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If a Crystal River man is guilty of attacking a 23-year-old woman in her apartment, he may face a life sentence.
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 11, 2002
INVERNESS -- Jurors are expected to begin deliberations today in the trial of Alexander Whaley, the Crystal River man accused of breaking into a 23-year-old woman's apartment and stabbing her 15 times.
After three days of testimony, both the prosecution and defense rested their cases late Thursday evening. Whaley, 39, is charged with six crimes, including attempted first-degree murder, for the June 2000 attack of Jennifer Johnson.
If convicted, Whaley faces a possible life sentence.
Defense attorney Dan Lewan called only one witness to bolster his case: Christopher Anderson, the former Crystal River police officer who arrested Whaley.
Anderson was fired by the Police Department in November after a lengthy Internal Affairs investigation. City Manager Phil Lilly said Anderson routinely falsified the number of hours he worked, a charge Anderson denies.
Lewan grilled Anderson about a cigarette lighter found in a pair of shorts belonging to Whaley that wasn't included on a property list.
Anderson admitted he didn't follow proper police procedure when preparing the list, but said the omission of the lighter was a simple oversight.
After conferring in private with his lawyers for about 15 minutes, Whaley opted not to take the stand on his own behalf.
He later expressed displeasure with his lawyers.
When attempting to determine whether Whaley fully understood his decision not to testify, Circuit Judge Ric Howard asked the defendant if he was satisfied with the advice given to him by his attorneys. Whaley answered with a vehement, "No, sir."
But when Howard asked him to limit his answer only to the decision not to testify, Whaley amended his response and said he was pleased with his lawyers' advice in that matter.
"No, no, no, I'm not going to testify. That's all right," Whaley said.
Most of the day's testimony was dominated by a discussion of DNA evidence.
DNA contains a person's genetic code and differs with each person. Analysis of DNA samples is similar to a fingerprint comparison. Lab analysts compare a sampling of points on the DNA to see if they match.
In this case, Melissa Suddeth, an analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, compared a sample of Johnson's blood with blood taken from a cutting from a shirt sleeve found near the spot Whaley was arrested, as well as from a smear on Whaley's arm and the hip of his pants.
According to Suddeth, the test used matched the samples within a 1 in 142-quadrillion (142 followed by 15 zeros) degree of probability.
Suddeth also tested the saliva found on a cigarette butt discovered in the pocket of the shirt to compare it with Whaley's DNA.
Suddeth said the DNA in the saliva matched DNA in blood taken from Whaley by court order with a 1 in 84-trillion degree of probability.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 8:30 this morning with closing arguments.