LAKEPORT — Michael A. Dodele sustained more than 60 wounds from a sharp object, the forensic pathologist who performed his autopsy said during the Ivan Garcia Oliver trial Friday — a day that also saw Dodele”s sister and Oliver”s former girlfriend take the stand.
Thomas H. Gill, formerly of Fairfield-based Forensic Medical Group, Inc., testified “multiple sharp-force injuries” caused Dodele”s death on Nov. 20, 2007.
The prosecution alleges Oliver killed Dodele, 67, after he mistook Dodele for a child molester because he misunderstood information on the Megan”s Law online registry. Dodele was a sex offender whose crimes involved acts against women, not children.
The two men were neighbors in a Lakeport trailer park.
Oliver, 34, denies wrongdoing, pleading not guilty to felony counts of murder, burglary and elder abuse.
Defense counsel Stephen Carter argued during opening statements last week that Oliver was concerned for the safety of his 4-year-old son and acted in self-defense after an altercation broke out between the two men. Oliver suffered a hand injury during the incident.
Gill, the second witness Friday at the Lake County Courthouse, described each of the 65 sharp-force wounds he found on Dodele”s body. The injuries ranged in width and depth, with many appearing to be stabs while others looked like slices.
A majority of the wounds were located on the left side of Dodele”s chest, abdomen and arms. More than a dozen were found on his head.
Dodele”s lung and spleen were pierced, and he had a fractured vertebra and a broken collarbone, Gill said.
The pathologist said he could not identify the order in which Dodele received the injuries or the position of people at the time specific wounds were inflicted.
Gill testified that it would be possible for an assailant to injure himself with a knife during such an attack.
As part of his testimony, Gill also answered questions about his professional background.
He said he was caught driving under the influence on his way to work while practicing pathology in Indiana in August 1994.
Additionally, Gill talked about a mistrial that occurred in a Sonoma County case more than 10 years ago because of issues related to him being coached about how to testify more effectively as an expert witness.
Cathleen Ferran, who lived with Oliver and their son in November 2007, was the final witness called by chief deputy district attorney Richard Hinchcliff on Friday.
She remembered Oliver “acting weird” the night before Dodele”s death. “He wouldn”t sit still he was making no sense,” she said.
He continued acting strangely the following morning and “kept telling us that he loved us,” Ferran said.
She said she observed Oliver near Dodele”s home on Nov. 20, 2007 and also saw Oliver bleeding. She testified she called 9-1-1 that morning and law enforcement personnel later broke down their door after Oliver returned to their trailer.
Several days before the incident, Oliver seemed “angry” when he claimed Dodele was a child molester, Ferran said, adding that Oliver showed her the “Megan”s Law paper printed out.”
The printout had an incorrect address and the man photographed didn”t look like Dodele, Ferran said.
She testified she had no problems with Dodele and her son never talked about Dodele touching him or trying to touch him.
Ferran described Oliver as a caring and protective father.
Dodele”s sister, Margaret Brooks, was the day”s first witness, appearing on the stand for less than 15 minutes.
She described Dodele”s criminal history, saying he was released from prison a month or two before his death. His sexual assaults occurred against women and “never, never” included acts of child molestation, she said.
She testified her brother threatened his victims with a knife but did not injure the women with the weapon.
Carter contended in his opening statement that Dodele brandished a knife on Nov. 20, 2007.
Judge Arthur H. Mann said the trial would resume Wednesday at 9 a.m.
