Prosecution, defense finish up in trial for ‘07 slaying

Jury deliberations are expected to start today after three days of testimony involving a city homicide wrapped up Wednesday in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases Wednesday in the trial of Jason Scott Marshman, but Circuit Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. allowed the jurors to go home for the night because he had previously promised to end court before 4 p.m. Authorities said a juror had to be somewhere at that time, but the reason was not specified.

Marshman, 30, is charged with first-degree murder and firearms charges in connection with the death of 28-year-old William Miller Herndon. Herndon was shot nine times last summer during an early-morning get-together on Hardy Drive. He died later that day at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Kevin Whaley, an assistant chief medical examiner in Richmond, testified in court Wednesday that Herndon was shot in the back, chest, right leg, left flank, left buttock and left arm. Three of Herndon’s bullet wounds were described as life-threatening because the bullets punctured major organs and caused severe blood loss or other internal issues.

“You want that injury to take place when you’re standing in the trauma bay,” said Whaley, describing the likelihood that someone would survive the injuries.

Also in court Wednesday, Charlottesville police Detective William Sclafani testified that a 9 mm gun that reportedly was found under Herndon’s body and later hidden was not dusted for fingerprints at a Richmond laboratory.
“I forgot,” Sclafani testified. “I thought I put it in, but I didn’t.”
The gun was submitted to the lab for testing to see if it worked and to research its ownership history and potential connection to other incidents. An expert witness for the prosecution who testified earlier in the trial said forensic scientists could pick up fingerprints from firearms only 9 percent of the time because of the likelihood that the prints would be smudged.

After the prosecution rested its case before lunch Wednesday, defense attorney Michael Morchower called one expert witness to testify on the effects of repeated drug and alcohol use on the memory. Some of the people at the party testified earlier in the trial that they had been consuming drugs and/or alcohol around the time Herndon was shot. Marshman did not testify during the trial.