Expert says Munro was on walkway when shot

EPHRATA - A forensic expert testified Sage Munro's lungs likely filled within a second of being shot.

Kay Sweeney, a forensics expert, and Julian Latimer's sister-in-law, Katelyn Lynch, testified about the morning of Munro's murder. The defense witnesses took the stand Wednesday after a five-day break in the David Nickels trial.

Nickels, 31, Helena, Mont., is on trial in Grant County Superior Court for first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege Nickels shot Munro outside of the Ephrata man's home on Dec. 29, 2009 because Munro was dating Nickels' ex-girlfriend.

Defense attorneys Jackie Walsh and Mark Larrañaga continued to elicit testimony about what Ian Libby was doing the morning of the murder. The attorneys claim Libby shot Munro when the Ephrata man found him prowling around Munro's truck. The attorneys allege Libby was looking for guns.

Sweeney, a former member of the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab with a career dating back to 1966, told the jury he used the police reports and photographs to determine where Munro was standing.

"The most likely position of Mr. Munro at the time he was shot was probably on ground level on the walkway in front of the stairs leading to his porch," Sweeney said.

The expert based his opinion on the fact the only blood found on the scene was on the porch. Sweeney said once the bullet passed through the lung it would take about a second to fill enough with blood for Munro to cough. Also Munro's shoe prints were not found past the bottom of the stairs.

"The blood exiting with this kind of injury is coming from the mouth and nose area. It's not exiting through the clothing. It's not exiting through the bullet hole in the clothing. Mr. Munro was wearing a sweatshirt ... that would mask any blood that may be coming out of the chest," he said.

The testimony contradicts testimony from Colleen Gibbins, who testified to seeing Munro run up to his porch after being shot.

Defense attorneys planned to have Sweeney testify about where the shooter was likely standing. Sweeney testified in a hearing the .45 caliber shell found on Munro's lawn likely came from the murder weapon. The shell traveled to the right of the shooter about 13 to 15 feet before ending up on the lawn if the person was holding the gun upright.

Prosecutors argued the opinion was speculation. Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline agreed, saying given the evidence available to Sweeney it was necessarily speculation.

"Mr. Sweeney is quite capable of testifying to his familiarity to the type of weapon involved. How it ejects. The mechanism by which it ejects. The direction by which it ejects, but because of the dependence on an assumption regarding the way the gun was held the court will not permit an opinion that amounts to speculation," Sperline said.

Jurors heard the third version of events at Latimer's apartment the morning of the murder as well. Latimer is friends with Libby, and testified to seeing Libby the morning of the murder and walking to the scene. Latimer's ex-girlfriend testified Latimer never left the house.

Lynch, Latimer's former sister-in-law testified she was at the apartment on the morning of the murder, and saw Latimer coming through the sliding glass door at about 7:30 a.m. Lynch was sleeping on the couch in the living room.

She didn't remember Latimer being at the house when she went to sleep, Lynch testified. Latimer later told her he was out with Libby on the night before the murder.

Latimer and Latimer's ex-girlfriend previously testified they were watching movies all night.

Police officers never questioned Lynch about what she saw the morning of the murder, Lynch testified.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens questioned Sweeney about his estimate of how long it takes for the lungs to fill with blood.

"Would every lung fill up the same?" Owens asked. "Would every lung fill up at the same speed as every other lung?"

Sweeney testified the bleeding would be at the same rate, explaining when the bullet punctures the body air gets in and presses on the lung, collapsing it.

"When you try to breath, the lung can't expand because it's pressing against air now in the body cavity," he said. "There can be coughing ... It's an automatic response to the trauma that has happened to the lung."

When Owens questioned whether Sweeney could be sure if Munro's lungs filled, Sweeney said he doubted Munro's lungs ever filled.

Owens questioned whether Sweeney read all the reports given to him, pointing to the statement by Gibbins about seeing Munro run to his door clutching his chest.

"There may have been some documents that I didn't read in detail. I've been working on this since May of 2011, so I wouldn't be able to tell you specifically whether I read something or not," Sweeney said. "The way I remember (Gibbins') statement from some refreshing was that she indicated that she saw someone near the back of the pickup that she thought was Sage Munro."

Sweeney testified it was the third case he'd worked on with Walsh, and he was paid $200 an hour and put in at least 100 hours on the case.

In response to Owens' questions, Walsh asked if Sweeney had some reason to believe it was about a second before Munro coughed.

"This is based on years and years of experience of murder scenes where people have suffered this kind of injury," he said. "

Walsh asked if a witness' assessment of what they believe they saw was a main factor in developing his opinion.

"That is really a difficult issue," Sweeney said. "My experience spans many different kinds of cases and in several instances, while I was still in the crime laboratory, it was required that any officer involved shooting case be referred to the laboratory for review of the evidence, and in those cases, officers are sure of what they saw and what they did and if the evidence doesn't match, it doesn't mean they're lying. It just means that they lost track of the normal sense of time."

Deputy Prosecutor Tyson Hill started questioning Lynch about the people at the house the night before the murder. She agreed Latimer's brother, mother and girlfriend were at the apartment.

"Rhiannon Krump was dating Julian Latimer at the time? ... And do you know Rhiannon very well? ... Did she live local there in town? ... With her parents, right?," Hill asked. "So, according to your memory, she was just staying there that night by herself?"

Lynch agreed, and testified it wasn't normal for Krump to stay at the apartment by herself.

Hill questioned whether Lynch could hear the front door open from where Lynch was sleeping. Lynch testified the front door was between the living room and the bedrooms.

"So when you woke up you saw Julian coming through the back door at 7:30 a.m., but you have no way of knowing, right, whether Julian went out the front door at 7 a.m.?" Hill asked. "If Julian had come home through the front door after you went to sleep you wouldn't have noticed, correct?"

Lynch agreed, and testified Latimer told her about the road being blocked and the police cars.

"You assumed when Julian said that he'd been out with Ian that he meant the night before? ... But he didn't actually say, 'I've been out all night with Ian,' you just assumed that because you hadn't seen him the night before?"

Lynch said Hill was correct.

"The words that came out of his mouth were along the lines of he had seen Ian the previous night," she said.

When Latimer came into the apartment, he wasn't acting nervous, Lynch testified.

"He was just telling you what he saw outside?" Hill asked. "In fact, later, he went back outside again? ... And when he came back that's when he gave you more information? ... So obviously you can't be sure whether he was out talking to people outside trying to find out what was going on?"

Lynch agreed, and testified she never saw Libby on the day before or the day of the murder.