Does a Columbus teen’s alleged killer have to be at his murder trial? Judge decides
If you’re on trial for murder, do you have to be there?
That’s the question a judge had to decide Monday in the trial of Emmanuel Truitt, charged in the 2021 shooting of 17-year-old Dondre Reynolds.
Truitt said he was sick and wanted to go back to the Muscogee County Jail. His attorneys, public defenders Sirena Saunders and Nancy Miller, asked that he be excused.
Judge John Martin had to decide whether a murder suspect must attend his own trial.
It was the second time the issue came up, in Truitt’s trial. His attorneys Wednesday said he wanted to leave the courtroom, because he has acute anxiety and could behave erratically in court, prejudicing the jury against him.
Martin had him examined by jail medical staff, and Truitt returned to court Thursday and Friday.
The judge tried the same approach Monday, but Truitt persisted in saying he was too ill to remain.
When Martin suggested Truitt stay in a Government Center holding cell on the fourth floor, where he quickly could be reached if needed, Truitt complained he could not lie down there.
Martin finally allowed Truitt to return to the jail, where his attorneys could contact him through a wireless messaging system.
Just as a defendant can waive his right to testify, in a trial, so can he waive his right to be there, the judge said. The Constitution guarantees citizens the right to confront their accusers, so they cannot be barred from their trials, but they can give that right up, he decided.
“I guess ultimately it’s your decision,” he told Truitt, later noting, “If a person doesn’t want to exercise that right, I don’t know that I can force them to do it.”
Truitt left court around 2 p.m., Monday, and did not hear some testimony from the lead detective, Sgt. Kyle Tuggle, and from state firearms expert Catherine Jordan.
Witnesses said Truitt killed Reynolds with the victim’s own gun, which in earlier testimony was described as a semi-automatic rifle akin to an AK-47.
Jordan called it a pistol that fired .223-caliber rounds. Bullets and casings from the crime scene matched the weapon police found there, she said.
The victim, an aspiring rap artist, used the name “Draco.” A Draco is a Romanian-made rifle with a pistol grip. Jordan said Reynolds’ gun was made by Jeff’s Shooter Supply of Adger, Alabama.
‘You mean this gun?’
An eyewitness testifying Thursday recalled that he and Reynolds were sitting on couches in the 25th Avenue house, in a room by the front door, when Truitt arrived there on Nov. 4, 2021.
He said Truitt walked into the room, and Reynolds asked him, “Can you pass me my gun?”
He said Truitt picked the rifle up and asked, “You mean this gun?”
Then Truitt started shooting, and the witness said he dropped to the floor, he said. “When I got up, I didn’t see him.”
Police called at 5:07 p.m. to the house near Alford Street found Reynolds dead in the doorway, shot five times in the chest, back and arm, officers testified. Truitt, then 24, was arrested nearby on Melon Street.
Truitt is being tried on charges of murder, aggravated assault, using a gun to commit a crime and being a convicted felon with a firearm. He faces life in prison if convicted.
He has a history of mental illness, attorneys said. Prosecutors have asked Martin to consider him a repeat offender, citing a felony record dating back to when Truitt was 11 years old.
This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 9:52 AM.