LAKEPORT ? A face was put on the victim Tuesday in the murder trial of Shannon Lee Edmonds, 35, and co-defendant Melvin Dale Norton, 38. The jury saw the bruised and battered body of Shelby Ryan Uehling, 25, of Bozeman, MT along with his blood-crusted face and the three-inch neck laceration that severed his carotid artery.
The jury heard extensive testimony describing the wounds suffered by Uehling in the Sept. 22, 2009 assault to which the defendants have pleaded not guilty by means of self-defense.
The Clearlake men face charges of murder, assault with a knife, assault with a club and assault likely to cause great bodily injury. Norton faces an additional charge of accessory after the fact while charges against Edmonds are accompanied by special allegations because great bodily injury was allegedly inflicted. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years to life without the possibility of parole.
Most of Tuesday”s testimony was delivered by Dr. Thomas H. Gill, who is the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Uehling”s body. Dr. Gill”s said he concluded that Uehling”s death was caused by “multiple sharp force injuries.” While Dr. Gill identified multiple injuries including those referred to as sharp force injuries and blunt force injuries, he said the laceration to the victim”s neck was the most significant. “Ultimately this became the most life-threatening wound I found on the body because it penetrated the carotid artery,” he said.
Dr. Gill said blunt force injuries were also detected in the neck area. After explaining to the jury the anatomy of the neck muscles, tissue and cartilage, Dr. Gill said that hemorrhages were detected that could be consistent with quick, sharp impacts to the neck, although not prolonged strangulation.
Dr. Gill said there was another laceration wound on the victim”s lower back that penetrated through the ninth and 10th ribs. “This caused a hemorrhage into that lung, which was quite extensive as well,” he said. In reference to examining the lung, Dr. Gill said that the bleeding was pointed inward, pushing blood into the tissue instead of out. He said quite a bit of blood escaped internally and not externally.
Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe asked the witness if the wound to the lung could have been life-threatening alone. Dr. Gill said that would depend on medical intervention. “Had he not received medical attention in an hour or two, it could have been lethal,” Dr. Gill said.
Grothe asked the witness about a blunt force injury to the back of the victim”s head as well as one to the right frontal bone above the eye. He asked if the injuries were consistent with the asp, or baton, and the knob at the end of it, allegedly belonging to Edmonds. “These are rod-like but this doesn”t really seem like the width. It would depend on how much of the surface came in contact,” Dr. Gill said. “It suggests pattern injury with something roughly that width.”
Grothe asked if it was possible the injuries were made with a steel-toed boot. Dr. Gill said it was possible. Dr. Gill said a wound near the victim”s buttocks was consistent with the knife presented as evidence but didn”t think it was consistent with the golf club shaft.
Dr. Gill also provided his opinion of several wounds to the victim”s face, which he said were likely caused by multiple strikes with an object other than a fist. In his 30 minute cross examination Public Defender Doug Rhoades, who represents Edmonds, asked if the facial wounds could have been caused by the subject hitting the ground. Dr. Gill said, “I suppose if there was elevation in the pavement.”
Rhoades also asked the witness if the laceration wounds on the victim”s fingers that he previously testified as being defensive wounds could have been self-inflicted. Dr. Gill it was possible.
In rebuttal, Grothe asked Dr. Gill if he could state with reasonable confidence that the neck wound including the laceration and the impact trauma were not self-inflicted. Dr. Gill said he could. He also said that he was confident that the impact wounds on the sides of the victim”s back were not self-inflicted nor were they consistent with someone falling back. He said several contusions and abrasions near the victim”s knees were also not likely self-inflicted.
While he said he could not conclude with absolution the exact weapon that may have caused the injuries, he said classic pattern injuries were evident. “(The injuries) are telling us something here,” he said.
According to Dr. Gill, toxicology reports indicate that Uehling used methamphetamine anywhere from an hour or two before his death; however, no evidence that may indicate Uehling”s tolerance is available through the toxicology report. When asked by Public Defender Stephen Carter, who represents Norton, about behavioral patterns of a person on methamphetamine, Dr. Gill said he was not qualified to answer such questions.
Also testifying on Tuesday was Linda Senteney, a fingerprint expert with the Department of Justice. Senteney testified to identifying latent prints matching those of Norton”s. “I did identify the latent print on the Safeway bag to the right palm of Melvin Norton,” she said.
The plastic bag in question was previously introduced as that which soiled clothing was allegedly placed in by the defendants following the Sept. 22 assault.
Prior to calling the court into order, Judge Arthur Mann informed counsels that a juror had a family hardship and asked to be dismissed. The request was granted and an alternate was chosen at random.
The trial will reconvene at 9 a.m. today in Lake County Superior Court Department 3 in Lakeport.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
