9.Brandon Moats — Direct/Cross
121 linesMR. CACCIATORE: The State would call Brandon Moats.
COURT CLERK: Raise your right hand to be sworn, please.
BRANDON MOATS
being called as a witness, and having first been duly sworn,
testified as follows:
BRANDON MOATS: Yes, ma'am.
COURT CLERK: Thank you.
THE COURT: Thank you, sir. You can be seated.
Please state and spell your name for the record for us.
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. My name is Brandon Moats, B-r-a-n-d-o-n M-o-a-t-s.
THE COURT: Thank you.
Mr. Cacciatore, you may inquire.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. CACCIATORE:
MR. CACCIATORE: Good afternoon, sir, now.
BRANDON MOATS: Good afternoon.
MR. CACCIATORE: Can you tell us how it is that you knew Sarah Boone?
BRANDON MOATS: I moved into the apartment next door to her when I was in college.
MR. CACCIATORE: Okay. And so when was that, that you were in college?
BRANDON MOATS: I would have gone -- moved down here in 2019, and would have been there until around, like, 2021, 2022.
MR. CACCIATORE: So she was your neighbor at Tealwood Apartments; is that correct?
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. It would have been Tealwood back then, yeah.
MR. CACCIATORE: Okay. And did you have any roommates back then?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes. I was rooming with Vincent Battaglia.
MR. CACCIATORE: And during that time, what were you doing?
BRANDON MOATS: Like --
MR. CACCIATORE: As far as work and school and --
BRANDON MOATS: Oh. I was just going to school. During the time of this, yeah, I would have just been going to school. I don't think I would have had my job yet. I was just a student.
MR. CACCIATORE: Okay. Did you have much interaction with the defendant or with Jorge Torres in this case?
BRANDON MOATS: Honestly, I avoided them as much as possible usually.
MR. CACCIATORE: The apartment where you lived, tell us, how would you describe the walls that separated your units?
BRANDON MOATS: So -- yeah. I remember that my bedroom was, like, the front-facing bedroom and our walls shared a wall with where their staircase was. So, like, the way the apartments were laid out, we had a one-story apartment, they had a two-story apartment, so they had a staircase running right next to the walls next to, like, our bedrooms.
MR. CACCIATORE: Would you ever have occasion to hear arguing and yelling going on inside of the defendant's apartment?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes. The walls were pretty thin, so if people were yelling, you could definitely hear it.
MR. CACCIATORE: And how often would you hear arguments or disagreements going on over there?
BRANDON MOATS: When I first moved in, it was so -- like, it was at least, like, once a week to the point that I started tuning them out. Like, I got good enough at just, like, not listening to them. They argued very, very often.
MR. CACCIATORE: Did you -- do you recall the evening of February 23rd, 2020?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes, sir.
MR. CACCIATORE: And on that evening, could you hear arguing going on in their unit?
BRANDON MOATS: Not late into the evening. Earlier into the evening, probably, like, 7:00, 8:00 that -- that evening probably. Like, early -- yeah, earlier on, I could hear arguing.
MR. CACCIATORE: And where were you inside of your apartment?
BRANDON MOATS: I would have been in my bedroom pretty much all night.
MR. CACCIATORE: And your bedroom, just so that we can paint the picture, where would that -- would that have been on the first floor or the second floor?
BRANDON MOATS: We had a -- we had a first floor apartment.
MR. CACCIATORE: Okay. So all the units were -- or all the bedrooms were on the first floor?
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. Like I was saying before, we had a one-story apartment and then they next door had, like, a two-story townhouse. So we only had the one floor.
MR. CACCIATORE: Understood.
And at a certain point in the evening, did you hear a loud crashing sound?
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. Probably around 10:30, 11:00 that evening.
MR. CACCIATORE: And what -- can you describe that sound for us in more detail?
BRANDON MOATS: I mean, yeah. Literally, like I said, at, like, 10:30, 11:00, it's -- the way their staircase was set up, I could -- my bedroom -- the top of their staircase would have been, like, above my ceiling and then it ends next to where, like, my roommate's apartment was. So I could hear something start above me super loud and then fall away from me at, like -- like it was falling down the stairs.
