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| Crime Scene Reconstruction |
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Dunkle v. State,
2006 OK CR 29 (July 7, 2006): Character Evidence; Crime Scene Reconstruction: Laura Dunkle was convicted of Murder in the First Degree in Grady County and sentenced to LWOP in the shooting death of her fiancee. Reversed and remanded for new trial on two grounds: 1) improper introduction of character evidence, primarily that Dunkle practiced witchcraft and was a bad mother because DHS investigated her care of her children; and 2) improper introduction of a computer-generated crime scene re-enactment. The "witchcraft" evidence is particularly appalling because the State's only proffered reason for introducing it was to show that "this is the person she is" and that she was "unusual." The State did not tie the "witchcraft" to any aspect of the case other than to vilify the accused and the trial judge allowed the State to bring in just about anything toward that end, almost all of it irrelevant to the charge. Trial Judge: Richard G. Van Dyck, Grady County.
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