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Courtroom Erupts As 911 Tape Traumatizes Brother

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

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 had smacked his hand down onto the wooden bench.

The man stood and lunged, pointing toward the defense table as several bailiffs restrained 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 murder in the shooting death of Stewart.

He struggled against the bailiffs as they dragged him from the room. Family members tried to calm him, but he said he didn't care; his brother was dead.

Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Littman asked Circuit Judge Robert Foster for a mistrial. Instead, the judge polled the jurors.

One woman, when asked if the outburst would affect her ability to be fair and impartial, responded: "It may." She was excused. All of the other jurors said they could ignore the incident for the trial.

Court will resume today, 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 he thinks an appeals court would send the case back for another trial, should Foster move forward.

Pam Sansom, the victim's mother, 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."

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, Stewart says Blackwelder stole his van. Then he said Blackwelder showed up again.

"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 screams, Joshua Stewart jumped to his feet in the courtroom.

Earlier in the day prosecutors told jurors that Blackwelder went to the Stewarts' house on Dec. 7 and killed George Stewart. They said Blackwelder took Brittani Stewart and drove north. He was arrested in Valdosta, Ga.

Blackwelder is charged with murder, burglary of a dwelling with assault and violating a domestic violence injunction.

Defense attorneys say the story is not that simple.

Blackwelder and Brittani Stewart are childhood friends and sometimes were more, Littman said. After filing for an injunction to keep Blackwelder away, Brittani Stewart went to South Carolina with him and her children, Littman said.

Blackwelder, Littman said, did not shoot George Stewart; he was simply a "spectator."

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.

"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 doesn't know what to tell her two young girls.

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

Stewart 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 tkrause@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7698.

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