The report of a deceased Duluth police officer contradicts a medical examiner's report that Albert Morrison was a victim of homicide behind the YMCA last July, and consequently murder charges should be dismissed against two men, their defense attorneys argue in a motion filed in St. Louis County District Court.
Isaac Louis Johnson, 25, and Antonio Sinclair Lewis, 22, both of Duluth, are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery in the death of Morrison, 34. Morrison's body was found at 11:42 p.m. on July 15 last year.
Attorneys Jill Eichenwald, representing Lewis, and Susan Ginsburg, representing Johnson, filed a joint motion to dismiss the murder charges against their clients. They argue that according to the report of Duluth police Investigator Bob Carter, medical examiner Dr. Donald Kundel initially said Morrison's head injury was consistent with a fall and could not have been the cause of his death. According to Carter's report, Kundel also stated that Morrison's lungs appeared to be solid and were very large and heavy, and that a person with lungs that large cannot live.
Kundel opined that Morrison was so intoxicated that his heart failed and that he likely died a natural death brought on by acute alcohol poisoning, which would cause pulmonary edema. However, following the autopsy, Carter asked Kundel whether his opinion on the cause of death would change if it was possible that Morrison had been struck and knocked unconscious. Kundel indicated that he would be inclined to rule the case a homicide if that had occurred because that could have contributed to his death, the defense motion states.
A defense team investigator interviewed Kundel and he denied telling Carter the death was from natural causes.
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Carter, 43, died in his sleep last August. He spent his final seven years fighting leukemia.
"It's pretty hard to believe Investigator Carter was lying about that," Eichenwald said after the hearing. "It was exculpatory to our clients. Why would he put that in his report? But we can't ask him about that and can't ask him about what conversation he and Kundel actually did have."
The defense team hired Dr. John Plunkett, a Twin Cities-area forensic pathologist with 34 years experience, to review the medical records of Morrison's death. Plunkett disagreed with many of Kundel's findings and concluded that the cause and manner of Morrison's death can't be determined.
"If you can't figure out how the person died, how can you determine it was a homicide?" Eichenwald said. "It could be a natural cause of death."
She said the defense is not arguing that there isn't sufficient probable cause for the case to go forward on the aggravated robbery charges.
Police were led to Johnson and Lewis after reviewing video surveillance from the Holiday Center Mall, less than a block from where Morrison's body was found. The video shows Morrison and the defendants walking away from the west entrance of the center. Six minutes later, the defendants are observed entering the center without Morrison.
According to police reports, Johnson told police that Lewis punched and kicked Morrison, causing the victim to fall on his face. Morrison was found face down. Johnson said the purpose of the assault was for Lewis to rob Morrison. He said his co-defendant went through Morrison's pockets looking for money and ultimately took the victim's identification and the 60 cents that he possessed.
Johnson and Lewis appeared in court Thursday. Judge Shaun Floerke gave St. Louis County prosecutor Nathaniel Stumme until Aug. 13 to file briefs in support of the state's position. The defense attorneys have until Sept. 14 to file their briefs. Whether there is probable cause to support the murder charge against Lewis and Johnson will be orally argued in a hearing on Sept. 16.
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