Fogleman: Would you state your name and occupation for the jury?
Mullins: Joel Mullins, I'm Corpral with Arkansas state police.
Fogleman: Corpral Mullins, I want to direct your attention to November the 17th, 1993. Uh - on that date, did you participate in a dive uh - in Crittendon county?
Mullins: Yes sir, I'm a member of the state police dive team.
Fogleman: Uh - for the benefit of the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, would you describe uh - what the dive team is and what you do?
Mullins: For the - the team was organized almost 10 years ago for a need for underwater search and recovery of evidence at crimescenes and stolen property and body searches and uh - recovery of stolen vehicles. And for the past 10 years, our team has assisted other departments in doing those kind of searches.
Fogleman: How did you come to be in Crittendon county on November the 17th?
Mullins: The - just a normal request from the investigators in West Memphis to come and search the lake in the trailer park there in West Memphis.
Fogleman: And when you uh - came to Crittendon county and went to Lakeshore, uh - once you arrived there, the dive team, what did ya'll do?
Mullins: Uh - there were uh - I think just three of us available at this time and two of the divers went over to a area on one - we kind of were in the same corner, I don't know lot numbers but uh - they went over and searched in one area and then I began to search off of a pier that ran straight out into the water from the shoreline, right behind the Baldwin trailer.
Fogleman: Let me show you uh - state's exhibit 75, do you see the pier in that photograph?
Mullins: Yes sir.
Fogleman: Is it the same pier that's circled there?
Mullins: Yes.
Fogleman: And what procedure uh - did you follow in making your search in the area of that pier?
Mullins: We began, or I began trying the metal detector and there was too much other debris, too many metal objects and things. So, uh - I abandoned that and just began uh - like a inch by inch - the way we conducted this particular search, subject held a line - a small nylon line and then I worked on an arch out from that line. I'm holding a spool line in my hand and then I'll search right next to the shoreline and then I'll move out about a foot and a half, then I'll make another pass and move out a foot and a half. We ended up in this particular search like, 55 feet out from the shoreline in my particular search.
Fogleman: Alright, now the 55 feet, would that be a com - uh - radius of 55 feet?
Mullins: Right.
Fogleman: Alright. And would that have gone uh - 55 feet down the bank from where you started and then make the arch?
Mullins: Yeah, we - it didn't go - uh - the pier, the dock itself got into the line if you went all the way to the banks. So, once the line would run into the dock - once I got out past the dock - the pier, then uh - the man on shore would signal me with a tug on the rope that I had reached that point and to turn around and start back. Didn't want the rope to get tangled up on the - on to the pier itself.
Fogleman: Alright. But on the other side, how far would you go?
Mullins: On the other side, we went pretty much the same distance. Didn't go all the way to the shoreline, like uh - you can see we're getting pretty close to a corner in that picture and the water would be pretty shallow over there. So, I'd go up say, 4 feet deep and then he would signal again. We tried to make it uh - just trying to keep it uniform and cover everything.
Fogleman: Alright. And in your search, uh - let me ask you this, let me show you what I have uh - marked for identification purposes as state's exhibit 77 and ask if you can identify that.
Mullins: Yes, I found this straight out from the pier where we were searching in front of.
Fogleman: And what did you do with that knife after you recovered it?
Mullins: I handed it uh - swam it to shore and handed it to uh - well, uh - when I located the knife, I marked the spot that the knife was with another marker bouy just as a lead weighted object and stick the lead weight in the same hole that I pulled that out of and then a floatation goes to the surface in that spot. Then I swam the knife to the shore and handed it to uh - Investigator Mike Allen.
Fogleman: Ok. And what's the purpose of the marker bouy?
Mullins: That's to locate it in reference to other objects, like the - how far it was away from the pier. How far it was uh - trianglated.
Fogleman: And when you located this knife, uh - your Honor, we would offer state's exhibit 77.
Davidson: No objection, your Honor.
