Tonya Craft
Court has recessed for the day.
4:44 p.m.
Gregor is asking Potter questions about his metal fabrication business.
4:41 p.m.
Prosecutor Len Gregor has taken over the questioning of Mike Potter.
4:24 p.m.
King is showing Potter photographs in order to have him identify friends and family involved in the case.
4:10 p.m.
Potter says that on numerous occasions he and his wife tried to compensate Craft for watching their children, but that she always refused. He also stated, as his wife did earlier, that the two families vacationed together. "Our kids really like being around each other, so it made sense for our families to vacation together so that the kids would have somebody to play with."
4:05 p.m.
King is having Potter explain his relationship with the parents of one of the girl victims.
4:03 p.m.
Defense attorney Cary S. King has taken over questioning for the defense. As with his Mike Potter’s wife earlier today, King is establishing exposition in regards to his friendship with Craft. King asks Potter about the observations he made between Craft and her daughter. According to Potter, Craft's daughter never seemed frightened, scared, or anything out of the ordinary in the times he would see her with Craft.
3:57 p.m.
The defense has called Mike Potter to the witness stand. He is the husband of Paula "Dee" Potter. The two have been married for nearly 14 years and are both friends of Tonya Craft.
3:42 p.m.
The court is taking a short break
3:40 p.m.
The defense asked Fajman if the questions presented by the prosecution changes her opinion of the evidence in this case, to which she replied "no." Prosecutor Arnt, in rebuttal, asked if the lack of physical evidence would mean that touching did not occur, to which she also replied "no."
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3:29 p.m.
The defense asked Fajman her opinion on what most parents’ reactions would be to seeing their child or children looking at each other in the nude. "Most parents, if they see their children looking at each other with their clothes off, they will usually intervene, and tell them not to do such things,” Fajman said. "They should tell them that it's unacceptable, put their clothes on, and go do something else.”
3:07 p.m.
Arnt asked Fajman if she thought the person present at the time of examination would provide the best judgment on whether abuse had occurred, to which she responded "Yes, I believe they would see (it) the best."
2:59 p.m.
When asked by Arnt if a 72-hour window was ideal for establishing sexual abuse, Fajman responded with, "The sooner you examine the child, the more likely you are to see any findings."
2:53 p.m.
Arnt is asking Fajman if she is familiar with the studies of a Dr. Nancy Kellogg as it pertains to abuse victims.
2:49 p.m.
Arnt is talking with Fajman about the histories and the symptoms of abuse victims.
2:40 p.m.
Questioning of Fajman has now been turned over to prosecutor Chris Arnt.
2:37 p.m.
The defense is establishing the training that goes into being an examination expert. It appears the defense is attempting to discredit earlier testimony from Sharon Anderson, a sexual assault nurse examiner from the Child Advocacy Center who testified for the prosecution. The defense has made it a point to reiterate that Anderson didn't have an advanced education, which it claims is usually required.
2:27 p.m.
Fajman explained the examination process at length. Looking at a photograph of one of the alleged victim's genital area, Fajman says that she doesn't see anything suspicious regarding the child’s vagina, nothing out of the ordinary.
2:06 p.m.
Fajman is telling the court how she came about being a part of the case. Fajman says that a colleague of hers initially introduced her to the case, and then defense attorney Scott King called her in regards to looking over the material. King sent her a DVD of the exams of the three girl victims, in addition to medical reports that were taken.
1:56 p.m.
The jury, as well as both councils, have made their way back into the courtroom. The defense calls Dr. Nancy Fajman to the stand. She is a professor of pediatrics at Emory University. The defense is establishing Fajman's credentials, degrees, schools, publishings, and so on.
1:28 p.m.
The court resumed about 1:25, but immediately took a break so prosecutors Len Gregor and Chris Arnt can interview the defense's next witness downstairs. The defense's next witness is a sexual abuse expert that the prosecution has yet to question. After an objection by the prosecution regarding the types of questions the defense is prepared to ask the witness in testimony, Judge Brian House granted the prosecution the opportunity to speak with her. Judge House also issued a warning that if the spectators in the courtroom do not quiet down during the proceedings, they will be removed from the courtroom by the bailiffs.
11:54 a.m.
Court will now break for lunch. It will resujme about 1:15 p.m.
11:48 a.m.
Lorandos showed the 12-year-old a photograph of one of the girl victims "pole dancing" at the swimming pool of the Potters. The witness says, as did her mother, that the girl was dancing inappropriately to "bad music." Asked what she thought about the dancing incident, the witness described the encounter as "embarrassing, and she was too young to be doing that."
11:39 a.m.
Court has resumed. with the defense calling Potter's 12-year-old daughter to the stand. Defense attorney Demosthenes Lorandos has taken over questioning for the defense. Lorandos is showing the child various photographs for her to identify people from the case, most notably, the girl victims.
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11:22 a.m.
The court is taking a short break.
11:17 a.m.
Gregor has brought up that Craft often wore shorts and sports bras during the summer, around the house, and things like that. Potter responded with, "If I looked like Tonya, I would wear those things too."
11:09 a.m.
Gregor is discussing the "Truth for Tonya" website with Potter. He asks if she realizes there are conspiracy theories out there criticizing the parents of the children, law enforcement, Judge Brian House, and Catoosa County as a whole, to which she said, "I realize what it says, but I don't believe that." Potter says she is just here to tell the truth.
11:02 a.m.
Gregor is asking about Potter's knowledge of other friends of Craft. He asks Potter if she knows what a "narcissist" is. Potter describes a narcissist as a person who loves him- or herself. He asks if a good person would touch a child, insert fingers into a child's private area, and things of that nature, to which she replied "No."
10:53 a.m.
