Wednesday, May 2, 2007
For the second time in less than three months, Leigh McHatton sat before a panel of jurors Tuesday and described the deadly fire that left her with severe burns all over her body.
“It was just kind of chaos. People running around, not knowing what to do. Everyone was just in shock,” McHatton said of the Boardwalk Apartments fire in October 2005 that left three dead. “I was just in total shock. I kept saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’”
McHatton, who was a University of Kansas student at the time of the fire, has since graduated and now lives in Denver. She was the first survivor to testify in the murder and arson trial of Jason Allen Rose, who is accused of starting the fire. Rose’s initial trial was declared a mistrial after the prosecution moved to admit a late witness.
pullquote
There are three witnesses you won’t get to meet, because they didn’t make it.
-assistant district attorney David Melton
Also testifying Tuesday was the first officer to arrive on the scene and two Haskell University students who witnessed the fire from a friend’s apartment across the street.
During opening statements, assistant district attorney David Melton explained to jurors what they would see and hear during the trial. He told them they would watch video of the fire, see pictures of the aftermath and hear from people who “lost their homes, their belongings and even some pets.”
Before any witnesses were presented, Melton showed pictures of Yolanda Riddle, Jose Gonzalez and Nicole Bingham, the three residents who died in the blaze.
“There are three witnesses you won’t get to meet, because they didn’t make it,” Melton said.
Melton told the jury they would have to answer two questions.
“Was the Boardwalk fire intentionally set? And did Jason Rose do it?” Melton said. “The answers in Jason Rose’s statement will answer those questions, and the answer will be ‘Yes’.”
Rose admitted to starting the fire when he was questioned on police video after the fire. The video, which will be shown later in the trial, spans several hours. Rose’s defense attorney, Ron Evans, asked the jury to be mindful of the circumstances of the statement when he responded with his opening statement. He said that the “$64,000 question” was for the jury not to make conclusions about whether Rose was treated fairly in questioning.
“I submit that you’ll have a reasonable doubt,” Evans said. “And we’ll be asking you to find him not guilty.”
During the afternoon session of Tuesday’s hearings, the prosecution called on Andrew Dobson, who lived across the street from the burned building. Dobson shot a nine minute video of the fire, which was shown in court Tuesday.
Dobson, a New Zealand native, testified that before shooting the video, he had tried to call police. A cultural difference — the emergency number in New Zealand is 1-1-1 instead of 9-1-1 — kept Dobson from connecting with emergency dispatch, so he said he picked up his newly purchased video camera instead.
The tape showed the middle portion of the Boardwalk building engulfed in flames, as well as fire trucks responding to the scene. Dobson’s voice commented on the response time on the video.
“They were very slow getting here,” he said, almost two minutes after the camera began taping.
Judge Jack A. Murphy adjourned the court just after 4 p.m. Tuesday and said it would reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.
Kansan staff writer Erick R. Schmidt can be contacted at eschmidt@kansan.com.
— Edited by Trevan McGee
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