Ford: No objection.
The Court: Alright, it may be recieved without objection.
Fogleman: When you (cough) - excuse me - when you located state's exhibit 77, what was the position of the knife?
Mullins: It was uh - like this is the mud, it was stuck up in the mud like that. And I was feeling along with my right hand and my right hand came up and hit it, about like that.
Fogleman: Your Honor, may I exhibit to the jury?
The Court: Yes.
(pause)
Fogleman: I want to show you what's marked for identification purposes as state's exhibit 84, ask if you can identify that.
Mullins: That's me in my diving equipment and uh - they asked me to hold the knife up -
Fogleman: Is that -
Mullins: - I had swam in to shore to give it to Investigator Allen.
Fogleman: Does that fairly and accurately portray uh - you after you recovered that knife?
Mullins: Yes sir.
Fogleman: Alright your Honor, we would offer state's exhibit 84.
Price: No objection.
The Court: Alright, it may be recieved without objection.
Fogleman: Can I exhibit to the jury, your Honor?
The Court: (assume indicating, no verbal response)
(pause)
Fogleman: Now, Corpral Mullins, where in relation to the pier did you locate that knife?
Mullins: It, um - like the pier itself as I recall, runs pretty much at a 90 degree angle straight away from the shoreline out toward the water and then if you just extended that straight on out um - uh - another, I guess it'd be 30 or 35 feet out from the end of the pier, straight on out, that's where the knife was.
Fogleman: I don't have any further questions at this time, your Honor.
Davidson: Just have a couple questions for you, uh - is it Corpral Mullins?
Mullins: Yes sir.
Davidson: Ok. Now, did I understand you correctly in that you said initially you had a metal detector out there?
Mullins: Yes.
Davidson: And the reason - di you testify the reason you did not continue with the metal detector was that there were lots of metal items in the lake?
Mullins: Right.
Davidson: Now, would you agree that the area of the lake that you searched was a small portion of that lake?
Mullins: Very small.
Davidson: Very small. Um - after you found this particular item, did you search the rest of the lake?
Mullins: No, I did not.
Davidson: And um - so you don't know what items may have been in the rest of the lake? Obviously.
Mullins: That's right.
Davidson: Ok. Did uh - did they ask you to go over and search the little pond by the Blue Beacon?
Mullins: Uh - no.
Davidson: Ok. Did you find other items other than just this knife in there?
Mullins: In the lake?
Davidson: Yes.
Mullins: A bunch, yeah.
Davidson: What other items did you pull out of there?
Mullins: I didn't - I don't recall what we actually pulled out. There was rotted tennis shoes, beer cans, broken glass, old mattress, mattress springs that rotted out, lawn chairs, uh - it seemed like an old table, uh - metal sheeting, uh - a bowling ball -
Davidson: A bowling ball?
Mullins: Uh - but -
Davidson: And was all this just in that small portion of that lake?
Mullins: All that that I just named was like, within a ten foot radius of that pier. And once I got out of that junkyard, that's where I came across - it was - there was not alot of garbage uh - where I located the knife. It was farther out. It's in a position, not - it was in a position like someone would have thrown it, rather than drop it off the pier.
Davidson: Ok. So all sorts of things have been thrown off that pier, would you agree with that?
Mullins: Yes.
Davidson: That's all.
Ford: Corpral Mullins, how deep was this water?
Mullins: Where the knife was found? Approximately eight feet.
Ford: Deep enough for a boat to navigate?
Mullins: Yes sir.
Ford: Ok. Did you make any effort to determine how that knife would suspend itself down into the water?
Mullins: No.
Ford: Whether it would go straight down, float down?
Mullins: No.
Ford: Ok. Now this knife was actually sticking in the mud?
Mullins: Right.
Ford: Blade first or handle first?
Mullins: Just like I demonstrated, blade first.
Ford: Alright. Now, the um - that's all, thank you.