Gregor is getting Potter's opinion on one of the girl victims. He asks if Potter would consider her a "slut," to which she replied, "I would never characterize her as that. She's too young for that.” Gregor then asked if she would consider the girl a "pre-slut," to which Potter said, "She's just an outgoing, bubbly girl, who has seen and heard too much."
10:48 a.m.
Gregor is questioning Potter about possible relationships between Craft and Potter's husband, and even between Craft and Potter herself. Potter denied that rumor. Gregor asked about an alleged photograph in which Potter, her husband, and Craft are in a bed together, which she also denied.
10:42 a.m.
Gregor brings up the fact that earlier today Potter testified that Craft didn't want to "sleep" with her current husband before marriage. Gregor is now asking why it's OK to have Christian values of not sleeping with someone before marriage, but also sleeping with someone other than your husband. Potter said Craft really didn't become religious until her second marriage which was after the alleged infidelity occurred.
10:37 a.m.
Gregor is discussing Potter's knowledge of Craft's history. He asks if Potter knows how many husbands Craft has had, how she met her second husband, and pageants she was in. Gregor tells Potter that Craft cheated on her first husband with the man who became her second husband. These facts appear to be news to the witness.
10:31 a.m.
Court has resumed. Prosecutor Len Gregor is cross-examining defense witness Paula Potter.
10:12 a.m.
The court is taking a break.
10:03 a.m.
When asked by King how she would feel about leaving her children with Craft right now, today, in light of all that has taken place and been alleged, Potter said, "I would have absolutely no problem with that."
10 a.m.
Potter is now discussing a conversation she had in 2008 with the mother who hosted the wedding for the Crafts. At one point, when the Crafts were separated, the mother "blistered my ears" with her hatred for Tonya, she said. She then divulged some of the expletives that were used in that conversation.
9:49 a.m.
Defense attorney King is now discussing the wedding that took place at the home of one of the alleged victims. The girl's mother organized the wedding for Tonya and David Craft and was also maid of honor for Craft at the wedding. It is the same mother who reportedly made threatening phone calls to Kim Walker, the friend of Craft who testified Monday for the defense.
9:41 a.m.
King is now showing Ms. Potter various photographs in order to identify some of the people in the pictures. When identifying Craft's children in a photo, Potter gets extremely emotional. Defense: “I can't help but notice that you got emotional there when you saw that picture. Can I ask why?” Potter: “I miss those kids.” Potter then explains that she hasn't seen her friend’s children since May 2008.
9:33 a.m.
King continues to establish the setting and the relationships between Potter and Craft, as well as the relationships between Craft and the alleged victims and their parents. Potter says she never observed anything out of the ordinary and the alleged victims never seemed to have anything other than affection for Craft at the times she saw them around her.
9:29 a.m.
In July 2007, when Craft had already married her current husband David, the families took a vacation together. The summer of 2007 also saw Craft keep Potter's children during the day. According to Potter, "She kept them all day, every day." Potter also says that on weekends when Craft's children were visiting their father, Craft would stay some nights with the Potters at their home.
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9:24 a.m.
Potter says Craft's two children would frequently stay the night at their house as well and they seemed to always have a good time, were never a problem. When King asked if Craft's daughter ever experienced any "night terrors," Potter replied "No."
9:20 a.m.
Potter is talking about the relationship between Craft and Craft's daughter, and describes it as nothing more than the usually mother-daughter relationship.
9:17 a.m.
The defense is establishing the witness' observations around children, specifically the alleged victims in the case. She claims she never noticed anything out of the ordinary at any point when she would see Craft with her children's friends and also students of hers.
9:10 a.m.
Potter says Craft began watching or "keeping" her children during the summer of 2006. Potter's children would stay at the Craft house during the week throughout the summer months when school was out.
9:08 a.m.
Defense attorney Cary S. King is questioning Potter and establishing her profession, family life, and her friendship with Craft. She became friends with Craft beginning in March 2006 when they met at baseball games involving both of their sons.
9:04 a.m.
The defense is calling Paula Potter to the stand. Potter is an accountant and has been one of Tonya Craft's best friends for the past four years.
9:02 a.m.
The trial is scheduled to begin shortly. Tonya Craft, along with two attorneys have arrived, and the courtroom is about one-third filled.
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What you describe are theatrics, and while I would prefer not to see anything of that nature in a courtroom, if one side is allowed to hop up on the table to make a point, then the other side should be able to as well. That is fairness and that up to this point has been lacking in this trial.
There are several things that have raised red flags with me. First, the gag order was instituted after business hours by Judge House, (someone who should have recused himself) before Ms. Craft was to conduct an on-air interview with WGOW. Do you not find that to be suspicious? I certainly do.
Add to that the outlandish behavior exhibited by the prosecution witnesses while on the stand in the way of eye rolling, etc. and the sheer unprofessionalism of one of the prosecution lawyers making a derogatory comment on his facebook page concerning the defense team that yet prosecution witnesses "liked." LOL My word, if that doesn't just scream unprofessionalism... what does?
I have read numerous accounts that there has "suddenly" been a shift in how the prosecution has begun their questioning. Apparently one of the ADA's acutually apologized in advance before cross-examination. Anybody keeping up with the trial KNOWS that this didn't happen before today. Ha! I guess I'll go ahead now and answer my previous question. Why, yes, it appears that the presence of national media will have an effect on this trial after all.
I have seen defense lawyers that have climbed up on the table and others that have acted like they were in a Shakespeare play. Just because its here in our little hometown court and obvisously a friend of some, does not make it a circus. I personaly do not know or have met any of the ones involived but i am thankful that most of those posting here( both for and against) are not chosen for jury duty as no one would ever get a fair trial with the narrow minded, hollier than thou, iknow everything type people. If i offend anyone, i appologize for your short commings.