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Terrance Black murder trial: Day Seven
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
For live updates throughout the trial, follow @Bill_PlanoStar on Twitter.
Quick recap of Day Seven
- The day focused on DNA evidence. Experts testified that Terrance Black's DNA was located on the gear shift, as well as the headrest, of Susan Loper's vehicle. However, there was no DNA evidence to place Black at the crime scene, or where the body was dumped. None of Loper's blood was found inside Black's Cadillac Escalade.
- The defense spent much of the day pushing a theory that the state chose to exclude certain items from DNA testing because they may prove Black's innocence.
Update 8:45 a.m.
Day Seven of the Terrance Black murder trial began with a Burleson doctor on the stand.
Black, 50, is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Susan Loper. Loper was abducted and killed from the Pilates studio she operated at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano. Both Loper and Black were Frisco residents.
Dr. Burlyn Nelon testified that Jayson Hayes, Loper's boyfriend at the time of her death, was at his office in Burleson at 8 a.m. the day Loper was killed. Nelon said Hayes' demeanor seemed normal that morning, and that he would have noticed if Hayes was bloody or sweaty during his visit.
The defense has been pointing the finger at Hayes since their opening statement, and the revelation that Hayes was in Burleson less than two hours after police have said Loper's body was dumped in a Frisco field could be detrimental to the defenses' case.
Update 9:15 a.m.
Jayson Hayes is on the stand. He testified that he met Susan Loper online in January 2010 and went on his first date with her in February 2010. Says the two were still dating at the time of her death, and that he last saw her the Saturday night before she was killed.
Hayes' fingerprints were found on a privacy screen at the Gleneagles. While workers at Gleneagles testified earlier in the trial that they never saw Loper bring men to her studio, Hayes told the jury he visited her at work 15-20 times, including on April 12, 2011 when he helped her prepare her studio to be moved to its new location near Willow Bend.
Update 10:30 a.m.
Under cross-examination, Jayson Hayes admitted that he owned two firearms: a .22 caliber pistol and a shotgun. Hayes first said he was familiar with firearms, but later admitted he was not too familiar with their workings. This is important because the killer of Susan Loper has been painted as a firearms novice, which is why live rounds were ejected at the crime scene.
Hayes said he and Loper had only one real breakup, in March 2011. He said within a week they began working through their problems and were dating again at the time of her death. While he gave no reason for the breakup, he agreed with a defense attorney who said he may have told Loper that he didn't care for Jake, Loper's son.
Hayes also voluntarily gave police a DNA sample and voluntarily spoke with the district attorney's office, but as pointed out by the defense, the same didn't come until early to mid May 2011 -- more than two weeks after Terrance Black was arrested.
Update 11:20 a.m.
Justin Parker, a trace evidence analyst with the Texas Department of Public Safety's Garland crime lab, testified that hair "microscopically similar" to that of defendant Terrance Black was found inside Loper's vehicle. So far, all that is known is the hair was similar, a DNA test will be needed to confirm if it is in fact Black's hair. Parker said he is not trained to perform such a test, but DNA experts are expected to take the stand later today.
However, under cross-examination, he said that doesn't prove that Black was ever inside the vehicle. There is also no way to prove how long the hair had been inside the vehicle.
Another key piece of evidence presented earlier in the trial was a clump of Susan Loper's hair found inside Black's Cadillac Escalade. Parker testified the hair appeared to be "naturally shed," with no signs of blood present.
Update 11:55 a.m.
Trace evidence analyst, Justin Parker, testifies that six hairs were found on the short-sleeve shirt Susan Loper was wearing at the time of her death. Another three hairs were found on her long-sleeve shirt. Parker says the hairs were not microscopically similar to known hair samples from Loper or Terrance Black. He says they were never compared to hair from Jayson Hayes, Loper's boyfriend at the time of her death and the man the defense team has been pointing the finger at since opening arguments.
Update 1:15 p.m.
The first DNA expert is now on the stand, Tricia Kacer from the Texas Department of Public Safety's Garland laboratory.
Update 2:20 p.m.
After DNA testing of items related to the crime scene, Terrance Black's DNA was only located on the gear shift and headrest of Susan Loper's vehicle, DNA expert Tricia Kacer testified. No DNA from Black, or Loper's boyfriend at the time of her death, Jayson Hayes, was found on Loper's clothing. In addition, no DNA from Black was found on Loper's fingernails.
Testimony from Kacer is still ongoing, and additional DNA experts are expected to testify later today, so the possibility of the defendant's DNA being located on additional items still remains.
Update 3:30 p.m.
With the first DNA witness finished testifying, the prosecution has not presented any evidence strongly linking Terrance Black to the killing of Susan Loper. Tricia Kacer testified that Black's DNA was found on the gear shift and headrest of Loper's car, but admitted it was impossible to know how long the DNA had been there. The DNA of Jayson Hayes, Loper's boyfriend, was also found in the vehicle. No blood from either Black or Hayes was located in the vehicle.
In addition, Kacer testified that Susan Loper's DNA was not found on Black's clothing or in his vehicle. Defense attorney Jim Burnham asked Kacer if blood from the crime scene could have easily been transferred to another vehicle, a statement she said she agreed with, adding that wet blood is very easily transferred. The areas of Black's vehicle that were searched included the brake pedal, floor board and seat belt.
Burnham also hammered home the point that several pieces of evidence were not tested for DNA, including unknown hairs that he said could have helped identify the real killer and prove that Black was innocent. Kacer denied her lab and Plano PD were just trying to pin the crime on Black, as Burnham suggested. However, she did say budget constraints are one factor that is taken into consideration when determining which pieces of evidence are tested for DNA.
Hair found on Loper's clothing was not tested, a decision Kacer said was either made by Detective Scott Epperson or trace evidence analyst Justin Parker.
Several more DNA experts are expected to testify, so additional evidence could still be presented.
Update 4:40 p.m.
A mitochondrial DNA expert from the University of North Texas testified that the clump of hair found in the center console of Terrance Black's vehicle belonged to Susan Loper, or one of her relatives. A hair belonging to Black or one of his maternal relatives was also located in Loper's vehicle, Amy Smuts testified.
The reason the testing is not more specific, Smuts testified, is because mitochondrial DNA is passed down from the mother to all of her children. While nuclear DNA is unique to each individual, mitochondrial DNA is not, Smuts said.
Once again, defense attorney Jim Burnham focused on the lack of DNA testing on hairs found on Loper's body. Burnham is working hard to show the state settled on Black early in the case and ignored all evidence that could prove his innocence.
Update 5:50 p.m.
Detective Scott Epperson finished the day on the stand for the prosecution. His testimony contained no new information, a point brought up by defense attorney Jim Burnham.
Epperson testified that Black's statement to a friend that he had been out of town since April 18, one day before Susan Loper was killed, was clearly false. To back up his claim, Epperson pointed to cell phone data placing Black in North Texas on the morning of April 19, as well as receipts from a business in Little Elm dated April 18 and a Shell gas station in The Colony dated April 19. Video from the gas station was also shown the jury, confirming Black was present the morning of the murder.
It should be noted that the defense has not cross-examined Epperson any of the five times he has been on the stand. They are waiting to question him until later in the trial, a cross-examination that will likely take quite some time since Epperson was the lead detective on the case.
The prosecution is expected to call its final witnesses and rest on Wednesday. There is no indication how long the defense will take to present its case. The trial begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning and may last until 9 p.m., Judge John Roach told the jury. The hours are being extended in an effort to finish the trial by the weekend, Roach said.
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