Rodney West testifies for the first time in his murder trial

DOVER, Del. – The court heard directly from Rodney West for the first time in his own murder trial on Monday. However, he was only on the stand for a total of about 45 minutes. That’s because a more time consuming issue about the testimony of the defense’s witnesses took up most of the time in court.

West says he recieved dozens of threatening texts and phone calls from Derrick Combs before August 28th describing them as harassment. He says Combs was reaching out to him constantly between June and the night in question.

West claims he told almost ten people, most of whom were coworkers, about those interactions with Derrick Combs. He says he told them because he wanted advice about how to deal with the situation.

However, the issue that took up most of the day in court was about the defense’s plan to use prior statements by witnesses as evidence. The defense wanted to use this method to support West’s testimony, describing it as a way to cooroboration. But the state says that might sway the jury by hearing the same testimony from multiple witnesses, describing it as bolstering.

The judge ruled against the defense’s method saying West seems to have a good memory of his original testimony and other out of court testimony by witnesses is not needed.

The state plans to recall Rodney West for cross examination. Court will resume Tuesday morning.

Rodney West is facing two charges: first degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. The judge expects the trial to wrap up this week.

For coverage on day three of the trial: click here.