Melissa Bailey Photo
Thaddeus Reddish’s day job is assistant chief of police. On the witness stand Wednesday in the Mitchell Dubey murder case, Reddish was called on to play a different role: dermatologist.
He testified about what Tashaun Fair’s face looks like: in summer, in winter, in photographs — and in the courtroom that day.
The testimony culminated with an in-person examination, in which Fair approached the jury box and Reddish (pictured) pointed out features on his face.
Reddish appeared Wednesday in Judge Jon C. Blue’s fourth-floor courtroom at state Superior Court on Church Street, where a 12-person jury has been hearing evidence in the murder of Dubey, a popular downtown bike mechanic and underground music enthusiast who was killed during a robbery in his Newhallville home on March 24, 2011. Tashaun Fair, 20, of Newhall Street, is on trial for the murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Reddish grew up in Newhallville, lives there, has family there, and has served as the neighborhood’s top cop. He testified that he knows Fair from around the neighborhood.
Reddish testified that upon hearing the description of the man who killed Mitch Dubey’s at 29 Bassett St. — which included the word “freckles” — two names popped into his mind. At the defense’s request, the judge prevented him from telling the jury what those two names were.
Police sketch of suspect; Fair’s mug shot.
The complexion of Fair’s face has been a subject of much discussion during the trial, because the person who got the closest look at the killer said he had “freckles” or “mottled skin.” Public Defender Thomas Ullmann has been trying to argue that the cops got the wrong guy because his client does not have freckles.
Reddish gave the court detailed dermatological testimony. First he analyzed police photographs.
“Under [Fair’s] eyes, it’s a darker shade, and goes to a lighter shade, and goes to a darker shade. … He has different pigmentation in his face,” Reddish testified.
“In the summertime, with a tan, it’s less prominent,” Reddish continued, drawing from his knowledge of Fair around the neighborhood. “In the wintertime, it’s more prominent.” The murder took place in late March.
To illustrate the different pigmentation, Reddish approached a large-screen TV monitor and pointed to various parts of Fair’s face on a mugshot.
Ullmann later sought to tear Reddish’s assertion apart. First, he had Reddish look at eight mugshots from a police photo array.
“Is there a single photograph there that doesn’t have a shaded black area under the eyes?” Ullmann asked.
“No,” Reddish replied.
“It’s all a function of the lighting in taking the photograph, isn’t it?” Ullmann asked.
Reddish said he didn’t know.
Under questioning from state prosecutor Jack P. Doyle, Reddish later said he knows the majority of the other people in the mugshots, and they don’t have the same pigmentation as Fair.
Reddish then analyzed photos from Fair’s life. The defense submitted them to show Fair doesn’t have freckles; Reddish claimed that the photos show Fair does have mottled skin.
“When you look at the photo, you will see the pigmentation is lighter” in some areas than others, Reddish told the jury, standing before the jury and holding up one photo.
“It’s like a pattern,” of darker and lighter skin, Reddish said, holding up a second photo — this one taken from a distance of Fair playing basketball.
“Look under the eyes, and at the cheekbones,” Reddish told the jury.
The prosecution then brought up its next exhibit — Fair’s face, in the flesh. Doyle brought Fair up before jurors so they could look at his face.
“What I’m describing is under here — his eyes are darker under here,” he said, pointing to Fair’s face.
Ullmann later brought Fair up a second time.
“As long as we’re doing this, you might as well have the defendant go right up to the jury box,” Blue said. “You can crowd around.”
“Do you see any freckles on his face?” Ullmann asked Reddish.
“Yes,” Reddish said.
“Then point them out,” Judge Blue ordered.
“There’s freckles here,” Reddish said, pointing to Fair’s face. Fair stood tall and straight for the examination.
“Freckles, or pimples?” Ullmann said.
Ullmann appeared skeptical that any freckles appear on Fair’s face. He noted that his client has been locked up — without much if any sunlight — since August of 2012.
