now, should they have gotten his finger scrapings the day before? Absolutely. But they got him the next day. They come back single source naked. Of course they did. [01:12:03] Speaker ?: He cut them. And they were clean. [01:12:07] Speaker 1: So he cleaned his fingernails. He cleaned his fingernails. But he didn't clean his penis. Well, how do you know he didn't clean his penis? Well, there's blood on it. And there's a third DNA profile. What does that tell you? It tells you he was worried about these. He was worried about these. And you know he's worried about these. Because later on, he's searching Google search in DNA. Google search in crime scene tape. Remember, sexual offense, penetration of any object into the genital or anal opening of a victim. What are the injuries? What are the injuries? Laceration to the clitoral foot. You've heard from same nurses. These can cause damage. And I would contend they did. Both to her anus. And to her vagina. And he knew. And he knew. Because he cut them. He cuts these. But he doesn't wash himself. Why not? Why didn't he wash himself? Because he knew that he had blood on his penis. He knew that. Maybe they'd find pagan's DNA on there. Mask it. Hide it. You've heard from our analysts say if there's too much of one, it could wash out the others. [01:13:52] Speaker ?: And by the way, [01:13:55] Speaker 1: there's a whole box of evidence that went testing. Five sources here. Four sources there. Three sources there. All of it. Inconclusive. Or most of it, inconclusive. Complex. Why? Because there's so many DNA profiles and alleles and everything else in there. You can't decide. You can't figure out what's happening. Well, guess what? You couldn't on the third profile either. So you cut these. You leave your penis unwashed. Because you were worried. Because you were worried. Now, finally. [01:14:40] Speaker ?: What else happened? [01:14:43] Speaker 1: What else happened? Did he stay at one in four black water drop? Nope. He immediately moves out. Goes and lives somewhere else. A consciousness of guilt. [01:15:00] Speaker ?: A consciousness of guilt. [01:15:00] Speaker 1: His actions. [01:15:01] Speaker ?: Each one of these actions is a consciousness of guilt. [01:15:02] Speaker 1: Each action after Peyton is found is a consciousness of guilt. There's only two people that knows what happened to Peyton. And she can't testify. And David. And David. So let's wrap it up. Some would say, well, there's not a lot of evidence against David. And a vacuum. [01:15:33] Speaker ?: If you're looking at each piece in a vacuum. Maybe. But you're going to be instructed. And if you take everything together. You take the fact that he was smoking marijuana. The fact that he was staying in a room. The fact that she was assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:35] Speaker 1: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:36] Speaker ?: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:36] Speaker 1: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:40] Speaker ?: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:41] Speaker 1: And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:52] Speaker ?: And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:53] Speaker 1: And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And the fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:15:59] Speaker ?: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. [01:16:00] Speaker 1: The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. The fact that she was sexually assaulted in secret. And we have male DNA. The fact that Savannah says, I see Uncle Boo Boo standing over her painting. They believe she was coached. I would say look at all the other evidence that cooperates what she says. Every piece of this evidence cooperates what she says. You're going to be asked at the end of this. You're going to go back in the deliberation room. You're going to look at the law. You're going to be looking at the law. And you're going to have to render a verdict. Determine the facts. Apply the law. Render a verdict. The judge is going to give you a verdict sheet. He's going to give you a verdict sheet. Two verdict sheets to be exact. He's going to say this. We, the jury, return a unanimous verdict that the defendant David Kravat is either this. Guilty of first-degree murder. You've got to answer yes or no. What does the evidence tell you? What does the totality of the evidence tell you? The totality of the evidence says this. Nobody else did it. Lisa and Dale were in there together. They haven't wavered from that. They were in there together. You've got the physical evidence that links David. You've got the eyewitness testimony that links David. You've got David's own actions linking David. There's no other evidence to suggest anybody else did this. No other evidence. When the judge instructs you to go back and render your verdict on the verdict sheet as to first-degree murder, the answer should be yes. Now you're going to have to decide then under the theory of premeditation and deliberation or under felony murder or both. And you've got to make that decision. And I would suggest to you it's both premeditation and deliberation and felony murder. Then he's going to give you a second sheet. And the second sheet's going to say we the jury, as our unanimous verdict that the defendant David provided as to the charge of statutory sexual offense of a child by an adult, guilty or not guilty. [01:18:38] Speaker ?: Guilty. [01:18:40] Speaker 1: There is no other evidence that anybody else did this. He had the opportunity. He had the location. There's male DNA. There's male DNA. There's a ligature that is consistent. And not just consistent. It matches or is consistent with a pattern, the special pattern of that hook. You've seen the injuries. Find him guilty of sexual offense. Find him guilty of murder. And only after you do that will there be justice for pain. [01:19:24] Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Members of the jury, we're going to go ahead and take our mid-morning break. Go ahead and close up your notebooks. Remember, do not discuss this case amongst yourselves. You have not yet received my final instructions, so you are not allowed to deliberate or discuss this case while you were in the jury room. Do not discuss this case with anybody else. Do not have any contact with any of the parties, attorneys or witnesses. Do not post online on any social media sites. And do not conduct any independent investigation or inquiry. So we'll go ahead and excuse you for about 15 minutes. Make sure you leave your claims in the chairs with any partners in the back. This way. [01:20:06] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Let the record reflect that the jury is next to the committee. the courtroom will be at ease for the next 15 minutes. Call. Thank you, sir. Let the record reflect that the jury's next to the courtroom will be at ease for the next 15 minutes. Call will be at ease for 15 minutes. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Let the record reflect that the jury's next to the courtroom will be at ease for the next 15 minutes. Call will be at ease for 15 minutes. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Let the record reflect that the jury's next to the courtroom will be at ease for the next 15 minutes. Call will be at ease for 15 minutes. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. [01:20:24] Speaker 3: Let the record reflect that the jury's next to the courtroom will be at ease for the next 15 minutes. [01:20:41] Speaker 2: Call will be at ease for 15 minutes. Thank you, sir. [01:20:44] Speaker ?: Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir.