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911 Recording Of Slaying Triggers Courtroom Outburst

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2008

Updated: 05/20/2008 04:29 pm

TAMPA - As a jury listened to a 911 tape play the last minutes of George Stewart's life, his family and friends cried in the front row of the courtroom.

Then a slam.

A man in the courtroom gallery had slammed his hand down onto the wooden bench.

The man stood and lunged, pointing toward the defense table as several bailiffs grabbed him. He screamed that the defendant killed his brother. In a crying rage, the man yelled obscenities and said he wanted to get Timothy Craig Blackwelder, who is on trial for a murder charge in the shooting death of Stewart.

He struggled against the bailiffs and continued to yell and cry as they dragged him from the room. Other family members tried to calm him but he said he didn't care. Nothing matters since his brother was dead, the man said.

Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Littman asked Circuit Judge Robert Foster to declare a mistrial.

Instead, the judge polled the jurors one by one. One woman, when asked if the outburst would affect her ability to be fair and impartial, responded: "It may."

All of the other jurors said they could put the incident out of their minds for the purposes of trial.

"I can look at the evidence and separate that out, yes," one juror said.

Foster excused the female juror and ended court for the day.

The trial will move forward, Foster said.

It will resume at 8 a.m. Wednesday, when Foster will allow lawyers on both sides to present case law if they think his decision to go forward is incorrect.

Outside the courtroom, Littman said – based on today's incident – that he thinks an appeals court will overturn any verdict. This jury's decision will become irrelevant, he said.

"It's a free trial from here on out," Littman said.

Pam Sansom, the mother of the victim, said her son Joshua Stewart was the man who lost control of his emotions.

"All I can tell you is he's hurting," Sansom said. "He's lost his only brother."

She said she was sorry for her son's actions and does not want anything to interfere with the trial.

Minutes before Stewart jumped from his seat, George Stewart's voice played from a tape recorder. In one quick 911 call, he told the operator that Blackwelder was at his house despite a court order to stay away from Stewart's wife.

In a second call, moments later, Stewart says Blackwelder stole his van. As he talked, he said Blackwelder showed up again. Then, he said, Blackwelder had a gun.

"Now he's got a gun pointing at us," Stewart tells the operator. "He's got a gun pointing at my face."

Stewart is heard yelling at someone, then screaming in pain.

After a few seconds of agonizing screams, Joshua Stewart jumped to his feet.

Earlier in the day, during opening statements, prosecutors told jurors that Blackwelder went to Brittani Stewart's house on the afternoon of Dec. 7 and killed George Stewart. Then, Blackwelder took Brittani Stewart and drove north.

Blackwelder is charged with murder, burglary of a dwelling with assault and violating a domestic violence injunction. If he is found guilty of the murder charge, he will receive a mandatory life sentence.

Defense attorneys say the story is not that simple.

Not long before George Stewart's death, Brittani Stewart went to South Carolina with Blackwelder, Littman said. She already had filed for the injunction but left the state with him and her children, he said.

Littman asked the jury to consider that in determining whether Brittani Stewart intended to leave her husband forever.

"There will be no doubt that she went willingly with Mr. Blackwelder," Littman said.

Blackwelder, Littman said, did not shoot George Stewart. He was simply a "spectator." Littman did not offer an alternate suspect.

Assistant State Attorney Jalal Harb said evidence will show that Blackwelder was the killer. The gun that ballistics tests matched to George Stewart's death was owned by the boyfriend of Blackwelder's mother. The gun was found with Blackwelder when he was arrested in Georgia.

The trial is expected to continue for several days.

Last week, Sansom and Brittani Stewart agreed to an interview, although they would not discuss the case. The Stewarts' two daughters ran about the room as the two women spoke.

Sansom described her son as funny, "a cut-up" whom she misses dearly. The stress of her grieving has put a strain on her health, she said. Still, she said, she knows her son fought until the end.

"He died protecting all three of these girls," Sansom said, pointing to Brittani Stewart and her daughters. "He loved his girls dearly."

Brittani Stewart said she goes to counseling regularly. She doesn't know what to tell her two young girls.

"They say: 'Where's Daddy? Miss you, Daddy. Miss you, Daddy,' " Brittani Stewart said.

She tells them he went to the moon. Whenever they see the moon, she said, they say hi to their father.

News Channel 8 reporter Natalie Shepherd contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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