“Seconds” Away
Reddish also testified about how quickly a person could have run from the scene of the crime, Dubey’s house at 29 Bassett, to Fair’s home, 250 Newhall St.
This is important because Fair claims he was home at the time of the murder.
Reddish testified that a person could run from one house to another in a matter of “seconds.”
Day 3, Morning: Star Witness AWOL
The state’s key witness failed to show up Wednesday morning for Day 3 of the Dubey murder trial — sending the state scrambling to hunt him down.
The development created commotion in Judge Blue’s courtroom.
The state’s star witness was due to appear Wednesday to testify in the case. He told police he accompanied Fair to commit a burglary at Dubey’s Newhallville home — then served as a “lookout” as Fair went in the house and fired a fatal bullet.
He’s central to the case because none of the witnesses in Dubey’s home was able to identify the shooter, and no physical evidence places Fair at the scene of the crime. The defense will argue that the witness pegged Fair as the killer only after the witness got caught up on other criminal charges — and that the witness may have done the crime himself.
When court began at 10 a.m., the witness, who goes by the nickname “Paulio,” wasn’t there.
Prosecutor Doyle told the court he was unable to reach the witness Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
Doyle said the witness should be easy to find — he’s out on parole, on electronic monitoring.
The electronic monitoring system indicates that Paulio was home this morning — or at least that his bracelet is there — according to Doyle.
“We have no reason to believe [the witness] has removed the electronic monitor,” Doyle said.
Judge Blue asked for clarification.
“When was [the witness] last seen?” he asked.
“Last Tuesday,” replied Doyle.
Doyle told the judge that the prosecution met Paulio on July 10 in a police substation in Fair Haven. Doyle told him to be in court on Wednesday unless he heard otherwise. Doyle said he called the witness Tuesday night and left a message on his cell phone. Then he visited the witness’s last known address and left a message with a family member to remind Paulio he was due in court.
When Paulio didn’t show, Doyle asked the judge for a “capias,” a court order to take the witness into custody. The witness had been subpoenaed in May to show up for the trial.
Public Defender Ullmann piped up to make a point: The subpoena under which the witness had been called to court technically expired on Tuesday, he argued. So legally, the witness didn’t violate the subpoena, so the prosecution should order a new subpoena instead of taking the witness into custody by force.
Judge Blue said Ullmann made “a nice legal point.” But Ullmann doesn’t have standing in this particular matter, he said.
Further, “I don’t think there’s any fundamental unfairness here,” Blue told Ullmann. “The fact of the matter is we have a jury trial going on. This is an important case to everyone including your client. The public has a right to every citizen’s testimony in evidence.”
Blue said “we don’t have the time” to do “what might, as a matter of paperwork, be the optimal way” — to re-serve the witness with a subpoena, then serve him with a capias once he fails to appear.
Paulio’s lawyer, Rick Silverstein, was not present in court.
Blue granted Doyle’s request for a capias, ordering the witness locked up on a $500,000 bond.
Witness Located
Police caught up with Paulio later Wednesday.
He appeared briefly in court at 4:15 p.m., after the jury had been excused for the day. He wore a blue New York Giants baseball cap and a long white T‑shirt. Judge Blue told Paulio he would be locked up at police headquarters for the night so he wouldn’t be near Fair, who’s staying at the Whalley Avenue jail.
Blue appointed Silverstein as Paulio’s attorney. The witness is due back in court Thursday morning.
Previous Independent stories on the case:
• The Sketch Doesn’t Match
• 2 Families, 2 Worlds — & A Quest For Justice
• Does Tashaun Fair Have Freckles?
• State Seeks Informant’s Name; Feds Seek To Hide It
• Defense Attorney Files Speedy Trial Motion In Mitch Dubey Murder Case
• Freckles, FBI Reports Spark “Innocent” Claim
• Supporters Emerge For Dubey Murder Suspect
• Dubey’s Killer Allegedly Panicked, Shot