Judge is calling it a day. Thanks for following today. Trial resumes 9 a.m. Monday. 

See you all then! 

Video is over. 

Surveillance video inside store of when Halverson arrived will be played. 

Shows suspect shooting Halverson and fires multiple shots. Halverson is lying right inside the front door. 

 

 

Video is over. 

Surveillance video inside store of when Halverson arrived will be played. 

Shows suspect shooting Halverson and fires multiple shots. Halverson is lying right inside the front door. 

 

 

Halverson: He said tell my wife and kids that I love them. 

Car camera did work. He has watched the footage. 

They are playing video of Halverson responding to scene.   

Halverson: He had a body camera on at the time. But it didn't record the incident, due to a malfunction. 

He recalls yelling for help, kicking door with right foot to make noise. 

He was still talking into his radio. 

He thought if he didn't get help or assistance he would die. 

Halverson: He told suspect "Please don't kill me." 

He looked into suspect's eyes.  He thought he was going to die. He identifies Donahue as the man who shot him.

Orange button on radio for Code 1 tone - officer needs assistant. He didn't know he pushed it but was told he did.   

Halverson: He fell to the ground after being shot - face first. Had stars in his head. Kind of dazed. 

He tried to move his leg but couldn't feel them. He thought am I paralyze. He felt tugging on his right side where his gun was in a holster. It's not easy to get out. 

He remembers thinking Please don't kill me. He felt his gun go. He didn't know what happened after that. Thought he left. 

He recalls trying to take out his radio. He was still dazed and confused.  

Halverson: He was shot. He didn't how many times he was shot. Felt like 100 times. He tears up and chokes up. 

this is real life. This isn't a dream. He was being shot. The time seemed like it slowed down. 

He felt intense pain. This is what it's like to be shot. Pain and disbelief it was happening. This doesn't happen to people. Just on TV. But it was happening to me. 

Halverson: He attempted to look in the store before going in. He didn't see a clerk. Door had something over it. Had flashlight in his right hand. He saw a Black man standing by register with black bag over his shoulder. He had black hoodie on and could see his face. 

Halverson planned to detain him. He laid down his flashlight and reached for suspect's right arm and told him to turn around. Suspect pulled away and took out gun and started firing. Halverson couldn't describe it.   

Halverson: He saw a gray van parked on north side of Casey's by ice machines. 

He pulled up behind gray van, but didn't box it in. 

He was in his deputy uniform and driving a marked squad car. Had duty service weapon 40 caliber glock, taser, baton OC pepper spray, flashlight and handcuffs. He was wearing a protective vest. 

 

 

Halverson: Drove there with lights and sirens. Probably driving too fast because he was sliding. He slowed down. He turned off his siren as he came up Hwy 13 because it was a robbery call. He didn't want to endanger others at the scene.

He heard some radio traffic about a suspicious call at Casey's earlier in the day.

 

 

 

Halverson: Another deputy was dispatched to Casey's but he felt like he was closer and responded.

He gets choked up saying that. 

Dep. Oltmann was first responding and then others did. 

Halverson was still in the parking lot when he went to the Casey's. 

  

 

Halverson: June 20, 2021, he was on patrol and his area included Coggon. Was on shift 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. 

He recalled it was a raining that day. He waited out the storm at one point. He had a disturbance call nearby. He drove near Central City and Prairieburg -parked in a fire department parking lot. 

  

 

  

Halverson, 39,: He has worked with Linn County Sheriff's office for 9 years. He has 3 kids. 

Former security guard, prison guard in Illinois. 

 

Dep. William Halverson will take the stand. 

Stepanek on re-direct: She also didn't put in the statement that the suspect was wearing a hoodie but told dispatcher. She also didn't say she was crying in the cooler but she was. 

She is excused. 

Stepanek: Suspect wasn't wearing any gloves during robbery. 

She provided a written statement. 

It was a scary event. Nothing like that has happened to her before.  

Stepanek under cross: He had bigger nose and lips than average. She saw him for about 2 min. 

One or two Black customers would come in Casey's. Have people of color come in from Coggon area. Maybe two. 

She attended school with diversity. 

She grew up in Ryan. There were Black people in Ryan. 25-50. 

Has seen news reports of the robbery. Has probably seen 25 to 50 photos of Donahue.

Hasn't looked  at in person line up or photo line up of suspect. 

First time she was asked to identify suspect was today in court. 

Judge calls for break. Be back at 3 p.m.  

