Defendant John Curtis Walton gave contadictory statements to detectives about his connection to the victim and the murder scene.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published November 19, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - A jury spent most of Tuesday afternoon watching black-and-white recorded videotape of John Curtis Walton giving a Brooksville detective conflicting stories about the night a young Brooksville man was murdered.
Walton, 20, of Dade City, is on trial in the murder of 28-year-old Darious Jerome Walker, who was shot and killed Sept. 14, 2002 at Russell Street Park.
Walker's body was found lying face down in the grass with three gunshot wounds to his chest. Walker worked odd jobs through Able Body Temporary Services and also dealt drugs, according to court testimony.
In the videotapes, Walton at first said he hadn't spoken to Walker, also known as "Black," in days. Later in the videotape, Walton said he witnessed the murder and had dropped to the ground when he heard the gunshots and then ran away.
In videotapes not yet shown to the jury, Brooksville police Detective Eddie McConnell yelled at Walton for lying. That same day, Walton acknowledged that his friend Michael James Leahy had shot Walker, according to court records.
Leahy, 20, is scheduled to be tried for the same slaying after Walton's trial is completed. Walton's trial continues today.
Walton sat silent throughout most of the trial, his eyes betraying little emotion, except when they brightened at the sight of his mother sitting in the audience before the trial began Tuesday morning.
In an opening statement, assistant state attorney Don Scaglione said Walker died after making a drug deal Walton had set up. Walton and Leahy had been angry with Walker for shorting them in a drug deal earlier that day and planned to "get a gun and get him up straight," Scaglione said in opening remarks.
Scaglione stressed that it was Walton, not Leahy, who knew Walker. And it was Walton who made the phone call that brought Walker to the failed drug deal in Russell Street Park.
"Had (Walton) not have made that phone call, Darious Walker would not have been shot that night," Scaglione said. "We're hoping the evidence shows that Mr. Walton, although not being the shooter, was the principle involved in the death of Darious Walker."
Walton's attorney Scott Smith said that despite his client's drug problems and connections, Walton had no intention of seeing Walker fatally wounded that September night.
"The evidence will show that John Walton did not kill Black and did not intend for Black to be killed," Smith said. "At the end, the evidence will show that Mr. Walton did not commit any crime and that Mr. Walton is not guilty."
About a dozen people testified in the murder trial, for which a jury was chosen Monday.
Walton's half brother Joseph Scarbro, 23, of Brooksville said Tuesday that Walton had approached him the day of the murder and asked him if he'd be interested in coming with Walton and Leahy to go beat someone up.
"They were going to find him and jump him or some s---," said Scarbro, who spoke nervously, locking eyes with his brother. Scarbro didn't go with his brother, because he had something else to do, Scarbro said.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement ballistics expert testified Tuesday that bullet casings found at the scene of the crime and bullets retrieved from Walker's body could have come from a .22 caliber rifle.
Brian Leahy, Michael Leahy's father, testified that he had purchased a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle for his son, Michael Leahy when his son reached 16.
"We practiced in the backyard occasionally, just for fun," Brian Leahy said.
