"We need you to tell the truth" and ""You understand that this is a murder trial. You are one of the main witnesses."

On Friday, September 25, Ms. Heidi Holmquist, who represents Jason Arreaga, continued her cross examination of Shavonne Hammers.

Courtroom 2 did not get started at 8:30 a.m. but a few minutes later and I was in Courtroom 4 covering trial assignment to see if the Jason Warren jury trial was a go. I missed about 20 to 30 minutes of the cross examination and when I came into Courtroom 2, Shavonne Hammers was still on the stand. Ms. Holmquist was questioning her about Angel Tully's body and about it being moved.

I asked my other media colleagues later about what I missed and they summed it up as saying that Shavonne Hammers responded quite often that she could not remember.

A lot of Shavonne Hammers' responses to Ms. Holmquist for the rest of the cross examination were, "I don't remember." Ms. Holmquist asked her if she knew how much money was withdrawn at the ATM for the drug transaction and how much heroin was purchased. Hammers said she did not know how much money was withdrawn or how much heroin was bought. She could also not remember where she had breakfast that day.

Ms. Holmquist asked her if she remembered Mike Hillegeist being there. Shavonne Hammers said she did not remember.

"It's clear that you knew Harley and Angel were dating?" asked Ms. Holmquist.

"Yes," said Hammers.

Ms. Holmquist then asked Hammers about a claim that Tully was threatening her, Hammers responded yes.

She was not very forthcoming when Ms. Holmquist questioned her about the relationship with her two daughters. Then she showed Hammers a photo of her 15 year old daughter's arm with a tattoo with the names Harley and Angel.

"Did you know that Harley had given your daughter that tatoo," asked Ms. Holmquist.

"I did not know that," said Hammers.

Then Ms. Holmquist questioned Hammers about the "nice maroon car" she had mentioned on Thursday. Ms. Holmquist said that as they drove up in Arreaga's car, Shavonne Hammers recognized that Harley Hammers and Angel Tully were in that "maroon car."

"You were yelling and screaming, get out of the car bitch, you need your ass kicked," said Ms. Holmquist.

Shavonne Hammers responded that she did not remember screaming.

Ms. Holmquist asked "did any of them make any threats to you?"

"I don't remember," said Shavonne Hammers.

"Jason was asking you to get back in the car, you wouldn't. You were driving," asked Ms. Holmquist.

"I don't remember," said Hammers.

"Harley didn't back into Jason's car," asked Ms. Holmquist.

"He almost rammed," said Hammers.

"You don't remember where the gun came from?" asked Ms. Holmquist.

"No, I don't remember," said Hammers.

Again Ms. Holmquist asked her about Mike Hillegeist being there and Hammers responded that she could not recall.

"At this point Jason and Carly want to go back to Lake County," said Ms. Holmquist.

Hammers said they went back to Angie Ehler's to change and then went to her mom's house. She then recounted the sequence of events about talking with her brother, then seeing her son. On Thursday Shavonne Hammers said that her son asked her if she was drinking, she said that she only had a beer, he did not believe her and she was upset and that she physically pushed him on the couch.

She could not answer Ms. Holmquist's question about how long it had been since she saw her mom or her son.

"So you physically assaulted your son because he confronted you" about drinking, Ms. Holmquist brought up Shavonne Hammers own words about her son calling her a liar. Ms. Holmquist said that Shavonne Hammers got so upset that she left her family (referring to her leaving her mom's house).

"They had no money to get back to Lake County so I was trying to help them sell drugs," said Hammers. She said she contacted Angie Ehlers and asked if she could sell drugs at her house. Ms. Holmquist showed some photos of the trailer at Ehlers house and had Hammers identify some people in photos. Hammers indicated the room in the trailer in which she had used drugs.

Shavonne Hammers said she did remember how much of the bottle of Fireball she drank, said maybe half and that she did not share it with anyone. She said she was also using meth and taking meds.

Referring to the time before Harley Hammers and Angel Tully were shot, she said she did not remember a car pulling up, she doesn't remember yelling. "The pills and alcohol were taking effect, I couldn't walk to the bedroom by myself. I wasn't with it. I did not see Harley or Angel."

In response to a question by Ms. Holmquist, she said she "just heard two pops."

In response to another question , Hammers said, "Jason did not tell me to move her (Angel Tully)."

Asked about Arreaga's alleged confession to her, Hammers said, "He confessed to shooting both of them and saying, he took another piece of shit out of this world."

When asked about her interview with Detectives Greg Musson and Todd Fulton, Shavonne Hammers said that she remembered being at the car and talking to them but "don't remember what was said since I was under the influence."

After briefly staying with her mom, she went to another drug treatment program which she said she did not complete because she was "discharged due to dental needs." Detectives Musson and Fulton also interviewed her while she was at the drug treatment program.

Ms. Holmquist showed her a transcript of the interview near Arreaga's car. Even after reading it, Shavonne Hammers said her memory was not refreshed.

"Do you remember saying skittles, " said Ms. Holmquist. "Basically a bunch of pills."

"I don't remember," said Hammers.

Ms. Holmquist read another statement asking Hammers if she said, "I'm not fucking lying to you."

"I don't remember," said Hammers.

She did say she told Detective Musson that "two people had been shot."

Mr. Curtis then got to question Shavonne Hammers on re-direct. Her demeanor switched to being more amenable.

"Are you having trouble concentrating today," asked Mr. Curtis. "Is there anything about today's testimony that is more difficult than yesterday's testimony."

"There is someone in the audience that has threatened me on facebook, making it very emotional," said Hammers.

Attorneys approached Judge Marilyn Miles and had private discussions. There was a man in the audience who was not there Thursday. He was sitting a couple seats away from me in the same row.

"After discussions with counsel," said Judge Miles and she pointed to that man and asked Shavonne Hammers if that was the person. He was asked to step outside just until Shavonne Hammers finished testifying. Judge Miles said, "there is no problem. He was being cooperative."

Shavonne Hammers said that she had been clean and sober for a year now.

Ms. Holmquist got to question her on re-cross. Ms. Holmquist said that Hammers brought up pills and alcohol as a reason for not remembering instead of the person in the audience.

"At no point did you say you didn't remember because I was distracted and intimidated," said Ms, Holmquist.

"I wasn't aware I could answer the truth in this situation," said Hammers.

"We need you to tell the truth," said Ms. Holmquist. She reminded Hammers that she took an oath to tell the truth on the stand. "Were you lying?"

"I was telling the truth," said Hammers.

"To me you didn't seem distracted," said Ms. Holmquist.

"Part of the time, I wasn't distracted," said Hammers.

"Are there any answers I should reask," said Ms. Holmquist.

"You asked a lot," said Hammers.

"Is there anything you remember now that you didn't 20 minutes ago," said Ms. Holmquist. "You understand that this is a murder trial. You are one of the main witnesses."

"Yes," said Hammers. "The answers I gave were the truth."