Stepanek: She saw suspect's face when he came into kitchen. Lights bright in kitchen. It was a man. A stranger. She identifies Donahue as the robber. 

Stepanek is crouching down and trying to hide in the kitchen after she becomes aware something is going on in the store. She's behind a wall in the kitchen. 

Christianson come back to the kitchen and tells her to come out but to call 911 first. 

911 call: She tells dispatcher store is being robbed. He's a Black man. Says she has to go when Christianson and suspect come in kitchen.

Video: Shows suspect telling them to go back to cooler, he follows them back and puts them in cooler. 

End of video. 

Showing video of interaction between Maddie and suspect. 

Stepanek: They don't keep money in the kitchen. 

She didn't know her personal items were missing. She left her purse up front on a hook. She had wallet, air pods, watch, covid card. Her car keys missing. It was a UI key chain.

 

Stepanek: When she was on 911, she heard "change" - fast flow of change coming out of register- and voices. She heard door swing open in kitchen. It was the suspect and Christianson. He asked her if she had any money and asked her if she had been on phone.

Then he took her and Christianson to cooler. She didn't feel like she had a choice. 

She left her phone in kitchen.

Suspect shut them in cooler. She started crying. She heard gunshots about 5 or 10 minutes after he shut door. 

Then she heard sirens. Officers open up cooler door. Told them to stay in cooler until they came back.  

Stepanek: She was in kitchen when Christianson told her about suspect coming in and he thought something was going to happen.

It was quiet. She peaked around and saw someone by beer cooler. Man was tall, big, dressed in all black sweats. She went back into kitchen. She text another coworker and said something was off. If she couldn't call 911, she wanted another to know. 

Christianson came back and told her the suspect wanted her to come up front. He told her to call 911 before he came out. She was behind the wall in the kitchen.   

Madelyn "Maddie" Stepanek, 19, takes the stand. Goes to UNI. She was 18 when she worked at Casey's in Coggon. She worked in kitchen and as register closer. 

She worked 3 to 11 p.m. that day. She worked with Jacob Christianson. She switched from register to kitchen. She was told about man who showed up early and the other worker thought the man was there to rob them.  

 

Reid: nobody directed her to tape together two bills in bill clips or to add piece of cigarette carton. She is excused.

Reid on cross: All Casey's have bill clip. 

Don't count cigars. Corporate has someone that handles those. 

 

 

Man comes to door and the Casey's worker inside goes to the door and then walks away. The man eventually leaves. There is no audio on these videos. There was a van driving by the store because he came to the door. 

The worker said the man was in a van. Donahue was also driving a van that day. 

 

They are playing the video when a man comes to the store about 4 a.m. - before it was open that same day.   

Reid: Suspect took cigars, phone chargers, gift cards and put in a garbage container by counter and the suspect took out the bag and left with it. 

 

Reid: She opened up the video for police. Her supervisor came in and both counted money and cigarettes. Cleaned up kitchen and front of store. 

No money left in registers after robbery. Not even coins. They were $239 short. Counted cigarettes - 89 packs short that day. 

Casey's gift cards, phone chargers and other items also stolen - Maddie's key chain and purse.  

Reid: Christianson called her and said they got robbed. He sounded nervous. She got dressed and went to the store. Took her about 8 min. 

When she got to Hwy 13, she saw 6 police officers squad cars racing towards Coggon. 

She wasn't allowed inside. She saw Maddie and Christianson inside. Gave them a thumbs up. 

 

 

Reid: She learned about a person outside the store before it opened. She got a call from another worker. She watched the video and saw a van pulled in and a man, wearing a full face mask, and he knocked on door. Worker said they weren't opened and walked away. 

Surveillance cameras are on all the time. Reid had access to those and another manager or supervisor - not regular employee like Christianson. 

Reid: Money goes in the bill clip -  she demostrates. Top dollar bill covers the clip, so in case a customer could see it in the drawer. Once the bill is pulled out, it set off silent alarm. 

 

Reid: They would take money out of safe every day and count. Using a computer system to show if they were short. Counted cigarettes every day.

Alarm system, bill clip inside register. A silent alarm. The clipped can be pulled that would trigger the corporate office of a robbery. Corporate will call store. Iif they can't reach anyone, they call law enforcement - Linn County Sheriff for Coggon store.  

Don't record serial numbers of bills. She would tape them together for a better pull on the alarm. 

