Expert witness uses mannequin

A police expert in particle analysis told a Philadelphia jury Wednesday that lead particles embedded in the clothing of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski mean he was just 31/2 to 4 feet from the end of the Chinese SKS military assault rifle when he was shot to death. Witnesses in the trial of Eric DeShann Floyd and Levon T. Warner, charged with murder in Liczbinski's 2008 killing, have said the 12-year veteran officer was crouched behind the open door of his patrol car when bank robber Howard Cain strode toward him firing.

Liczbinski was hit by at least eight shots from the rifle, which police witnesses said had a "banana clip" magazine loaded with 35 two-inch-long cartridges.

The technical testimony of Gamal Emira, a chemist and expert in trace evidence for the Philadelphia Police Criminalistics Laboratory, was given real-world meaning by a mute witness: a mannequin dressed in Liczbinski's perforated, bloodstained uniform.

The Common Pleas Court spectators were silent as Emira, holding a metal pointer, showed Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy where Cain's shots ripped through Liczbinski's body.

The blue shirt's left sleeve, torn and stiffened with rust-colored dry blood, showed where the first shots hit Liczbinski, all but severing his arm.

The shirt's torso was stained from just below the nametag "LICZBINSKI" and police badge number 486, evidence of the gaping wound in his side.

Emira said the lead residue was from bullet remnants or the primer used to ignite the cartridge powder when a weapon's trigger is pulled.

Emira said he also recovered one other piece of non-ballistic metal that went through two layers of Liczbinski's clothing - likely part of the patrol car's exterior search light that was nicked by one of the rifle shots.

Liczbinski, 39, was shot to death May 3, 2008, at Almond and Schiller Streets in Port Richmond when he pulled up behind a stopped Jeep Liberty he pursued after a robbery of a Bank of America branch inside a nearby ShopRite market at Aramingo and Castor Avenues.

Witnesses have testified that Cain, 33, mastermind of the bank robbery, jumped out of the Jeep and began firing at Liczbinski as he was getting out from behind of the wheel of the patrol car.

Cain jumped back in the Jeep and sped from the scene with accomplices Floyd, 35, of North Philadelphia and Warner, 41, of West Philadelphia.

Liczbinski's wife, Michele, and their three children have struggled during the trial as the prosecutor played tapes of Liczbinski's voice in his last radio calls during the chase. At times, they have left court in tears.

But Wednesday, they listened as if in stunned silent. Michele Liczbinski rested her head on her crossed arms on the back of the pew in front of her, eyes on the mannequin used by Emira and Conroy.

Trial resumes Thursday morning at the Criminal Justice Center, with Conroy expected to call a DNA expert who he said would link items of clothing and other evidence to Cain, Floyd, and Warner.

Witnesses have testified that the three drove several blocks from Almond and Schiller Streets and switched the jeep for a Chrysler Town & Country minivan that Warner had parked earlier.

The three parked the minivan in the 500 block of East Loudon Street in Feltonville and then split up. Floyd and Warner ran off separately.

Cain was shot to death minutes later as he was emptying the minivan of stolen cash and other items.

Two police officers spotted the minivan, which matched a police radio description of the getaway vehicle. When one officer ordered Cain to raise his hands, he responded by pulling out the SKS rifle and was shot to death by both officers.

In other testimony Wednesday, a police crime scene investigator testified that he had found clothing Warner wore during the bank robbery stashed in an alley around the corner from the parked minivan.

Officer John Taggart said a pair of brown cargo pants was left in an alcove leading to the back door of a house. A hoodie and scarf were found nearby, hidden under an overturned trash can.

Taggart said he found a loaded, nine-shot, .22-caliber revolver in the front pocket of the hoodie. The robber identified as Warner in bank security videos was carrying the revolver.

In the back pocket of the pants, Taggart said, he found a Chrysler key and remote control.

"I chirped it," Taggart told the jury, "and it chirped the van."