MR. CACCIATORE: Did this -- did this affect the walls that were between your two apartments?
BRANDON MOATS: Oh, yeah. Me and my roommate -- I remember me and my roommate talking the next day about, like, we could literally -- like, it shook both of our rooms.
MR. CACCIATORE: Did you ever have occasion to talk with the defendant about what happened?
BRANDON MOATS: I never saw her after that. She would have -- yeah, she -- I never saw her after that happened.
MR. CACCIATORE: No further questions.
THE COURT: Any cross-examination?
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. HENDERSON:
MR. HENDERSON: Good afternoon, sir.
BRANDON MOATS: Good afternoon.
MR. HENDERSON: Sir, you were asked by the State if you had had -- ever had any interactions with Sarah Boone or Jorge Torres; is that correct?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes, sir.
MR. HENDERSON: And I think you said you tried to avoid them?
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. I don't like drunk people, and they were drunk a lot, so I did not interact with them.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. Do you remember this interaction with Sarah Boone in 2009 [sic], when you woke up and witnessed Sarah sleeping --
BRANDON MOATS: I would have been 9 years old in 2009.
MR. HENDERSON: I'm sorry, 2019. Good catch.
-- in 2019, when you woke up and witnessed Sarah sleeping on the concrete patio?
BRANDON MOATS: Oh, this -- this may have been a slight misconception in how I said this. I never woke up and saw her sitting on the patio myself. That -- I would have seen her on the patio eventually, but it's not like I woke up and went back and saw her on the patio. This was my roommate relaying the story that she had fallen -- fallen asleep on the back patio and then I, like, saw her.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. So you did not witness that yourself -- or did you see her?
BRANDON MOATS: I saw her asleep on the back patio. I was just clearing up the sequence of events there.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. Thank you.
Another time, do you recall an interaction with Ms. Boone when you were coming home from school and she was trying to talk to you and she seemed paranoid and rambling and --
BRANDON MOATS: Yeah. I had -- I had gotten locked out of my apartment, so I was waiting on the steps to -- I was, like, waiting on the steps outside of my apartment for my roommate to get home, so she came up and started talking to me. I don't really remember too many, like, details of what she was saying, but -- because I didn't want to talk to her, but yeah.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. Do you remember saying that you believed Sarah was avoiding going into her apartment?
BRANDON MOATS: That's definitely the -- I don't remember what she was saying, but, like, the vibe she was giving off was that she didn't want to go home.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. And I believe -- and I just want to make sure that I heard you. You said that the first arguments -- other than the boom, which was, like, 10-something, initially it was around 7 p.m. you heard arguing?
BRANDON MOATS: It would have, yeah, because it would have been -- I remember that day I got home from class around 5:00, because I get -- got out of class around 4:30 usually and walked home, so I would have gotten home around 5:00, 5:30. And it would have been after I took -- because I came home, I made myself lunch and I took a shower, and then I heard all of their arguing. So it would have been about an hour and a half, two hours after I got home, so around 7:00 to 8:00.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. And during that time, when you say arguing, was it back and forth?
BRANDON MOATS: I -- honestly, I don't wouldn't really be able to say if it was back and forth. I don't know too -- like, I wouldn't remember too vividly if it was back and forth or if it was just one person yelling.
MR. HENDERSON: Well, let me ask you this. Did you hear a male voice?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes, I heard a male voice.
MR. HENDERSON: Did you hear a female voice?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. Were they both loud?
BRANDON MOATS: Yes.
MR. HENDERSON: Okay. If I can confer, Judge?
THE COURT: Yes, sir, of course.
MR. HENDERSON: Thank you, sir.
I have no further questions.
THE COURT: Any redirect?
MR. CACCIATORE: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Can this witness be released?
MR. CACCIATORE: Yes, Your Honor.
MR. HENDERSON: Subject to re-call, Judge, please.
