Caught on Tape?

The fourth day of the murder trial of Dashawn Revels picked up where it left off yesterday, in the middle of the defendant’s first interview with Detective Richard Curcuro.

Revels, a 22-year-old New York native, stands accused of fatally shooting Bryan Davila following an argument that began outside an apartment complex on Crystal Avenue in New London on March 31, 2009. Revels, who was apprehended on Home Street shortly after the shooting, was interviewed twice by Curcuro.

Audiotapes of both interviews were played for the jury today. But though the tapes were illustrative as to how police conducted the interrogation, many of Revels’ answers were less illuminating. Revels often mumbled and answered questions so quietly that his answers were, at times, almost unintelligible.

During the first interview, which began at about 1 a.m. on April 1, Revels maintained he had not been near the apartments at the intersection of Crystal Avenue and State Pier Road that night, and that he was unaware of any incident.

“You’re pointing the finger at me, that’s basically what you’re doing,” Revels said. “I’m not involved in any of this. I told you, I’ve never fired a firearm before.” Revels did agree, however, to let police test his hands for gunshot residue. He also allowed police to take DNA swabs and gave permission for police to take his clothes, shoes, and cell phone for forensic testing.

The second interview began at 4:48 a.m., after Curcuro had been able to obtain surveillance footage proving that Revels was, in fact, at the apartment complex on Crystal Avenue just minutes before the shooting occurred. Confronted by the photos, Revels then admitted to being at the scene and began to tell a different story.

Revels said he was among a group of six, when two others who were with them got into an argument with a man across the street. Revels said the man pulled a gun a started shooting, at which point his group returned fire. It was less than clear from the tapes exactly who among the group did the shooting.

Though Curcuro testified yesterday that he heard Revels say, “I shot him,” on the tape played in court, Revels answer sounded more like, “We shot him.” Indeed, that’s how his answer was written on a transcription provided as an aid to the jury.

It was, however, clearly a tough day in court for Bryan Davila’s family, as jurors viewed autopsy photos and heard Connecticut’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. H. Wayne Carver testify about how the 20-year-old died. Carver pointed out three bullet wounds, one that penetrated the stomach, one that penetrated the buttock, and one that grazed Davila’s back.

On autopsy photographs, Carver showed where the bullet that entered near the victim’s belly button had ruptured a major artery, filling the stomach with blood. “He was alive when this injury occurred,” Carver said. “It’s a very difficult injury to treat because it bleeds so fast. … He bled to death. I listed the cause as multiple gunshot wounds.”

Carver told the jury that based on the shape of the bullet holes and the angle of penetration, Davila would have been facing the shooter when the bullet penetrated his stomach but would have had his back to the gun when he was hit in the buttock and back.

Carver, who retrieved two bullets from the victim’s body, said he couldn’t say for sure whether the shots came from one gun or from two similar guns. The latter scenario would seem to bolster Defense Attorney Bruce Sturman’s claims that two shooters were involved.

During cross examination of Curcuro, Sturman asked whether the detective recalled hearing Revels ask to see surveillance photographs so he could point out the two men who shot Davila that night. On the interrogation tape played today, Curcuro’s response to that was he wasn’t going to show Revels what evidence he had.

“Do you know how many times [Revels] said ‘I didn’t do it,’?” Sturman asked Curcuro during cross-examination. “If I said 18, would that surprise you?”

The second interview ended when Revels asked for a lawyer. Testimony in the case will continue on Monday.