Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveHeather Maxon - Direct/Cross/Redirect
255 linesMR. BRENNAN: Thank you, your honor. Commonwealth calls Heather Maxon.
COURT CLERK: [garbled — oath administration] ...the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
MS. MAXON: I do.
JUDGE CANNONE: Whenever you're ready.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you, your honor. Good morning, ma'am.
MS. MAXON: Good morning.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you please introduce yourself to the jury?
MS. MAXON: Hi, I'm Heather Maxon. M-A-X-O-N.
MR. BRENNAN: How old are you?
MS. MAXON: I'm 31.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you live in the area?
MS. MAXON: I do.
MR. BRENNAN: How long have you lived in the area for?
MS. MAXON: My whole life.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you know a person by the name of Ryan Nagel?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And how did — or how do you know him?
MS. MAXON: Uh, I dated him a few years back.
MR. BRENNAN: I want to have you take us back to January 28th going into January 29th, 2022. Do you remember that evening?
MS. MAXON: Yep.
MR. BRENNAN: Where were you earlier that evening on January 28th, 2022?
MS. MAXON: Uh, we were at Ryan's parents' house, just hanging out.
MR. BRENNAN: Whose parents?
MS. MAXON: Ryan's.
MR. BRENNAN: Right. Were you with anybody else besides Ryan and his parents?
MS. MAXON: Uh, eventually we met up with friends.
MR. BRENNAN: Where?
MS. MAXON: At local restaurants.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you end up at one restaurant or bar in particular at the end of the night?
MS. MAXON: Um, we were first at C.F. McCarthy's and then we went over to the Hillside.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you drinking?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you remember about how many drinks you had?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did the alcohol affect your perception or your memory at all?
MS. MAXON: Most likely. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you feel like you were impaired in any way?
MS. MAXON: I believe so. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: After you left the establishments, after they closed, did you go somewhere?
MS. MAXON: We went to pick Ryan's sister up, Julie, from a friend's house. She needed a ride.
MR. BRENNAN: Before you went to pick Ryan's sister up, did you have other plans before that?
MS. MAXON: Sorry, could you repeat the question?
MR. BRENNAN: Before the decision was made to go pick up Ryan's sister, was there other plans that you were —
MS. MAXON: No, that — Okay, that was just the plan to go get her.
MR. BRENNAN: Yes. Do you remember generally or specifically what time that was?
MS. MAXON: Late. Midnight.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Do you remember the time exactly?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Is there any marker in your mind that would help you remember exactly what time it was?
MS. MAXON: Not necessarily. No.
MR. BRENNAN: So, is that a generalization or a guess?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When you went to pick up Ryan's sister, do you know where you were going?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you driving?
MS. MAXON: I was not.
MR. BRENNAN: Who was driving?
MS. MAXON: Our friend Ricky.
MR. BRENNAN: Where were you sitting?
MS. MAXON: In the back seat.
MR. BRENNAN: What kind of vehicle was it?
MS. MAXON: It was a truck.
MR. BRENNAN: Are you familiar with the area?
MS. MAXON: Not necessarily. No.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you remember at some point taking a turn onto the road?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: That had the house where you were going to arrive?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: How do you remember that?
MS. MAXON: Um, just as a visual bystander and I'm aware of my surroundings, I'd say.
MR. BRENNAN: Did anything happen that made you remember the turn before you got onto that road?
MS. MAXON: There was another vehicle also on the road coming from the opposite direction and we had let that other vehicle turn onto the road before us.
MR. BRENNAN: Describe in a little detail what happened at that intersection.
MS. MAXON: Um, so I don't recall the name of the street that we were on before we took the left onto the street that the house was located, but the car coming from the opposite direction was taking a right onto the same street. So, we had somewhat yielded to the car coming from the opposite direction to have let them take a turn onto the street before us.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you see if the driver of either vehicle gave any indication to the other vehicle who should go first?
MS. MAXON: I don't necessarily recall, but I'm assuming maybe—
MR. BRENNAN: I don't want you to assume. That's okay if you don't recall.
MS. MAXON: Sure.
MR. BRENNAN: Who turned first onto the road, Ricky or the other car?
MS. MAXON: The other vehicle.
MR. BRENNAN: The other vehicle. Do you know what type of vehicle it was?
