Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,alt.politics.org.batf,alt.politics.usa.misc From: [w--g--s] at [lonestar.utsa.edu] (William W. Hughes) Subject: Branch Davidian Trial - 21 Jan 94 Date: Sun, 23 Jan 1994 03:05:05 GMT Branch Davidian Trial Update - Friday, 21 Jan 94 Page 1C [Today's article is short enough that I am just going to transcribe it directly. This article is copyright 1994 by the San Antonio Express-News.] WITNESSES AGREE ON FIRST SHOTS IN WACO by Matt Flores Express-News Staff Writer Several ATF agents and a Waco newspaper reporter testified Thursday in the murder-conspiracy trial of 11 Branch Davidians that the first shots in a ferocious gunbattle came from inside the religious sect's compound. Defense attorneys attacked the testimony, saying reports from the prosecution witnesses about the sequence of events at the compound near Waco on Feb. 28 vary from witness to witness. Agent Dan Curtis of the U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, testified he drove one of the two trucks pulling cattle trailers to the compound. The trailers were filled with ATF agents. Curtis testified that, as he approached the compound: "I saw an individual in the window prior to getting out (of the truck)." Immediately, he said, gunfire erupted from the second-floor window above and to the right of the compound's front entrance. The ATF agents had gone to the compound to serve warrants alleging weapons offenses. The trailers were used to keep the operation clandestine. [Story continued on page 2C] Subhead: Agents give account of first shots Photo caption : Reporter Marc Masferrer testified that the first shots came from the compound. [Photo of Masferrer taken from the front left. Masferrer's head is bowed and he is looking down.] Four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians were killed during the gunbattle. The 51-day standoff that followed ended on April 19 when the compound was destroyed by fire. About 80 people died. Agent Kris Mayfield testified that gunshots erupted as he and other agents approached the entrance to the compound to confront sect leader David Koresh with the warrants. "As I got through the gate, I looked up and saw (Koresh) standing in the doorway ...at that same moment, I heard gunshots. ...They sounded at a distance... it was fairly loud, but not anything next to me," Mayfield testified. He said he immediately sought cover, pulled his pistol from its holster and returned fire. "I could distinctly hear an AK-47 being fired from the front portion (of the compound)," Mayfield said. Although he said he and other agents were wearing bullet-proof vests when they converged on the compound, he said he didn't expect to draw his weapon. "I hadn't expected to be ambushed -- I expected to lawfully serve warrants," he said. Jurors also heard from Waco Tribune-Herald reporter Marc Masferrer, who said he believed the first shots came from the compound. Masferrer, who said he was assigned to monitor the compound for any activity, said he arrived shortly before the two trucks and was about 225 yards from the compound. "I saw (one trailer) stop and then about four or five agents coming out of the trailer ... almost immediately there was what sounded like gunfire ... that sounded like firecrackers," Masferrer said. "I believe the firing started from inside the building." Throughout the day, defense attorneys suggested that federal agents fired first, to subdue barking attack dogs guarding the compound. Under cross-examination, ATF agent Robert Champion said he used a fire extinguisher to subdue the dogs and no shots were fired at them. Also recounting the gunbattle, Champion said he watched as fellow agents Larry Shiver and Jerry Petrilli were wounded. he said he stayed in a prone position behind a cinder block because he was not wearing a protective vest. "The gunfire was so loud I couldn't even hear by [sic] own gun firing," Champion said. =================================================================== Administrivia Format change - I have reduced the line length by five characters. This is to make the Update more compatible with some software being used to read these messages. This is being done due to reader requests. POSTING Posted to Usenet newsgroups talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.org.batf, and alt.politics.usa.misc, with Distribution set to "world." Please feel free to forward to other groups and networks that you feel may be interested. Sent to mailing list/newsgroup Info-Firearms/info.firearms.poli- tics. Forwarded to FIDONet echoes DEBATE and CONTROVERSY by Terry Goodman ([terry goodman] at [support.com] / Terry Goodman 1:102/837) If anybody is archiving these updates, and/or making them available for ftp, gopher, or other access, please let me know and I will include that information in further Administrivia sections. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This summary of the Branch Davidian trial is based on articles published in the San Antonio Express-News. The original articles, and any sections quoted herein are copyrighted by the Express-News. The remainder of the summary is copyright 1994 by William W. Hughes. Copying of these summaries, either by hardcopy or electron- ic means, is authorized and encouraged, as long as this notice remains attached and intact. "I do not work for or represent the San Antonio Express-News" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -- [w--g--s] at [lonestar.utsa.edu] (William Hughes) | In memory of 85 un-charged, UTSA doesn't agree with me. They're wrong. | un-convicted victims of the U.S. Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants | government in Waco, Texas - Politically Incorrect and proud of it! | including over 20 children.