Stories di er about deadly robbery

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Amid all the contradictory statements and “I-don’t-recall” responses that came out of the second week of testimony in the trial of Terrell Jones, one of the other people who prosecutors say participated in the robbery of Andrew Graham asserted several times that he himself was at the scene of the crime.

“For the fth time, yes,” said Joseph Martin, saying he was present at the shooting that killed the 23-year-old Centennial man, in response to questions on the witness stand.

Meanwhile, another defendant convicted in the incident continued to maintain she was not responsible for the death.

“I feel like since day one I’ve been saying I’m innocent and I’ve been put in situations where (I have) to continue to give you guys what you want,” Clarissa Lockhart said in response to a question from the prosecution.

Graham, a University of Colorado graduate who had plans for grad school, was found fatally shot about 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2009, in the front yard of a home in the Willow Creek neighborhood of Centennial near County Line Road and Yosemite Street.

In a case that doesn’t appear to rely on physical evidence, the varying stories of people called as witnesses have taken center stage.

Jones’ trial in Arapahoe County District Court started in early May and could run for weeks, possibly until June 2, according to the state judicial branch website.

Here’s a look at some key moments from the second week of the trial.

‘I was there’

Martin took questions on the witness stand over the course of four separate days, largely in response to Jones’ defense attorney, who sought to paint Martin as someone who made up stories.

Martin met with investigators and testi ed in court hearings 11 times from 2009 to January 2017, and along the way, he changed his story on Jones’ involvement, said Evan Zuckerman, an attorney for Jones.

“Naming Terrell one day, not naming him another day — this is the defense case: It is unreliable, inconsistent statements,” Zuckerman said in court. e responses “I don’t remember” and “I don’t recall” became Martin’s standard answers on the stand as Zuckerman peppered him with questions, playing clips of Martin’s interviews with law enforcement and quoting from transcripts of what he told authorities in the past. e defense recounted an exchange from a transcript in 2011, when Martin was asked about hav- ing said Jones was at the scene.

“I don’t know … Well, rst, they asked me a question and I just told them,” Martin had said, according to the defense.

He was then asked whether he was just “making this stu up,” and he replied: “Yes ma’am, I was,” adding he was “just young and dumb at the time,” the defense recited.