MS. MAXON: It was a big, like, SUV. A bigger car.
MR. BRENNAN: The SUV turned before you?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Before or when the SUV turned, did you get to see inside the vehicle?
MS. MAXON: I did see inside the vehicle. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you describe for the jury what you remember seeing?
MS. MAXON: I saw a male and a female inside the car.
MR. BRENNAN: Where was the female?
MS. MAXON: Female was driving and the male was in the passenger seat.
MR. BRENNAN: Was the male in the front passenger seat?
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you able to recognize either the female driving or the male in the front passenger seat?
MS. MAXON: Recognize?
MR. BRENNAN: Yes.
MS. MAXON: Um, I'm not sure if I understand the question.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you know who they were?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Strangers?
MS. MAXON: Yeah.
MR. BRENNAN: When they turned and then Ricky turned after them, how far ahead of Ricky were they?
MS. MAXON: Um, maybe 100 feet.
MR. BRENNAN: Could you see them the entire time?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: When you drove to Fairview, how long did it take after the turn?
MS. MAXON: Uh, a couple minutes.
MR. BRENNAN: It took a couple minutes to get from Cedarcrest to Fairview.
MS. MAXON: Oh. That's okay. Yeah, I'm not sure.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Uh, when you arrived at Fairview, where did Ricky stop?
MS. MAXON: Outside the house. On the street.
MR. BRENNAN: Do you remember where on the street in relation to the driveway?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: The other vehicle, the SUV — was it in front of you or behind you when you stopped?
MS. MAXON: It was in front of us.
MR. BRENNAN: When it was in front of you, did you notice anything about the vehicle?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you notice anything about its lights?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you see whether the interior light, the dome light was on or ...off?
MS. MAXON: I did, as we were leaving.
MR. BRENNAN: Before you left?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you ever see that dome light come on?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you notice anything about the brake lights?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you notice anything about the vehicle's tail lights, whether they were intact or broken?
MS. MAXON: Nope.
MR. BRENNAN: When you arrived at that address, do you know the street address?
MS. MAXON: I do not.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. When you arrived at that address, what happened next?
MS. MAXON: I believe Ryan had reached out to Julie saying, "We're here. You know, time to go." And so she had come outside and we had a short conversation and she decided that she was actually going to stay at the house. She had invited us in. But I had said that I didn't want to go inside. I just wanted to go back to the house.
MR. BRENNAN: From the time you first arrived at that address and until the time you left, did you ever see anybody get out of the SUV that was in front of the truck?
MS. MAXON: I did not.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you ever see anybody travel across the front yard to the doorway from that SUV?
MS. MAXON: Nope.
MR. BRENNAN: Did anybody ever walk by on the street, walk by the truck in front of you, behind your truck, and walk on the driveway?
MS. MAXON: No. Well, besides Julie. Sorry.
MR. BRENNAN: Julie. Julie is the only person that you saw in the driveway that night.
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: And then you left.
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: When you left, did you drive by the SUV?
MS. MAXON: We did.
MR. BRENNAN: When you drove by, what were you looking at?
MS. MAXON: My surroundings.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. What did you see?
MS. MAXON: I saw the female that I saw beforehand also still in the car.
MR. BRENNAN: Where did you see her?
MS. MAXON: In the driver's side.
MR. BRENNAN: Okay. Was there at that point any lights on inside the car?
MS. MAXON: There was. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Was it the dome light? Was the driver's side door open?
MS. MAXON: Not to my knowledge.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you see anybody else inside the SUV?
MS. MAXON: I did not.
MR. BRENNAN: Was there anybody else inside the SUV? You didn't see anybody inside the car besides the driver?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Next question. Do you know whether there was anybody else inside the SUV at that time other than the driver?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you look in and study the interior of the SUV?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: How long did you look inside the SUV for when you passed?
MS. MAXON: It was just passing. So I don't know, a couple seconds.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you see if there was anybody — a man standing outside the door of the SUV?
MS. MAXON: I did not.
MR. BRENNAN: Outside the door?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Did you see anybody lying on the front lawn?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. BRENNAN: Thank you. I have no further questions.
MR. YANNETTI: Good morning, ma'am.
MS. MAXON: Good morning.
MR. YANNETTI: Before Ricky turned on to Fairview Road, you saw the SUV in front of Ricky's truck, facing it, taking a right-hand turn in front of you.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And at that point, you had an unobstructed good look at the driver and the front passenger.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And you could see that there was a female driving and a male in the front passenger seat at that time.
MS. MAXON: At that time. Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Now, ultimately Ricky's car took a left after the other SUV took a right.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Yes. And eventually when you reached the house where Julie was, you saw that that SUV was in front of that house, parked now further down ahead of you.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And it took Julie a couple of minutes to come out of the house, I'd say.
MS. MAXON: So, yeah.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall whether there was any conversation at that time between you, Ricky, and Ryan?
MS. MAXON: Possibly. I don't recall or remember what, but most likely.
MR. YANNETTI: Yes. And you don't remember whether you were participating in a conversation or what was discussed?
MS. MAXON: Not necessarily. No.
MR. YANNETTI: You had your cell phone with you that night?
MS. MAXON: I did.
MR. YANNETTI: Like many of us, is your cell phone something that you tend to check when you're bored or there's a break in a conversation or you're not actively engaged in a discussion?
MS. MAXON: For sure.
MR. YANNETTI: And while you were waiting for Julie to come out of the house, do you recall whether you were checking any web page or Instagram or text message or app on your cell phone?
MS. MAXON: I don't recall.
MR. YANNETTI: Can you testify with certainty that you were not checking your cell phone during that period of time?
MS. MAXON: Not with certainty. No.
MR. YANNETTI: And so you can't say for sure how long, if you did check your cell phone, you would have been looking at it while waiting for Julie.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. All right. Well, you testified that you didn't see anybody get out of the SUV or approach the house.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. You obviously don't know what did or didn't happen before you, Ricky, and Ryan arrived there.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. While you were parked near the driveway, you weren't thinking that you had to watch the SUV every second in case you were later asked to describe what was going on with that vehicle.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And that SUV was the same vehicle that you recognized as previously having a female driving and a male in the passenger seat.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And as far as you know, you didn't know either of them at that time.
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Fair to say that what they were doing was their business and you weren't particularly interested in what they were doing.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. You were there to pick up your boyfriend's sister.
MS. MAXON: Correct. Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: It was late and you were tired.
MS. MAXON: Very much so. Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: You had had a good amount to drink.
MS. MAXON: Mhm.
MR. YANNETTI: You did not want to continue to drink and socialize.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. Fair to say you were looking forward to ending the night at that point.
MS. MAXON: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: And so you were more focused on hopefully getting Julie in the car so you could leave than anything that was going on in the SUV, right?
MS. MAXON: Yeah. Exactly.
MR. YANNETTI: Then Julie came out and it wasn't as simple as her just jumping in the vehicle and leaving.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. There had to be a discussion.
MS. MAXON: Right.
MR. YANNETTI: Right. And she came out to speak to the three of you for about five minutes or so, I'd say.
MS. MAXON: Like a back and forth about who's going where.
MR. YANNETTI: Yeah. And when Ricky was pulling away, you looked over to the SUV and you saw that the interior light was lighting up the front compartment.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And it was then that you looked over and you saw a female in the driver's seat.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Yes. You did not see any person in the passenger seat.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: Correct. And you certainly did not see a 6-foot tall off-duty police officer in the SUV at any point on Fairview Road.
MS. MAXON: Correct.
MR. YANNETTI: I have nothing further.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you. Anything, Mr. Brennan?
MR. BRENNAN: When Ricky was speaking to Julie and you were in the back cabin of the truck, what direction were you facing?
MS. MAXON: I don't recall.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you paying attention to the conversation with Julie?
MS. MAXON: I was probably in and out of the conversation. Yes.
MR. BRENNAN: Were you facing the direction of the house and the SUV or were you facing the opposite direction?
MS. MAXON: I don't think I was facing the opposite.
MR. BRENNAN: When you were in the cabin of the car and Ricky was having the conversation with Julie, did you ever see anybody other than Julie come in or out of the house?
MS. MAXON: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Allow it.
MR. BRENNAN: No further questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you. Miss Maxon, you are all set.
MS. MAXON: Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Brennan.
MR. BRENNAN: Your next witness — Katie. Sorry.
JUDGE CANNONE: Why don't we take our morning recess? Twenty minutes. All rise, please.
COURT OFFICER: Jurors, close your notebooks and follow me.