Judge throws woman Out of Court
By Gwendolynne Larson (Contact), Brandy Nance (Contact)
Originally published 12:43 p.m., June 27, 2008
Updated 12:43 p.m., June 27, 2008
Photo by Adam Vogler
Tom Glass testifies at the trial of Theron Thomas Kent of Topeka in Lyon County District Court Thursday, June 26. Kent is charged with involuntary manslaughter and several violations of hunting laws in relation to the death of Beau Arndt of Americus. Arndt was killed while hunting with Glass and Derek Jackson near the junction of Roads 310 and D in northwest Lyon County Dec. 15, 2007.
The mother of a witness against Theron Thomas Kent was kicked out of the courtroom late Thursday after trying to influence her son’s testimony.
Kent is charged with involuntary manslaughter, attempted unlawful taking of wildlife, hunting without permission and criminal discharge of a firearm in connection with the Dec. 15, 2007, shooting death of 18-year-old Beau Arndt. Thursday was the fourth day of his trial.
In mid-afternoon, Nicholas Wise took the stand. On Dec. 15, he was with Kent and Kent’s brother, David, in Kent’s red pickup truck in northwest Lyon County. During his testimony, Wise recounted details jurors already had heard from investigators and other witnesses — that the three men had spent the night before at a cabin at 300 Road 240, that they changed a flat tire at a residence at 2810 Road C then drove around before Kent stopped the truck by a field and fired at a coyote.
Wise said that it wasn’t until they drove on and came over a hill that he spotted goose blinds and a white truck sitting on the side of the road. He said he saw some people around the field. He later testified that he saw only one person in the field. After Kent shot at the coyote they continued to Emporia where they got the tire fixed.
During a break, his testimony came into question when Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman was told by three people that a member of the audience — Wise’s mother, Tammy Wise — had been gesturing to the witness.
“That unfortunately means to the state that it’s uncertain to what degree that his testimony was influenced by the person,” Goodman told Chief Judge Merlin Wheeler when court reconvened without jurors present.
Tammy Wise stepped forward and said she was trying to point out to her son that he didn’t know the names of the officers that he spoke to. She said she did not try to assist him with any other answers to questions.
“I think Nick was very confused,” she said, saying that her son is dyslexic and cannot read the police reports.
Wheeler then informed the mother that she is excluded from the courtroom and the Lyon County Courthouse until the trial is completed. He ordered Tammy Wise not to have any communication with her son, whether it be direct or indirect, through third parties or text messaging.
Wise protested and said they live in the same house. Wheeler said he didn’t care and stood by his order.
“Do you understand that you were attempting to influence a witness in a courtroom in the (death) of a young man?” Wheeler asked her. “And you think you’re more important than that? ... When your son is 20 years old he’s old enough not to be baby-sitted in the courtroom.”
Wheeler said Tammy Wise will be held in contempt if he hears that she has had any communication with her son until the trial is over.
The final witness of the day was David Kent, who recounted the same sequence of events the morning of Dec. 15 that Wise had told. He testified that a coyote ran in front of them and his brother got out of the truck to shoot at it.
David Kent said the coyote continued to run into the trees. Kent said he did not see anybody else in the area. He did see a white truck on the other side of the road. He said they continued to Emporia where they got the tire fixed.
“My main concern was to get somewhere before the tire got flat,” he said.
Earlier in the afternoon, David Wright, a forensics scientist with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said that he could not match a bullet fired from Kent’s rifle with bullet fragments recovered from Arndt’s body.
Other tests on fragments of the bullet jacket recovered from Arndt’s body allowed Wright to decide the bullet was fired from a Weatherby rifle. But he could not determine whether it was fired from Kent’s Weatherby rifle.
On Thursday morning, Tom Glass and Derek Jackson walked jurors through the last hours of Arndt’s life. The two were goose hunting with Arndt in the field at Roads 310 and D.
Dec. 15, 2007, was a nearly perfect day for goose hunting, Glass said. There was a light dusting of snow on the field at Roads 310 and D and the wind was blowing.
“It was a pretty awesome morning,” Glass recalled.
He told jurors how the three met at Jackson’s house before heading to the nearby field, unloading their equipment and setting up the more than 100 decoys in the field.
Next, they decided where to place their blinds, which look like camouflage sleeping bags with a metal frame to hold up the top side. The hunter reclines in the blind. If on his back, he can look up at the sky through a mesh window and watch for birds to come in. When ready to shoot, he can sit up and two flaps open up to give him an unrestricted shot.
Glass remembered that Arndt, despite 10 years of hunting experience, asked the older man where he should set up his blind.
“I remember telling Beau you’re in the perfect spot,” Glass said, sniffing slightly as emotions started to catch up with him on the witness stand.
Glass said he heard a shot that morning — just hours after the incident he told investigators he thought he heard two — but thought it was Arndt and Jackson firing at geese.
Jackson, however, testified that he was in his blind on his stomach and saw a pickup truck drive up from the south on the road 250 to 300 yards from him.
“The closer it got to us, the slower it was going,” Jackson said this morning. “I hollered at Beau, ‘What’s this guy doing?’
“The pickup stopped very briefly and I heard a shot. Right after I heard a shot, I heard Beau scream.”
Both Jackson and Glass approached Arndt’s blind.
“I saw him laying in the blind, unconscious, still breathing, his eyes rolled back. At first glance, there was no visible blood,” Jackson said.
“I thought I knew what happened,” he said. “As I approached I expected to see a big bloody bullet hole, and I was confused.”
At Glass’s direction, Jackson called 911 on his cell phone. A dispatcher told the men to find the wound and hold a cloth to it to stop any bleeding. After opening Arndt’s jacket, Glass said, he saw the wound.
“I first noticed a little spot of blood ... right in the middle of the chest.”
A deputy coroner testified Wednesday that Arndt was killed by a single gunshot wound to his chest that ripped a hole in his heart, punctured his lung and hit his liver. Despite more than 20 minutes of CPR by Glass, Jackson and later sheriff’s deputies, Arndt died in the field.
When questioned further about the truck he saw, Jackson said he never saw anyone get out of the truck to shoot. According to officers who interviewed Kent, the Topeka man said he stopped his pickup truck, opened the door and fired at a coyote.
“I promise you that if I saw a vehicle stop and someone get out and point a rifle in my direction while I was in a blind, I would get up,” Jackson said before being stopped by an objection from defense attorney Don Hoffman.
Jackson later explained again in response to a question from Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman.
“The only people I know about in that area at the time the shot was fired was the three of us and that vehicle,” Jackson said. “I didn’t see a rifle come from the vehicle. I didn’t see a person get out of the vehicle.
“After I saw that vehicle, I heard a shot and I heard Beau scream.”
Comments
Post a comment
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. Our goal with this feature is to encourage thoughtful discussions about the news stories. Using the comment feature to make random attacks on people is not acceptable. Emporiagazette.com neither endorses nor guarantees the accuracy of any user contribution. Responsibility for what is posted or contributed to this site is the sole responsibility of each user. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
(Requires free registration.)