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State v. Thomas2/27/2004
ndition occurs, one tries to the find the source of that infection, and Mr. Day's bladder was markedly distended. . . . It also showed the tear in the wall that had both bleeding and the inflammatory changes consistent with the peritonitis. Therefore, it's logical to conclude that the rupture of the bladder, . . . bec me the source of an infection throughout the body. . . . It can be a very difficult process to treat and can certainly result in . . . death.
Dr. Smith continued,
ecause of Mr. Day's underlying condition of having a neurogenic bladder, he very susceptible to having a large amount of bacteria in his bladder. . . .
A neurogenic bladder is a condition in which a person has received an injury of the spinal cord so that the nerves that control the ability of the bladder to empty itself, either by relaxing certain muscles and causing other muscles to contract - -that this process is no longer a coordinated fashion. A person may have spasms or a person may have a very flaccid bladder, as a result of which, the person no longer has bladder control.
[Mr. Day] carried a diagnosis of neurogenic bladder and loss of bowel control from the time that he suffered his collapse following the gunshot wound to the head.
In explaining the spinal-cord injury , Dr. Smith explained:
Basically after Mr. Day received the gunshot wound to the head, there was an accumulation of blood in the back of the head which caused damage to the cerebellum and pressed on his - - the central portion of his brain where the brain exits the skull down the spinal cord. As a result of that, he wasn't able to control his blood pressure.
But when a person suffers a hypotensive episode, you don't really know the effects of that loss of blood pressure until they've been resuscitated and the blood pressure comes back to normal. And at that point in time, you may find out that there had been, indeed, damage to portions of the central nervous system, such of which is not uncommon for the spinal cord to have selected areas of damage after the loss of blood pressure, and the person will then suffer the effects of that spinal-cord damage; in this case, loss of bladder and bowel control.
Dr. Smith commented that it was insignificant that the gunshot wound did not penetrate the dura, the membrane that surrounds the brain, because it did push tissue forward enough to cause damage to the cerebellum and blood vessels. Dr. Smith concluded that, if surgery had not been performed on Mr. Day on April 21, 1997, the day he was shot, Mr. Day would have died shortly thereafter.
After closing arguments, the jury retired to deliberate on the question of guilt or innocence and returned with a verdict finding both Defendants "guilty of unlawfully and with the intent to commit a robbery killing James Day during an attempt to perpetrate robbery as charged in the indictment."
Penalty Phase Evidence
The State presented the testimony of Joe Warren, a Shelby County criminal court clerk, to introduce the Defendants' prior convictions. The clerk's files indicated that, on December 22, 1999, Anthony Bond was convicted in indictment 98-04518 of aggravated robbery, in indictment 98-04520 of aggravated robbery, in indictment 98-04524 of aggravated robbery, and in indictment 98-04526 of aggravated robbery. The files also reflect a conviction entered June 7, 1995, for Defendant Bond arising from indictment 95-03886 for aggravated robbery. Mr. Warren explained that "R and I" numbers, "record a
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