Lisa Reid takes the stand. Former manager of Casey's in Coggon. 

 

We are back. 

Judge calls for lunch break. Be back at 1:15 p.m. 

Christianson is excused. 

Christianson on redirect: The hoodie darkened 1/4 of face, not all of it. He couldn't see his eyes well.  

Christianson admits to seeing news articles about robbery. Maybe saw Donahue's photo 7 or 10 times. 

Suspect wasn't wearing gloves. He touched items at Casey's and also cooler handle door. 

 

Christianson: He doesn't remember name of officer who showed him photo and asked him if it was the suspect. 

Stiefel: Did the officer say 'Is this who you believed who robbed Casey's' - it's who they arrested?

Officer didn't have him look at a line up. Nobody else to consider as suspect. 

 

Christianson identifies Donahue as the man who robbed the store that day. Same person who pointed gun at him, same person who forced him into cooler. 

Christianson on cross: The hoodie kind of hid or shadowed his face. He told police the man had big lips, bigger than average. 

He saw Black people on the limited basis in the Casey's in Coggon. He attended Central City. There were three Black students during his time in school. 

He moved to Wisconsin after graduation. He has some Black customers at the store where he worked. Christianson came back to Casey's in Coggon in July 2020. Only one Black customer would regularly come in Casey's. 

Christianson said he has one Black friend and another on a lesser basis.   

Christianson identifies exhibits of items in his wallet - bank cards, piece of cigarette carton with phone number on it, library card, school card - that was taken by robber.    

On video they have shown different angles of the robbery. 

On video, Christianson goes back to see Maddie in kitchen, Donahue goes back and when they oome back to front counter, Donahue then goes behind the counter and starts taking more cigarette cartons and other items. 

Donahue has hoodie on his head during robbery. You can't see his face. There haven't been any close ups. 

He is making the clerks go back to the cooler. He didn't have gun on them at this point. I think he put it back in his pocket. 

 

They are showing a video from the surveillance camera inside the store that day. It shows Christianson making safe drops. 

Videos also show Donahue coming in the store and going back to the bathroom. And then coming up to the counter, walking back by beer cooler and looking around, before he comes back to register and pulls out gun on Christianson.

He starts taking cigarette cartons and other items and Christianson is giving him the money from the register.  

  

Christianson continues his testimony. 

Christianson: The video shows him making his safe drop that day.

In his walllet - if his bank card was in it - from Coggon and Farmers Savings Bank in Wisc. His school card, library card. 

$12 or $15 in his wallet.

He gave suspect money from register. He had a gun. He didn't feel he had a choice to go into cooler.   

We are back.  

Judge calls for break. Be back at 10:38 a.m. 

Christianson: He was shown a photo of a man by police, which was Donahue. The officer didn't tell him anything. He was asked if this was the suspect. 

He didn't know at the time if Donahue had been arrested. He remembered looking at his face when Donahue pointed the gun at him. Having his hoodie up didn't interfere with seeing his eyes or nose. The hoodie made a shadow but it didn't interfere a lot.    

Christianson: Suspect was gone when they came out. He didn't see him again that night. 

He spend the night with a friend. It hit him later that he could have died that night. He started freaking out. He called his mom. 

He went to Hoog's Auctioneering - where his mom worked. 

 

Christianson: they heard the gunshots. After they were in cooler about five minutes. Maddie was crying. He wasn't. 

Five minutes later heard an officer outside and told them to make noise if they were inside. 

They yelled, officer opened door and he said to stay there and wait.

Officer came back and told them to wait in kitchen and they would come back to talk to them.   

Christianson: He took back those and suspect let him.

Suspect continued to grab stuff behind the counter. He told Christianson to go back to kitchen and he went back. Maddie was on phone with cops and Christianson told her to put it down because suspect was coming back. 

He told Maddie and Christianson to go back to cooler and put them in it. Suspect asked for phones. Christianson said he didn't have his phone but he did.

They sat in cooler. Maddie was scared. She was asking what if we don't make it. She was freaking out. He tried to reasure her. 

Christianson also pulled out clip in second register. 

Suspect wanted in the safe but Christianson told him he couldn't get into it.

He told Maddie to call 911 and he planned to stall suspect.

Suspect took cigarette cartons and Maddie's purse. He asked about safe again but Christianson said he couldn't. 

Suspect asked for his wallet. He asked for driver's license, medical card and covid card. 

The man came to the register with a chocolate milk. He had black sweatpants. 

