WINONA — Circuit Judge Joseph Loper ruled this morning that testimony about a gunshot residue test performed on Curtis Giovanni Flowers is admissible in court.
Flowers’ defense had argued that residue collected from Flowers’ hand was too small to be considered significant and should be suppressed.
A single particle of gunshot primer residue was found on Flowers’ right hand on July 16, 1996, the day four people were fatally shot at Tardy Furniture store.
Flowers’ sixth trial in those slayings entered its second week today.
“The issue of how the gunshot residue got on his hands is not a scientific issue,” Loper said when announcing his ruling today. “The scientific issue is that it was identified as gunshot residue.”
Loper said he would leave it up to the jury to determine whether the residue was relevant to the case.
Firearms expert David Balash testified Saturday that the gunshot residue found on Flowers’ hand was in a location consistent with the firing of a handgun.
The prosecution has argued that the small amount of residue collected was consistent with the time that had elapsed between the shooting and testing.
Flowers is charged with murder in the 1996 slayings of Tardy Furniture owner Bertha Tardy, 59, and employees Carmen Rigby, 45, Robert Golden, 42, and Derrick “BoBo” Stewart, 16. All four victims were shot in the head inside the downtown Winona business where Flowers had worked briefly.
Flowers faces the death penalty if convicted. Three convictions have been thrown out by the state Supreme Court, and twice juries have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Balash said Saturday that his investigation shows that markings on each of the five .380-caliber bullets collected from the murder scene were consistent with being fired from the same weapon.
The prosecution asked him how sure he was that they were discharged from the same gun.
“I have to be 100 percent sure for me to give that opinion,” Balash said.
He also said bullets collected at the home of Doyle Simpson, a relative of Flowers, were consistent with the patterns found on the bullets from Tardy’s.
The defense argued that another .380-caliber pistol could have made similar markings. Balash said that not all .380-caliber pistols would leave the same markings but some of them would.
Later, the prosecution attempted to connect Flowers to Simpson’s gun.
Bill Thornburg, who worked as a deputy sheriff at the time of the murders, said he responded to a call of a stolen handgun on the morning of the slayings. Thornburg received the call while he was still on scene at Tardy’s.
Before the call, he said he had picked up a shell casing and noted the bullet was a .380-caliber.
When Thornburg arrived at Simpson’s home and spoke to him, the former deputy discovered the stolen handgun was a .380-caliber pistol as well. He said that was the reason he collected bullets shot into a stump at Simpson’s home.
Thornburg said he did not file a report nor was he asked to file a report on the stolen gun.
Simpson’s gun has never been recovered.