THE COURT: All right. Sir, you're released subject to re-call. Thank you.
(Witness stepped down.)
THE COURT: Can the parties approach?
(At the bench.)
THE COURT: I think now might be a good stopping time. It's 12:18.
MR. CACCIATORE: Yeah, it would be a good stopping time.
THE COURT: What do you say, gentlemen, 1:45 or 2:00?
MR. OWENS: I say 2:00, but if you could -- Judge, yeah, we would ask for 2:00, but the other thing is, you know, I've got a couple of experts. Dr. Harper is in Okaloosa County, Dr. Brannon is in Miami. Just I know they probably know what all they're going to do. If they could disclose something so I could get an idea, because both of them have to travel. One of them, Dr. Harper, has --
THE COURT: Is on trial call somewhere, as I recall.
MR. OWENS: In Bay County, Panama City, so...
MR. CACCIATORE: What do you want to know?
MR. OWENS: Are you-all going to -- we're not going to finish today?
MR. CACCIATORE: No. No way we get done today. My anticipated, I think Monday, Monday late afternoon we could potentially be looking at resting. If not, probably first thing Tuesday morning, you know.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. OWENS: That gives me an idea.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. OWENS: Do you plan on introducing any video, watching the two-hour video today?
MR. CACCIATORE: No. We won't do -- Detective Koepsell will probably be Monday.
MR. OWENS: Okay.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. OWENS: Is the medical examiner testifying today?
MR. CACCIATORE: I don't know if we would honestly get to her at this point. We have her on standby for this afternoon, but, I mean, it's going to depend. I can tell you that Brian Boone was probably the anticipated next witness and I imagine he might be pretty lengthy for both sides. And then we also have a CSI to do, also have Abraham Moreno to do, all of those. I thought potentially we may only get there or maybe to -- you know, maybe one or two small witnesses after that.
MR. OWENS: Okay. That helps, yeah.
THE COURT: Okay. Appreciate it.
Just a reminder, both of you-all have done it. You referred to Jorge Torres as Jorge. You referred to another witness by their first name. I'm not going to call you out in front of everybody. Just please be mindful.
MR. CACCIATORE: I apologize, Your Honor.
THE COURT: If we could just continue for both Sides to use those surnames, it's just the appropriate thing to do.
I'm going to give the jury the same instruction I've given them, release them, and ask them to come back here at 2:00. I've got a question to ask of your client before we release her for lunch.
Anything else we need to cover, gentlemen?
MR. CACCIATORE: Not from the State.
MR. OWENS: No, Judge.
THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.
(In open court.)
THE COURT: Members of our jury, thank you so much for your time, your attention, and your participation in this very important process. It is 12:21. At this point in time, we're going to go ahead and take our lunch break. I'm going to ask that you return here no later than 2 p.m. so we can pick up at that point in time outside of here, 12-Alpha, in the Orange County Courthouse. And I'm going to give you an instruction. You're going to hear this instruction a lot over the next couple of days.
Jurors, you must not conduct any investigation on your own. This includes reading newspapers, watching television, or using a computer, cell phone, the internet, any electronic device, or any other means at all to get information related to this case or the people and places involved in this case. This applies whether you are in the courthouse, at home, or anywhere else. You must not visit places mentioned in the trial or use the internet to look at maps or pictures to see any place discussed during the trial.
Jurors, do not watch local news or read local newspapers. Jurors must not have any discussions of any sort with friends, family members, or even your fellow jurors about the case or the people and places involved, so do not let anyone make comments to you or ask questions about the trial. I want to stress again that just as you must not talk about this case face-to-face, you must not talk about this case by using an electronic device. You must not use phones, computers, or other electronic devices to communicate.
Do not send or accept any messages related to this case or your jury service. Do not discuss this case or ask for advice by any means at all, including posting information on an internet website, chat room, or blog.
With that, members of the jury, please leave your pens and your notepads on each chair. The deputy will collect them. We'll see you at 2:00, and I thank you for your service.