Day Two: Ammunition examined

The Officer says that at the prosecutions request, he has brought a number of different firearms to show the court how those firearms look, are used, and are fired.

A .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol assigned to Officer Lindsey is pulled out and the jury is reassured it is unloaded. The Officer then explains how the gun is loaded and how one would prepare it for firing.

A magnum revolver is brought out. Once it is fired, a cylinder just rotates allowing for the next bullet to be moved into place for firing. No shell casings will be shot out unless done manually, the Officer explains.

The Officer then steps off the bench and joins the prosecution at the overhead projector. A bag of different ammunition - including some of which is live ammo - is pulled out.

The ammunition (bullets) are placed on the overheard projector and shown to the court, and it is explained that there is an amount of powder in a loaded round. All rounds are built basically the same, the Officer confirms.

The varying sizes of bullets are shown ( a .380 semi-automatic round), a (.9 mm), (a .44 caliber) (.44 magnum revolver), (.38 revolver round), (and a .22 caliber), are all shown in varying degrees and it is described what guns the various ammo could be shot out of. One particular bullet is identified as the type offficers were looking for the night Lindsey was shot.

After that Officer Nitti goes back to the stand.

The search for casings along the ground is explained as routine procedure at a shooting scene, Nitti confirms. Nitti says it IS possible to shoot a semi-autmoatic weapon and NOT dispel casings, as they sometimes might get stuck. If that happens, the gun is not capable of shooting a second time.

The Officer says it would not be possible to shoot a semi automatic pistol 3 or 4 times and NOT eject casings.