ORLANDO, Fla. – The murder trial of former Orange County school teacher Delores Laster, who's accused of killing her husband in 1988, continues Tuesday with her daughter called to the stand.
Kristy Dandridge admitted on the stand that when she was 10, her mom woke her up claiming dad had hit head on nightstand. She, mom, and brother Clyde dragged him to garage, then left for Gainesville.
Dandridge told jurors she never knew dad had been shot until receiving his death certificate in 1994. She said she never questioned her mom about it because "it was a closed book" and she didn't suspect mom of anything.
In a very odd exchange, prosecutors read back Dandridge's 2009 grand jury testimony, in which she admitted her mom gathered up her nightgown, put it in a bag, and threw it in dumpster on way to Gainesville. She also told grand jury mom had coached her to tell police they never saw their dad that morning.
In each of those instances Dandridge told jurors Tuesday that she did tell all that to the grand jury but she now says that information she told the grand jury is incorrect.
FDLE special agent supervisor Tony Rodriguez testified on Monday that until interviewing kids, there was no conclusive evidence that pointed to who the perpetrator was. The defense tried to imply during cross-examination of Rodriguez that Laster's daughter Kristi Dandridge was "threatened" with jail if she didn't cooperate.
Rodriguez admitted to the jury that those statements were made to her.
But on re-direct, he said that Dandridge expressed concern about testifying against her mom at trial and refused to talk to them without a subpoena.
Prosecution started Tuesday's trial day off by playing the October 2011 videotaped testimony from Clyde Laster, in which he says he doesn't really remember what happened the night his father, Clarence, died.
In his testimony, Clyde Laster begins by saying that he was 10-years-old, he remembers waking up to find his father hurt in the bedroom.
He said he then helped his mom carry his father's body into the garage, believing they were going to take him to the hospital. But instead, they left Clarence Laster in the garage and took off for an overnight trip to Gainesville, he said.
In cross-examination, Clyde Laster said his memory of that night 24 years ago is foggy, and maybe it didn't happen as he recalls.
Prosecutors believe that after Clyde Laster implicated his mother in the murder, he became concerned her testimony would put her in jail, so now he's saying he doesn't remember what happened.
But the defense claims detectives may have brainwashed him into making his original statement.
The testimony was supposed to have been shown to the jury yesterday, but the judge decided to play it all in one sitting Tuesday.
Instead, prosecutors read aloud the transcript on Monday of Clyde Laster's testimony to the grand jury in 2009, with prosecutor Pam Davis reading the prosecutor's lines and prosecutor Ryan Vescio reading Clyde Laster's testimony.
In the testimony, Clyde said "My dad was lying on the floor. I remember blood on the corner of the nightstand." Clyde also describes dragging him to garage thinking he was going to the hospital. He said his mother told him they didn't have money for an ambulance.
Laster's lawyers asked to see the grand jury testimony from 2009, so in a highly unusual instance, the judge unsealed the testimony.
The state is expected to rest after the videotaped testimony ends. The defense is then expected to ask for a judgment of acquittal.
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