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A jury heard testimony Tuesday as to an Orangeburg man's last words after he was shot during what officers say was a burglary attempt last year.
Orangeburg County Sheriff's Lt. John Stokes te.jpgied that when he first spotted Stephen Raines, the 24-year-old was on the floor bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
"He indicated he was in a confrontation with two black males," Stokes said, adding that Raines gave the officer a description of his attackers.
"What was his condition?" First Circuit Deputy Solicitor Don Sorenson asked.
"He was in a lot of pain; his organs were hanging out," Stokes said.
Stokes' testimony came during Tuesday's trial of 23-year-old Tashi Franklin, who, along with Anthony Glover, 21, is charged with Raines' death.
Franklin is charged with murder, first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. Glover's case has not gone to trial yet.
Raines' voice was nearly silenced Tuesday by a defense motion pertaining to hearsay, which stipulates a witness can't relate what another person - in this case, the deceased - said.
Circuit Court Judge Ferrell Coth-ran Jr., however, ruled in favor of the prosecution's argument that the statements made by Raines were done so under the excited utterance clause of the hearsay rule.
Despite the setback, defense attorney Byron Gipson continued to press his attack under cross examination.
"You're not here to te.jpgy as to what happened?" Gipson asked.
"No, sir," Stokes said.
What police say happened was that on May 17, 2006, two men entered Raines' apartment through a window with the intent to burglarize the residence.
Once inside, the armed burglars ran into Raines, which led to a confrontation between the three that turned deadly for the Corona Apartments man.
Prosecutors introduced Dr. Joel Sexton, director of pathology at the Newberry County Memorial Hospital, as an expert witness.
Sexton te.jpgied that Raines died from the loss of blood, despite his being taken into emergency surgery that day.
"The only injury we saw was a shotgun wound," Sexton said. "The pellets entered through a single round hole. The hole was an inch and a half in diameter."
"Were they - the pellets that came out - was it in one round hole?" Sorenson asked.
"No. Just like you hit a rack of billiards, they spread," Sexton said.
Under cross-examination, Gipson asked Sexton if he could tell from the wound how the shooter and the victim were positioned. When Sexton said there were innumerable variables, Gipson offered a possibility.
"So, he (Raines) could be bent like this?" Gipson said, indicating a standing person attacking someone on the ground.
Sexton said that was possible.
During re-direct, Sorenson countered with another possible scenario of two individuals facing one another, one with a shotgun.
"The two could have been standing, facing one another?" Sorenson said, mimicking a man holding a shotgun at waist level. "Isn't that possible?"
"That's correct," Sexton said.
OCSO Sgt. Allan Hunter lived at Corona Apartments at the time of the shooting. He te.jpgied he had just returned home when he received a knock at his door, a neighbor informing him someone had been shot at a nearby apartment.
"That's when I went into the apartment, and the victim was lying there holding his organs in his hands," Hunter said. "He said he tried to defend himself. He said one of them shot him. He said one of them had dreadlocks."
Police issued a bulletin with the description of the two men said to have been seen running from the apartment complex at the time of the shooting.
Watching TV at her parents' residence that day, Shawn Aiken te.jpgied that she locked her door when she heard sirens and saw a man leap her car and run through her yard.
"That's when I called 911 and said the guy they (police) are looking for is on Cliffe Street," Aiken said.
During his opening statements, Gipson said an old proverb fits the bill in this case.
"The proverb says that the first witness to speak seems to be correct until the other witness speaks," he said. "Folks, we are here to set the record straight."
Cothran ordered court to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. today.
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T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker @timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at The TandD.com.