Driver recalls ‘normal’ trip back to Topeka

The man who drove the suspect in a downtown Lawrence shooting back home to Topeka said no one in the car said anything about the incident, in which one man was killed and another injured.

“I thought I drove normal. Somebody said I screeched off, but I didn’t think I did,” said 30-year-old Topeka resident Travis Miller.

On Feb. 5, 2006, Miller drove 20-year-old Rashawn T. Anderson and another man back to Topeka from outside the Granada, 1020 Mass.

Miller was among witnesses in Anderson’s murder trial Tuesday, the first day of testimony. Prosecutors allege Anderson shot and killed Robert Earl Williams, 46, also of Topeka, and injured Pierre Burnette, of Kansas City, Kan., after a hip-hop show in downtown Lawrence.

Miller’s testimony did not coincide with statements by a limousine driver, Les Paul Jr., who said he heard gunshots and then saw the car that Miller was driving speed away. Paul also testified that he saw a man with a tan or brown hooded jacket jump into that car before it sped off.

According to a video taken the night of the shootings, Anderson was wearing a brownish hooded jacket.

Prosecutors and investigators have relied heavily on the video because it showed arguments and altercations that involved Williams. A subcontractor from the hip-hop label that promoted the show filmed the scene.

Testimony from several witnesses Tuesday revealed the end of the concert was a rowdy setting as many said they had consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana.

“I never saw a gun that night in anybody’s hands,” said Avery Peppers, 32, of Topeka.

On the trip back to Topeka, Peppers was a back-seat passenger in the car Miller drove, while Anderson was in the front.

And even though he said he never saw a gun, he testified that he remembered a window being rolled down on the drive home along U.S. Highway 40.

Prosecutors stressed that testimony because investigators later found a handgun west of Lawrence along U.S. 40associated with bullets fired at the scene. Trent Krug, assistant Douglas County district attorney, said during his opening statement that two swabs from the gun matched Anderson’s DNA profile.

Investigators focused on Anderson after they obtained the video because he matched descriptions from other witnesses. On the video shown in court, Anderson never appeared to speak directly with Williams, but he was looking at Williams’ hand, where Williams held a pocket knife during an argument with Peppers. Williams can be heard cursing and screaming loudly on the video.

LaTonia Coleman, who for 14 years had been Williams’ common-law wife, testified that Williams argued with friends and family members several times throughout the night but that things eventually calmed down.

She dropped him off in front of the Granada so he could get more details about an after-concert party, but seconds later she heard shots and saw Williams fall into the street. He died later at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Krug told jurors the state will produce a witness who will identify Anderson as the shooter.

Anderson’s attorney, Mark Manna, said that Williams was drunk, had smoked marijuana and was involved in several arguments with different people, which could give motive to others.

Manna also said that Anderson’s DNA was found on what police say was the murder weapon because he had handled it earlier when it was in his home.

“Rashawn Anderson is not guilty of killing Robert Williams or firing the gun that injured (Burnette),” Manna said.