He then went over to beer cooler. He then came back to register with nothing. He paid for milk. He then pulled out the gun. Pistol, black, small. 

He said Give me the money.

Christianson pulled out the bills that triggered the alarm. He started laying out bills or counting it and then suspect told him to stop counting it and handed him the cash in stacks. 

Christianson pulled it all out of the register. The suspect then told him to open the next register. No bills in that one, only change. 

Christianson: He was stocking and stocking cups and lids. Man came in, he greeted him and didn't say anything. He went to bathroom. The man was wearing a black hood on his head. 

He couldn't see the man's face. 

Christianson told Maddie he thought something was going to happen. Told her to stay down. He saw that it was the same van as the coworker saw earlier. 

He went to register and started doing more safe drops. He stood at register and waited. 

Christianson: He worked 4-11 p.m. shift in Casey's Coggon store. 

"Maddie"- Madelyn Stepanek-  was his coworker that night. She asked him to work register and she would make pizzas.

Another coworker left a note that said a man tried to come in before they opened and he was driving a van. Maddie was uncomfortable after reading it and wanted to switch duties with him. So he worked register and she made pizzas, 

Jacbob Christianson, 22, takes the stand. He was a clerk at the Casey's when the robbery occured. He worked the register.    

Works now at Central City schools.  

Safe drop is taking all the 20s, print out total and paper clip it to the money. It is in the register and they set it so it will trigger alarm if pulled out.

 

This is a stipulation Edwards has read to the jurors: In 2013, Donahue was convicted of a crime - this is to explain the possession of a firearm by a felon. 

Stiefel: Asked jurors to remember Donahue has the presumption of innocence. 

Stiefel: Attempted murder charge - relevant testimony - moments leading up to Halverson and Donahue and their interactions. 

The interactions between Christenson - clerk- and Donahue. 

 

Stiefel: Reserve your opinion of those what those witnesses say until you hear the expert witness.

 

Stiefel: You may think the evidence is strong in this case against Donahue but the defense has an expert witness that will testify about eyewitnesses and if the are reliable or not. He has done research on this topic for many years. 

He will go over factors that make the eyewitnesses less reliable - If someone is wearing a hoodie or something on their head, the suspect is from another race, how long they saw the suspect - exposure time, if the witness has seen a photo of the suspect before they identify. 

Stiefel: The jury would have to prove that's the only reasonable explanation of why Donahue is at the store. 

Prosecution has to rule out Donahue is the only person who is the suspect. 

Some of the evidence will be from the two clerks of the store, deputies Halverson and Omar. It was very traumatic and scary. No dispute. What halverson experienced was extremely painful. 

Questioning the witnesses will be to determine how they fit in the reasonable doubt calculations.

Peter Stiefel opening: We will prove absolutely nothing. There's nothing a defendant can prove. It's up to the jury to determine if the prosecution has proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Defense will have questions for the witnesses. But the defense isn't proving anything. 

 

Edwards: Halverson records message on body camera.

He is in immense pain, which you can see on video. 

Halverson survives after being shot 7 times. 

This isn't whodunit. Donahue's fingerprint is on magazine of gun. Money from register is in his pocket and other items are in his van. Other items in field where he was hiding. 

Donahue was caught on video and four witnesses will identify him as the suspect. 

Halverson remains on floor at the store and lays bleeding. 

Stiefel objects. Lawyers having sidebar with judge. 

Denahue goes back in the store after leaving to get more items from the store. 

Deputy William Halverson is first on the scene. Donahue points gun at Halverson and pulls the trigger, over and over and over. He doesn't stop until gun is empty. 

Halverson falls to floor and is paralyzed. Donahue rips gun out of Halverson's holster. He leaves the deputy for dead.

Dep. Omar then pursues Donahue on a high speed chase. Donahue crashes his van and flees on foot.  

Edwards opening: The defendant was caught in the ac. Caught on video. All the charges are captured on video. You will see him pointing a loaded gun at Jacob Christenson. Giving all the contents of the safe to Donahue. See the other clerk call 911.

Donahue is also seen taking cartons of cigarettes.

He puts the two clerks in the cooler.    

Assistant Linn county Attorney Molly Edwards will give her opening statement first and then the defense, Peter Stiefel give his.   

Good morning all! I was having some connection issues, but also, the trial hasn't started yet. Judge was taking up some things with the jury. 

Openings will get started in a few minutes.