August 14, 2008 10:29 AM

Sue Lindsay on the starvation murder trial of Chandler Grafner

Mark_Wolf(Q) Just for background, how long have you been covering courts?
Sue_Lindsay(A) I have been covering either state or federal courts for most of the past 30 (yikes!) years.

Mark_Wolf(Q) What was it like to sit in court every day through a trial that has very graphic evidence?
Sue_Lindsay(A) This case was one of the most difficult cases I have ever had to cover because of the sad photographs of Chandler and the descriptions of what he had to endure. I have covered many gruesome cases during my career, but the ones that deal with children are the worst and they are the ones that stick with me the longest. I covered a case years ago of a little boy who came to reunite with his father in Denver for summer vacation and wound up dead after weeks of abuse, culminating in his father hitting him so hard that his intestines broke open. I still think about that poor little boy from time to time.

Arn(Q) Was it hard to go home and separate yourself from the trial at night?
Sue_Lindsay(A) Yes. The ride home from work was a decompression zone in which I had to remind myself that I am going home now and not to take my stress and frustrations out on my family. A few stiff drinks and watching Jon Stewart/The Colbert Report helped me regain my sense of humor, but it was very difficult to put it behind me. Nightmares crept in after the first few days.

Mark_Wolf(Q) What did you observe about the jury during the trial?
Sue_Lindsay(A) We media folk in the courtroom along with our laptops were clustered near the wall where the jury was -- and the lone electrical outlet in the old courtroom -- so if was more difficult to observe them than usual, when I pick my seat for the best vantage point to see everything. They were extremely attentive and a relatively young jury. They looked shocked when they first saw Chandler's emaciated body in the autopsy photos, some of them bringing their hands to their mouths, but I did not see outright crying that soemtimes takes place during trials. The jury also visibly recoiled from the stench of the carpet and air mattress when those items were shown to them right in front of the jury box.

Mark_Wolf(Q) Why was this not a death penalty case?
Sue_Lindsay(A) Prosecutors could have sought the death penalty for first-degree murder, but chose not to because of Chandler's little brother, Dominic, who is just 6 years old. Prosecutors told me they did not think it would be in his best interest, not "healthy" for him, to be a key player in a prosecution that resulted in his father's death. That was the same underlying motivation for taking the plea bargain with Sarah Berry. Getting that case over with meant that Dominic would not have to go through testimony for a second trial.

Mark_Wolf(Q) How crucial was Dominic's role in the case?
Sue_Lindsay(A) Dominic was the eyes and ears for what went on in that apartment. He's the one who led police to the carpet, box and shower curtain that Phillips and Berry put in the trash after Chandler died. He told police and drew pictures about the horror that Chandler had to endure, begging for food and water while he starved to death in the closet.

Mark_Wolf(Q) The defense theory of Chandler's death was that he suffered from undiagnosed diabetes. How did that seem to play during the trial?
Sue_Lindsay(A) The defense told the jury in its opening statement that their expert would say Chandler died of ketoacidosis as a result of undiagnosed diabetes, but when the expert testified, he stopped short of that, just saying that he believed that Chandler had diabetes when he died. No matter what he said, it didn't explain why, even if you accept that Chandler had diabetes, Phillips and Berry didn't take him to the doctor before he died. Chandler didn't turn into a human skeleton overnight, and that led credence to the prosecution's case that he was intentially starved to death. So I think the diabetes defense fell flat.

Mark_Wolf(Q) Your stories on this case generated an enormous number of online comments. Just curious if you read them.
Sue_Lindsay(A) I read most of them, but frankly their volume was astounding and overwhelming.

Mark_Wolf(Q) You blogged with continual real-time updates during the trial. What do you think of that style of coverage?
Sue_Lindsay(A) At first I thought my editors were crazy. And it was very stressful to be trying to take notes, listen to testimony and write something coherent at the same time that could be sent quickly, while using my extra set of hands to text messages about the trial with my phone. All that was missing was a tambourine and a kazoo. But I liked the fact that it engaged people in the trial coverage and that I was able to report on all the witnesses who testified and everything that they said, not just the edited, condensed version that appears in print. But it was a VERY exhausting and made me feel like I had cloned several versions of myself in one body. Add a few mechanical failures and the emotionally exhaustive nature of the trial, and it's probably a good thing the windows don't open in that courtroom.

Mark_Wolf(Q) How unusual was it for Phillips' girlfriend, Sarah Berry, to plead guilty to second-degree murder while the jury was deliberating?
Sue_Lindsay(A) That was definitely unusual. I can't remember another big case where it has happened, although it probably has. But her trial was to begin with jury selection the next day, so if there was going to be an 11th hour plea, this was the time. As I said earlier, prosecutors felt it was an appropriate resolution of the case that would spare Dominic from having to go through a second trial.

Mark_Wolf(Q) Was there a single most damning piece of evidence against Phillips?
Sue_Lindsay(A) To me, it was the cellphone message from Berry to Phillips asking what to do after Dominic told her that Chandler was so desperate for water that he threatened to break out of the locked closet, get a knife from the kitchen and kill them both if he didn't get something to drink. This took place nine days before he died. It was heart-breaking.

Posted by Mark Wolf at 10:29 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack