Tristan Appleberry entered a plea of not guilty this morning in an arraignment hearing. He faces charges of murder in the second degree for the July 22nd shooting of Aaron Sullivan.
According to Neighborlogs intern Lucas Anderson, who was present at this morning’s hearing, it was a routine affair that provided few additional details in the case. Apart from the plea, Appleberry was given a no-contact order for a list of witnesses in the crime. The court judge would also only allow photos from the neck down due to “identity issues.”
King County prosecutors made the for second degree murder due to the difficulty in proving premeditation in the shooting which occurred in front of Appleberry’s home in Leschi. Those charges could be upgraded if additional information comes to light in the case. According to previously filed court documents, the incident was spawned by an ongoing dispute over a girl between friends of Appleberry and the victim.
Appleberry remains in custody at the King County Jail on a one million dollar bail.
And you did not get a picture of his face?
From the story: “The court judge would also only allow photos from the neck down due to “identity issues.””
thanks Scott & Lucas for covering this…
Sorry. Guess someday there will be a booking photo.
It’s bugging me. What do you suppose “identity issues” means?
This is a terrible tragedy, & I don’t mean to make light, but…?
I am thinking that there are witnesses who don’t know the defendant who haven’t yet been shown him or his photo for the purpose of identifying him? Maybe they don’t want to taint the witnesses (if they see his photo in the paper or on the TV, and they haven’t yet been asked to identify the alleged shooter, their later IDs are going to be less compelling).
Nah – I doubt witnesses have not yet officially identified him at this late date. More likely they’re trying to protect him from retaliation?
Odds are that the defense is trying to keep his face out of the media. The witnesses will most likely be asked to pick him out of a photo lineup; they don’t want the witnesses to be familiar with his face at all.
Seems kind of pointless to me, because I was under the impression the police usually do the lineups long before the trial, basically as soon as they can get a montage printed.
This is a out right slap in the face, I wonder why, actually I don’t wonder I know that if this young man would have been a young black child, there would be no apparent identity issue, even if he’d been a fair skin one.
You all should be ashamed of yourselves, and you know who you are!
Forgive them father for they know not what they do.
They didn’t want to show Tristan’s face because his lawyers and parents are scared for his safety. That is also why they are leaving him in jail. I personally know the family and Aaron is my brother so this case has been very hard for all of us. But please believe we will be getting his face out there!