The State told the jury that 4088 Teakwood Drive was Donyell’s house and the northwest bedroom was “the defendant’s bedroom.” Below is what the State’s own paperwork says was in that house, what it says was taken, and what was never handed over. Every line names its source.
Labels: RECORD = shown by a document or trial recording. DONYELL SAYS = his own account, not yet matched to a police record.
1. “The safe in Teakwood”
RECORD. In closing, the prosecutor told the jury: “Remember the safe in Teakwood? That was in the bedroom, the defendant’s bedroom? In that safe is this gun holster. And this magazine…” (Trial Tr. 3.2, about 00:23:01).
RECORD. The crime-scene officer who searched the room testified: “A piece of furniture or some kind of safe, but yes, it’s on some type of furniture item.” (Trial Tr. 1.3, about 01:27:04). She did not say safe. She said furniture or some kind of safe.
RECORD. The police evidence inventory lists the holster as item 11: “Holster with a magazine for a SCCY pistol, 9 live 9mm rounds. In the NW bedroom.” No safe appears anywhere in items 1 through 177. (CPD Evidence Inventory 20-052168 (updated 10/2/2020))
DONYELL SAYS police took three safes from Teakwood. None of the three is on the inventory.
RECORD. The search-warrant returns say “See Attachment.” No attachment was filed. There is no sworn list given to the judge of what was taken. Teakwood search warrant, June 8, 2020
The question: if there was a safe, where is it on the inventory? If there was no safe, why did the jury hear about one? And where are the three safes Donyell says left that house?
2. Four cameras at the “crime scene.” Zero footage.
The State says the shooting happened at Teakwood around 6:35 PM on May 27, 2020. Its own inventory shows the place was wired with cameras:
- Item 55: “Night Owl DVR box (security system), 4088 Teakwood Dr.” Seized June 9, 2020. RECORD.
- Item 37: game camera with SD card. RECORD.
- Items 123 and 124: a Brinno camera and a camo game camera inside the camper, the place the State says Randall was held. RECORD.
No extraction report, no footage, and no lab request for any of these devices appears in the case files we have. A security system pointed at the alleged scene of a shooting would show the shot, the scream, or nothing at all. All three answers matter. None was shown to the jury.
The Ring camera. The defense has demanded the chain of custody for a Ring doorbell camera removed from Teakwood. No Ring device is on the inventory. (Inventory absence: RECORD. Who removed it: being pinned to a document.)
Source for all items: CPD Evidence Inventory 20-052168 (updated 10/2/2020).
3. Whose room was it?
RECORD. Donyell’s driver’s license, photographed by crime-scene officers inside Teakwood on June 8, 2020, lists a West 38th Street address in Chattanooga, not Teakwood. The prosecutor admitted to the jury the license showed a different address (Trial Tr. 3.2, about 00:22:15).
RECORD. On July 1, 2020, after the search, a Chattanooga Police vehicle-release form signed “Donyell Holland” lists his address on West 38th Street.
RECORD. The State’s own phone-records warrant return lists a Sprint account at a West 38th Street address, active from November 15, 2019.
RECORD. The “defendant’s bedroom” held a purple Samsung phone (item 53) and a Fitbit watch with a purple band (item 54), with four phones on the same dresser (items 50 to 53). Crime-scene photos show women’s shoes and women’s things in the room.
RECORD. Randall Leslie’s girlfriend told police by phone on June 4, 2020 that she was home with Randall on May 27. She was never given a taped interview and police never followed up.
RECORD. Next door, the owner’s family used the property as a “gathering spot” (Trial Tr. 1.3, about 01:23:40). Other people had access.
The question: a shared house, a shared room, a license with another address, and a police form with another address. The State called it “his house” and “his bedroom” and asked the jury to treat everything in it as his.
What has not been produced
- Any record of the safes: seizure, contents, release.
- Footage or an extraction report from the Night Owl DVR, the game camera, or the two camper cameras.
- The Ring camera and its chain of custody.
- The attachment to the warrant returns.
- The SWAT / entry-team report for the June 8 to 9, 2020 search.
See also: Missing records · Evidence map.