The Whole Truth Project Looks At The Anthony Porter Case - Part VIII - The Grand Jury Testimony Of Kenneth Edwards
On February 17, 1999, Kenneth Edwards testified before the Grand Jury.
Here are the key points from his very powerful testimony:
* He is currently 38 years old
* In August 1982, he was living on East 56th Street, which was about a block from Washington Park
* He had lived in that neighborhood his whole life
* He was familiar with a man named Tony Porter
* He could recognize Tony Porter by sight
* He was familiar with Tony Porter's whole family his whole life
* On August 14, 1982, shortly after midnight, he decided to go swimming in the Washington Park pool with his friends Eugene Beckwith, Michael Woodfork and Mark Senior.
* Before hopping the fence to go into the pool, the group walked by the bleachers next to the pool and he saw Tony Porter sitting at the top of the bleachers
* There were three other people sitting by Tony Porter.
* After hopping the fence and swimming for a bit, he heard gunshots
* He looked up in the bleachers and saw the muzzle of the second gun shot
* After the shots were fired, two men walked calmly down the bleachers and a female who had been shot staggered down the bleachers
Now - I will provide some exact questions and the answers provided by Mr. Edwards under oath:
Q: AS YOU SIT HERE TODAY, AS YOU SIT HERE TODAY, CAN YOU TELL THIS GRAND JURY WHO IT WAS THAT FIRED THOSE SHOTS?
A: I SURE CAN.
Q: WHO WAS IT?
A: IT WAS TONY PORTER.
Q; AND THE PEOPLE THAT YOU SAW COMING DOWN THE STAIRS CALMLY BEFORE THE WOMAN STARTED TO STAGGER, DID YOU KNOW WHO EITHER OF THOSE TWO PEOPLE WERE?
A: ONE WAS TONY PORTER. THE OTHER GUY I DID NOT KNOW.
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GRAND JUROR: NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN PICTURES OF ALSTORY SIMON IN THE NEWSPAPER, COULD THAT OTHER PERSON HAVE BEEN HIM?
EDWARDS: NO, IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN
GRAND JUROR: DO ALSTORY SIMON AND PORTER KNOW EACH OTHER FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD OR WERE THEY MORE THAN THAT?
EDWARDS: I REALLY COULDN'T SAY BECAUSE I HAD NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE UNTIL I SAW HIS PICTURE ON THE NEWS, SIMON, THAT IS.
GRAND JUROR: WY WOULD SIMON SAY HE DID IT NOW AND HE DIDN'T SAY IT THEN?
EDWARDS: YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE. IT JUST MAKES ME LAUGH THAT THE SITUATION IS THE WAY IT IS NOW.
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Pretty compelling testimony in our humble opinion.
Edwards said he saw Porter fire the gun.
Porter was someone Edwards knew from the neighborhood.
Wow.
Why didn't David Protess interview Kenneth Edwards?
Was this a search for the truth?
Or did David Protess have a different agenda?
What do you think?
