jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- The jury in Keith Wade Kidwell's first-degree murder trial will get to see video footage that could bolster the state's case that the defendant killed Kangaroo convenience-store clerk Crayton Nelms in February 2005.
Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson on Monday ruled to allow the footage.
Nelms worked the overnight shift at the Kangaroo store at 4604 N. Roxboro St.
Defense lawyer Lisa Williams sought to suppress the footage filmed from an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper's vehicle. She argued that the footage contains statements from Kidwell that were made without him understanding his right to remain silent and without him waiving his right to a lawyer. Furthermore, Kidwell didn't know he was being recorded, and that's a violation of his rights, too, Williams said.
District Attorney Tracey Cline said the footage from the trooper's cruiser shows an exchange of information between Kidwell and Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Griffey that was not coerced.
On Feb. 11, 2005, Griffey stopped Kidwell for speeding on Interstate 40 in Sequoyah County, Okla. He was driving 85 mph in a zone where the speed limit was 70 mph, Griffey said.
And Kidwell was driving a burgundy Ford F-150 pickup truck. The victim's sister told The Herald-Sun the truck in the video belonged to her brother. But that wasn't Kidwell's story.
On the video, Kidwell told Griffey his mother gave him the truck, and he was headed to Las Vegas to visit his father. The defendant said he was 3 years old the last time he saw his daddy.
"That'll be a good reunion, won't it?" Griffey responded.
Up to that point, the only thing Griffey planned to do was write Kidwell a warning ticket for speeding and urge him to take it slow, the trooper indicated on the video.
"Man, why you so nervous?" Griffey asked Kidwell. "Your hands are shaking."
The nature of the conversation between the two was cordial enough. Griffey even asked Kidwell what kind of gas mileage he was getting on the F-150.
But while Griffey was doing his due diligence related to the traffic stop, the trooper became aware of a warrant for Kidwell's arrest. The tone of the conversation between Griffey and Kidwell took a turn.
"All right, buddy, listen to me," Griffey told Kidwell. "You're way too big for me to try to manhandle. But I'm gonna tell you right now, I will shoot you. ... I'm gonna handcuff you. But don't you even try to buck up and get stupid."
Griffey told Kidwell he was arresting him for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and the trooper read the suspect his rights. By this time Griffey had learned that the F-150 was stolen from a homicide scene.
The trooper exited the cruiser and joined another officer to search the F-150. Kidwell still was in the vehicle, and he mumbled that he was going to jail for murder -- a statement captured on the videotape.
Griffey pressed Kidwell to tell him what the real deal was regarding the truck. Kidwell then claimed a crazy-acting white man with a foul mouth in Durham more or less gave him the truck.
Kidwell's lawyer argued that her client was a black man in the middle of Oklahoma who had just been told by a highway patrolman that he'd get shot if he made the wrong move, so the defendant was just saying whatever he thought the officer wanted to hear in order to save his life.
Williams reminded the trooper of what he said about shooting Kidwell.
"And were you joking?" Williams asked.
"Not at all," Griffey testified.
