Dedrick Lindsey
Cellphone video of Dedrick Lindsey stabbing and taunting a fellow prisoner in a 2020 jailhouse attack was shown during a motion hearing on Monday. Lindsey is being tried for a 2017 attempted first-degree murder, and prosecutor Cameron Williams introduced testimony and video from three other incidents as evidence for the 2017 case.
“The state seeks to introduce evidence of these prior criminal acts through the testimony of the victims in each case,” prosecutor Williams wrote in his notice of intent filed in mid-December.
“The evidence will show the defendant’s intent and identity as the perpetrator at the time the defendant committed the 2017 attempted homicide of (VICTIM).”
The first victim gave witness testimony concerning a 2013 aggravated assault Lindsey pled guilty to, as well as the events of the 2017 attempted first-degree murder that the trial will focus on. Officials said the victim had a child by a woman that Lindsey dated.
The victim described the 2013 aggravated assault. “I saw a black car pull up and he was in the car. He just drove by, slowed down, and started shooting at me.”
The victim said that a few years later, he was at a gas station buying beer when he ran into Lindsey (who also goes by “Pain”). The victim said he did not even realize it was Lindsey until Lindsey said something to him.
Security video from the gas station was shown in court, and it portrayed the victim walking out of the gas station on Dodson Avenue with Lindsey running right behind. Lindsey was seen shooting at the victim.
“I was wondering why he was following me, and I was scared,” the witness said. “He shot the whole clip up and I was hit twice.”
The victim also said that he did not know Lindsey was out of prison already and would not have gone by that gas station if he knew he was out. The victim said he said something to Lindsey, but that he did not know what he said.
“I didn’t know that was him in the store,” the witness said. “But I saw his face and walked out the door.”
The second witness, the man stabbed by Lindsey and others at the Silverdale jail in 2020 and a cousin of the main victim, also testified. He said someone lured him into a room by saying he would let him use a cellphone to call his family. When he got in there, the second victim said several other men appeared and began to beat and stab him.
“Four or five dudes came in and I was fighting for my life,” the second victim said. “They stabbed and beat me, and got me undressed and tried to molest me.”
He said one of the men identified himself as “Pain” and told him he was being retaliated against for testimony given by another person.
“You know how they did Jesus,” the witness asked the court “I was tortured like that. I was stabbed all over.”
Prosecutor Williams played a cellphone video that showed a few minutes of the stabbing. In it, Lindsey pulled down his mask, faced the camera, and identified himself as “Pain.”
“Wake up boy, wake up, get up. Hey, look at me,” Lindsey could be heard saying in the video as a bloodied victim was on the floor. “Sit your b**** ass up. Why does your (redacted) keep coming to court on me? Snitch ass n****.”
The second victim told defense attorney Meredith Mochel that he did not know how long the attack lasted, and that he did not even know who was attacking him until Lindsey told him who it was. He did not want to disclose the identity of the person who sent him the video of the attack after he was released from jail, but he eventually wrote the name on a piece of paper without stating who it was aloud.
Attorney Mochel argued against using the evidence provided today in the 2017 murder trial. She said that the 2013 charge is not necessary to prove identity, as her client already admits to shooting the victim, albeit he says he did so in self-defense.
“The identity is well-established, and to introduce the stabbing certainly doesn’t have much more prohibitive value as to identity,” attorney Mochel said. “And the prejudice is so outstanding, I would submit to the court.”
She also said the circumstances between the 2013 and 2017 shooting were different as well. She said the 2017 incident was a result of a “beef” and a chance meeting, while the 2013 incident resulted in a plea.
Judge Don Poole said he wanted to take time to review case law and said the court will take the matter up again on March 14. The court will also discuss a motion to dismiss on that date.