{"id":77877,"date":"2025-12-09T08:17:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77877"},"modified":"2025-12-09T08:17:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:17:30","slug":"as-epps-trial-draws-to-a-close-equal-justice-concerns-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77877","title":{"rendered":"As Epps Trial Draws to a Close, Equal Justice Concerns Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Eric Arnold<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Brenda Epps, mother of Kevin Epps, on trial for the 2016 murder of Marcus Polk, in front of the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. (Credit: Eric Arnold)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The defense in the Kevin Epps\u00a0murder trial<\/a>\u00a0presented just one witness, Dr. Judy Melinek, an\u00a0eminent\u00a0<\/a>forensic pathologist whose testimony appeared to supercede the expert witnesses who had testified for the prosecution earlier in the trial \u2013 including San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Liverman.<\/p>\n

Melinek, regarded as something of a celebrity in the field of forensic pathology\u00a0\u2013 has specialized training in gunshot trajectory analysis and has testified in more than 300 trials. A Harvard graduate who went to medical school at UCLA, worked as a medical examiner in San Francisco and Alameda County, and authored two books, not to mention playing a cameo role on the television show \u201cE.R,\u201d Melinek is best known for her work in New York during the aftermath of 9\/11, when she conducted hundreds of autopsies.\u00a0She is currently an Associate Professor at UCSF, and runs her own forensic consulting firm.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the trial, SFPD CSI Lt. Patrice Heath and Dr. Liverman had testified about the trajectory and approximate distance of the gunshots Epps, 57, fired that killed Marcus Polk, 49 at the time of the shooting. Their answers to the direct examination of prosecutor Jonathan Schmidt were often approximate or inconclusive, compared to Melinek\u2019s, which were decisive and authoritative.\u00a0At one point, she left the witness box to physically demonstrate the path of a bullet, using her body and a pen so the jury could more easily visualize what she was talking about.<\/p>\n

Melinek confidently stated that an autopsy photo with a trajectory rod inserted to show the path of a bullet that struck Polk was incorrect, because the medical examiner did not account for the bullet\u2019s deflection. \u201cThis path is not the path the bullet traveled \u2014 (the rod) isn\u2019t following the point where it hit the rib.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this bullet had gone straight back to front, I would expect to see a round punched out hole. It\u2019s hitting the hardest part of the rib and deflecting outward.\u201d The trajectory, she said, \u201cwould not have been a straight line. The bullet got deflected inward through the torso.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Forensic pathologist Dr. Judy Melinek has specialized training in gunshot trajectory analysis and has testified in more than 300 trials. (Credit: Eric Arnold)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The implications of the deflection represent the difference between Polk being shot in the back, as the prosecution has contended, or from a more front-facing direction, as the defense has attempted to show. In Melinek\u2019s opinion, the bullet \u201cwas going more left to right and then it got deflected to go back to front.\u201d This assertion contradicts Liverman\u2019s finding that the bullet traveled back to front, with no deflection.<\/p>\n

Polk had two separate entry and exit wounds, which could have been from a single bullet or two. The forensic geometry, Melinek said, would mean that the bullet that stuck Polk in the arm could then have continued into his torso and chest cavity before exiting. This would mean his arm was outstretched, which would be consistent with Epps saying Marcus Polk came at him, as Melina Polk testified. If the arm was in a different position, it conceivably weakens the defense\u2019s contention and strengthens the prosecution\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

During Schmidt\u2019s cross-examination, Melinek repeatedly turned the tables on the veteran prosecutor by questioning his questions. \u201cI can\u2019t agree with that (question) the way you\u2019re asking,\u201d she said at one point.\u00a0When Schmidt posed a hypothetical about various positions Polk\u2019s arm could have been in, Melinek replied, \u201cYou can\u2019t just do that. You\u2019d run up to the limits of what the shoulder joint can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visibly flustered, Schmidt called for lunch break five minutes early.<\/p>\n

When the cross-examination resumed, the exchange between the two remained contentious, as Schmidt attempted to undercut Melinek\u2019s insistence the bullet had been \u201cabsolutely\u201d deflected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t answer the question the way you asked it,\u201d she said when asked about the trajectory rod. After Schmidt quoted a \u201cgeneral rule\u201d of deflected bullets from a forensic pathology reference text, she replied, \u201cI completely disagree with that\u2026 the problem is the (phrase) general rule. I wouldn\u2019t have phrased it that way because I\u2019ve seen too many exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unable to impeach Melinek, the prosecutor indicated he had no further questions. The defense then rested its case.<\/p>\n

Many questions remain, leaving Epps\u2019 supporters to question whether Epps was receiving a fair trial. Most concerning was why Judge Brian Ferall ruled in pretrial motions in favor of the prosecution that much of Polk\u2019s past history was inadmissible. This effectively kneecapped the intended defense.<\/p>\n

Julian Davis, an attorney and 20-year friend of Epps, said he believes this trial signifies \u201ca matter of public concern that touches on \u201c\u2026how self-defense laws are prosecuted and interpreted by our legal institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Julian Davis, an attorney and 20-year friend of Epps, says the case has fa-reaching implications for \u201chow self-defense laws are prosecuted and interpreted by our legal institutions.\u201d (Credit: Eric Arnold)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

One key issue is whether the judge will allow Epps\u2019 attorney to claim the \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d defense, also known as the\u00a0Castle Doctrine<\/a>, in his closing argument. Davis questions whether \u201cour self-defense laws, stand your ground, Castle Doctrine laws, et cetera, apply equally to somebody like Kevin as they would to any other more affluent or more privileged member of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis said another issue has been Farrell\u2019s limited experience in criminal court. \u201cThe prosecutor has been able to get away with far more than you would\u2019ve (seen) with a more experienced judge in criminal matters,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

Tobee Vanderwalk, a textile and performing artist and mother of three, who got involved with Epps\u2019 defense around the time of his 2019 preliminary hearing, wonders why the case was reopened at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy question still is, what happened in 2019 in the DA\u2019s office?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wanderwalk finds the DA office\u2019s commissioning of a digital animation by Jason Fries of 3-D Forensic inc. to be highly problematic. The animation, she explained, was \u201cthe way they hooked this whole case together\u201d \u2013 but was ruled inadmissible in pretrial hearings.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, she says, \u201cif it was inadmissible (in 2025), I don\u2019t think a judge should\u2019ve signed a warrant in 2019 to arrest Kevin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tabari Morris, a journalist for the SF Bayview newspaper (where Epps serves as editor-in-chief) and the news editor of the City College of San Francisco Guardian, is also a longtime friend of Epps. Excluding Marcus Polk\u2019s past history and including \u201cred herrings that don\u2019t matter\u201d like the marijuana found on the scene, add up to selective and unequal justice. \u201cHow this is even allowable is part of the bigger problem and the bigger issue, no matter who it applies to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial\u2019s next phase, jury instruction, which will determine what jurors can and cannot consider, could well prove pivotal in a case that increasingly appears to have larger implications for how the criminal and court system treats Black defendants.<\/p>\n

This story was produced in collaboration with California Black Media. It is part of ACoM\u2019s\u00a0ongoing coverage<\/a>\u00a0of the Kevin Epps trial.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByEric Arnold Dec 5, 2025 Brenda...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-opinion","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77878,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77877\/revisions\/77878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}