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GAFFORD from page B1attorneys, Keith Kilpatrick and BruceMiller, because John Jr was the only one at 20fi Redwood Ave. in Niceville who was sober on the day Joseph Allen Ciastko was killed.Prosecution witnesses have said Joseph Allen Ciastko and Jody Zetter-lund were off his father's property during a confrontation that led to Ciastko’s death from a stab wound in the chest and Zetterlund having his throat cut,Gafford’s son said the confrontation outside was weird” but bloodless. He added that Ciastko and Zetterlund thenbroke open the door and charged intothe Gafford home.Johnny B, Gafford struggled with Ciastko and Zetterlund a second time after they entered his house, John E. Gafford testified. He said he never saw anyone injured in either confrontation.The second version is critical if Gafford’s self defense claim is going to stand upThe younger Gafford testified that he saw his father and both Ciastko and Zetterlund armed with knives when things turned violent.Prosecutor Bobby Elmore worked well into the evening attempting to punch holes in the younger Gafford's story.Asked why he didn't call 911 until after Ciastko and Zetterlund had burst into the house. John Jr said he keptthinking the escalating confrontationwould end.“No, Elmore countered You weren't calling 911 because it never happened.Elmore has built a case around the theory that Gafford attacked Ciastko and Zetterlund at about 9 p m. following aday he'd spent drinking with two women, including Zetterlund's girlfriendIn Elmore’s version, Gafford reached over his fence to stab an unarmed and extremely intoxicated Ciastko and cut Zetterlund's throat when Zetterlundstood up after puncturing four tires on his girlfriend’s van.Elmore rested the state's case after showing jurors more than an hour of a taped interview with Gafford at Niceville police headquarters in the hours after the incident.Gafford repeats “I didn't cut nobody, and “1 don't remember cutting nobody. throughout the interviewMiller spent Thursday morning vigorously attacking the credibility of Flori da Department of Law Enforcement crime scene analyst Amy Norkus.Miller questioned Norkus' ability to handle the daunting task of securing and collecting evidence for a crime scene that extended several hundred feet down Redwood Avenue.Isn't it safe to say this case is just too big for you? Miller asked Norkus.No, Norkus answered defiantly.The questioning was part of Miller's effort to portray the crime scene estab lished from Gafford's home to a mobile home where Zetterlund staggered after being knifed as a circus — a word he unsuccessfully tried to get one witness to use Thursday.Miller asked the too big question after pushing Norkus into testifying that she'd turned blood samples taken outside of Gafford's home over to the state s crime lab on June 9, seven days after they were collected.Miller said the FDLE had a “rule requiring its agents to turn in evidence gathered at a crime scene within five days of its collection.Norkus, clearly on the defensive, countered that the three- to five-day protocol was “a goal in our werk plan. Something we work toward so we don't sit on evidence.*’“It’s not a rule, added Norkus. noting she had gotten the evidence to the lab within five working days.Miller also pointed out discrepancies in the charts and photos Norkus used as part of her testimony for the prosecu tionHe asked Norkus about “reddish brown stains just outside the Gafford home and wanted to know whv the stains hadn't been tested to see if they were blood
Newspaper Details
Northwest Florida Daily News
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, US
Fri, Feb 10, 2006
Page 12
Full Page
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USA 06 Sep 2019
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