Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Day five of the case against Thomas Siaumau saw the government call several witnesses including the lead investigating officer, Det. Savelio Vaofanua. The government also presented to the jury several photographs from the crime scene, including photos of the police unit that was damaged, along with photo of where the alleged crime took place.

The focus of day five was to identify damages to the police vehicle and to show to the jury in what part of the crime scene investigators were able to discovered several pieces of physical evidence including bullets, shell casings and the magazine containing 5 bullets.

The government exhibits 2-28 are photos of the damage to the police vehicle, and places where bullets and shells casing were found.

According to Det. Vaofanua, some of the photos of the vehicle damage were taken on the same night of the alleged incident, which was Dec. 14, 2017, while other photos were taken the next morning.

According to the government witness, two bullets hit the police unit while a female officer was inside, during an investigation of reported gun shots at the back of the Tony Solaita Baseball field.

One bullet hit the top portion of the passenger’s door, then made its way through and tore the head rest of the passenger seat, before it went to the back and shattered the back window. Photos were presented to the jury to show proof to the damages.

Photos also showed pieces of broken glass scattered inside the vehicle, on the floorboard of the back seat of the police unit.

According to the witness, the second bullet that hit the police vehicle damaged the middle portion of the passenger’s seat, which left a hole on the outside of the door. The same bullet also shattered the door window, which was rolled down during the time of the shooting.

According to Det. Vaofanua, the second bullet was discovered inside the door, and was photographed and submitted into the government’s evidence.

Prosecutor Christy Dunn informed the jury that the bullet that was discovered inside the police vehicle’s door was part of the evidence that was sent off island for testing. She also reminded the jury of parts of the testimony from the government’s forensic witness who testified last Thursday, where the witness confirmed that she performed a forensic analysis on the top part of the bullet that was discovered inside the police vehicle’s door.

Aside from the damage to the police vehicle, two light poles inside the Baseball field were also damaged during the shooting. Photos of one of the light poles on the left side of the Baseball field were shown to the jury, which indicated that some of the light bulbs were damaged and destroyed.

Other photos from the crime scene, which were presented to the jury yesterday show different locations where each piece of physical evidence was found. Another photo shows a wire fence which separate the government’s land and lands of several Petesa families including Siaumau’s family.

Det. Vaofanua told the jury that throughout his investigation with the help from several investigators, they discovered a big hole underneath the wire fence that separated the government’s land and lands that belongs to Petesa families. The hole indicated that this is the way teenagers from Petesa used to enter the back of the Baseball field. They also alleged that this was the same hole defendant Siaumau used to enter the Baseball field during the night of the shooting.

During cross examination, defense attorney Richard deSaulles asked the witness if he ever saw Siaumau enter into the back of the Baseball field. The witness replied, “No.”

When asked to explain to the jury which bullet caused the damage to the police vehicle, Det. Vaofanua said he doesn’t know which one caused the damage. Their job was to gather the evidence and send if off island for forensic analysis.

The defense attorney also asked the witness to describe the damage to the light bulbs on one of the light poles at the Baseball field. The witness stated that some of the light bulbs were shattered into pieces.

deSaulles asked the witness how he could confirm to the jury that the damage to the light pole was cause by a bullet from a firearm. The witness stated that pieces of broken glass from light bulbs was discovered underneath the light pole.

“Did you climb on the top of the light pole to check what caused the damage,” deSaulles asked the witness. Det. Vaofanua replied, “No counsel,” with a smile on his face.

“Did you find any firearms at the crime scene that link my client to this alleged shooting,” deSaulles asked the witness. Det. Vaofanua replied, “No counsel, we did not find any firearms at the crime scene. All we discovered were bullets and shell casings.”

The trial resumes today at 9am.