MIAMI – The murder trial for a South Florida man who claims that he killed his wife in self-defense before posting a photo of her corpse on Facebook continued Tuesday with more testimony from the lead detective in the police investigation.
Derek Medina is accused of fatally shooting Jennifer Alfonso, 27, in the kitchen of their South Miami townhouse in August 2013. Police said Medina uploaded a photo of Alfonso's body on Facebook after the shooting.
The day began with Detective Jonathan Grossman enduring more cross examination from defense attorney Saam Zangeneh, who spent much of the previous day trying to discredit the police account of what occurred.
Assistant state attorney J. Scott Dunn attempted to build the state's case during redirect.
"So, within a span of about 45 seconds, Mr. Medina called his dead wife a pill-popping, pot-smoking, crackhead alcoholic, unfit mother, basically, right?" Dunn asked.
"Yes," Grossman answered.
"Right, and, of course, Jennifer wasn't here to defend herself for this, was she?" Dunn asked.
"No, she was not," Grossman replied.
"So he volunteers things that he thought would help himself, essentially, correct?" Dunn asked.
Jurors saw home surveillance video from the day of the shooting that showed Medina following Alfonso downstairs, going upstairs to get a gun and then returning to the kitchen.
The state attempted to debunk the defense's self-defense argument when South Miami police Officer Matthew Taylor testified.
"During that entire period of time, did Mr. Medina at any point request any medical treatment of you?" Dunn asked Taylor.
"Not at all," Taylor answered.
"Did he make any complaints of injuries to you?" Dunn asked.
"No, sir," Taylor said.
Jurors were also shown video of Medina and Alfonso fighting by the sliding-glass door of their home.
"The video shows her striking him first, correct?" Zangeneh asked Detective Elvis Abreu, a Miami-Dade police digital forensic investigator called to testify for the state.
Zangeneh sought to show how strong and aggressive Alfonso had been.
"Let me ask you it this way, is my client able to keep her in the house?" Zangeneh asked.
"No," Abreu said.
"No further questions," Zangeneh said before walking back to his seat.
Derek Medina is accused of killing his wife and then posting a picture of her body on Facebook.