DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — First thing Friday, before the jury hearing his case was brought in, Barry Davis, on trial for the 2012 killings of John Gregory Hughes and Hiedi Rhodes, requested and received permission to speak to Circuit Court Judge Kelvin Wells.
Then, he unloaded on his attorney, Spiro Kypreos.
“Yesterday, when it was time for my lawyer to go up and cross-examine” key witness and Davis’ ex-girlfriend Tiffani Steward, “my lawyer was not prepared,” Davis said. “He stumbled around looking for papers. … It was not fair to me. … My lawyer was ineffective yesterday.”
Speaking calmly but firmly, Wells let Davis know he wasn’t about to take a drastic action three weeks into a capital case in which the death penalty could come into play.
“I understand what your complaint is, but you didn’t go to law school. Mr. Kypreos has been handling this type of case for years,” Wells said. “At this point, for the record, I can’t find Mr. Kypreos has been ineffective.”
Friday’s testimonies went more smoothly than Thursday’s. The previous day’s proceedings were marred by sniping, objections and frequent bench conferences that had bogged down the flow of the trial.
Late Friday morning, Prosecuting Attorney Bobby Elmore released Steward, who had spent about 10 hours on the witness stand. After calling two more witnesses, the prosecution rested its case at just before 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Elmore’s final witness was FBI special agent Justin Fleck, who testified to using technology that allowed him to track, with some degree of certainty, calls, texts, tweets and just about any other cellphone communication using the towers that allow those communications to occur. Elmore elicited from the testimony a timeline that tracked Davis’ movements on the day Rhodes and Hughes were killed and for the days afterward.
The defense called its first and only witness late in the day. Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson discussed his role as the first law enforcement officer on the scene when Hughes’ missing Cadillac Escalade was discovered.
The defense rested its case after Adkinson left the stand. Closing arguments will begin Monday at 8:30 a.m.