Defender LunsfordFollowing Lunsford's cross-examination of Young, prosecutor Nina-Alicia Antony conducted a redirect examination in which she suggested that no urine was thrown onto Fields near the intersection of Fourth Street and Market Street.
And when you found him there or when he was there after he had been taken into custody, he appeared to have a yellow stain on his shirt, correct?
Detective Young
That’s correct.
Defender Lunsford
Was anyone able to determine what that was?
Detective Young
As of now, no.
Defender Lunsford
Was there a smell to that stain?
Detective Young
Yes, there was a smell from urine.
(Page 40, lines 8 - 15)
Prosecutor Antony
Detective Young, Ms. Lunsford asked you about the smell of the substance that was on Mr. Field’s shirt and you indicated that it smelled of an odor of urine?
Detective Young
Correct.
Prosecutor Antony
Is it fair to say there was no evidence during the course of your investigation prior to the crash, of any individual surrounding Mr. Field’s car, throwing anything on him while he was in his car or in the area of Fourth Street and Market?
Detective Young
That’s correct. There’s no indication.
Prosecutor Antony
And there was no one blocking his egress onto Market once he got to Fourth and the crowd was in front of him?
Detective Young
Correct.
(Page 44, lines 10 - 22)
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| Fields says urine was thrown onto him at the intersection of Fourth and Market |
* Fields has said that urine was thrown onto him at the intersection of Fourth and MarketIn a trial of Fields, the credibility of the Fourth-Market eyewitnesses will be challenged by Fields' defense attorney.
* This accusation is denied by the eyewitnesses at the intersection of Fourth and Market
* Fields has said that he was afraid to back up to the corner of Fourth and Market
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The pretrial hearing indicated that after the riot at Emancipation Park (aka Lee Park), Fields walked to McIntire Park -- about a half-hour walk -- where his car was parked. Fields then drove his car back to the downtown area where the protesters were walking around.
If Field' shirt had been soaked with urine during the riot, then he had an opportunity to wash and to put on a clean shirt before he drove back into the downtown area.
Fields walked from Emancipation Park to McIntire Park with three other men. They might be able to confirm that Fields washed and put on a clean shirt before he drove back into town and eventually was arrested wearing a urine-soaked shirt.
Thus the testimony of the Fourth-Market eyewitnesses might be contradicted. If those eyewitnesses lied about the urine, then they might have lied also about other elements of the incident.
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Those eyewitnesses were standing at the corner of Fourth and Market and looking south toward Main.
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| The view from Fourth and Market southward toward Main (Click on the image to enlarge it.) |
* drive into the intersection from Market Street and then turn south onto Fourth Street,Why were those people standing at Fourth and Market for such a long time? Perhaps they knew that they would see something happen on Fourth Street if they kept standing and watching southward from that intersection..Perhaps they knew that their subsequent eyewitness statements about what they saw would be useful to someone.
* drive south slowly,
* idle his car for a while,
* perhaps back up once or twice,
* drive into the crowd,
* back up from Water Street to Market Street,
* drive east on Market Street and turn right onto Ninth Street.
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In later November 2017, the Hunton and Williams law firm published an Independent Review of the 2017 Protest Events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Review's discussion of the situation at Fourth and Market includes the following passages.
The the intersection of 4th Street NE and Market Street had two impediments to traffic: a traffic barrier blocking any southward movement on 4th Street NE and an officer and squad car blocking any westward movement on Market Street. The traffic plan called for Officer Jeff Sandridge to man that post.The Review includes the following photograph and caption.
Late in the week, two developments changed that plan. First, the Incident Management Team advised Captain Lewis that Lieutenant Tito Durrette had too many roles for August 12. Second, Captain Shifflett found out that Officer Tammy Shiflett, a school resource officer, was available to work ...
So on August 11, Lewis replaced Sandridge with Tammy Shiflett .... Officer Shiflett was told about her assignment at Market Street and 4th Street NE, but she did not receive any instruction other than that she would be “doing traffic.” She understood that her role was to prevent “anything coming down [westward on] East Market Street” to Emancipation Park.
Video footage shot around 10:30 a.m. on August 12 shows Officer Shiflett standing at her post next to her squad car in Market Street as scores of Unite The Right attendees streamed past her towards Emancipation Park. The video also shows that the southbound route on 4th Street SE was obstructed by a single wooden sawhorse that spanned only the middle third of the road.
Why did the police decide to prevent vehicles from driving south on Fourth Street from Market Street to Market Street? Did someone know beforehand that the anti-racism protesters eventually would march north on Fourth Street.The Review discussion of the Fourth-Market intersection continues .
Click on the above image to enlarge it.
Tammy Shiflett — the school resource officer stationed at 4th Street NE and Market Street — was standing alone with no protective gear. She felt she was in danger. As people started to pass, they made profane and aggressive statements toward her. She smelled pepper spray in the air. Just as Sergeant Handy and his unit arrived at the Market Street garage, Shiflett radioed Captain Lewis and said, “They are pushing the crowd my way, and I have nobody here to help me.” Lewis radioed to Sergeant Handy and instructed him to help Shiflett.
Sergeant Handy and Officer Logan Woodzell started to move towards Shiflett’s location, and Handy radioed Shiflett to walk towards them. Woodzell’s body camera footage shows Shiflett leaving 4th Street and jogging to the two officers. But she forgot to lock her car, so Handy instructed her to go back and move her car. Shiflett hustled back to the car, got in, and moved it out of the intersection to Market Street near the parking garage.
Officer Shiflett ultimately ended up with Lieutenant Jones as he handled the Deandre Harris incident. Lieutenant Jones told us that he was asked by either Handy or Woodzell to let Officer Shiflett stay with him because she did not have any protective gear. Neither Shiflett nor Jones notified the traffic commander or the Command Center that she was no longer a her assigned post at 4th Street NE and Market Street. As a result, all that remained there was a wooden sawhorse barricade.
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The following photo shows a certain Dwayne Dixon carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle about a block from Fourth Street, where James Field was waiting in his car at least 1:15 minutes before he drove into the anti-racism protesters.
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| Dwayne Dixon carrying an AR-15 during the Charlottesville incident |
The following screenshot of Dixon's Facebook page shows him boasting:
I used this rifle to chase off James Fields from our block of 4th St. before he attacked the marchers to the south.
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| I used this rifle to chase off James Fields from our block of 4th St. before he attacked the marchers to the south. |
These images and allegations about Dixon are from an article titled James Fields Was Chased With a Semi-Automatic Rifle Before Crash, written by Jason Kessler.
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