SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The morning of day three of The State of Texas v. Christopher Wise saw a San Angelo Police Department detective testify about his experience investigating the incident.

The day didn't start with the detective, however. Instead, the court began by dismissing a juror.

The juror, a young man, informed Judge Jay Weatherby that he had a previous experience with an SAPD officer related to the case that inhibited his ability to remain unbiased. District Attorney Allison Palmer suggested dismissing the juror, while Defense Attorney Gonzalo Rios argued that the juror should not be dismissed from the trial just yet.

Weatherby ultimately sided with the State, finding that the juror's harboring of "extreme distrust" and "anger" toward the officer provided sufficient grounds for dismissal. The juror was released and replaced with an alternative juror.

Including the remaining alternate, the jury is now composed of five men and eight women.

SAPD Detective Testifies

Following the dismissal of the juror, the State called SAPD detective Marcus Rodriguez to the witness stand. Rodriguez stated that he arrived at the duplex residence found on the 12000 block of West Avenue N where the incident occurred and saw Wise and SAPD patrol officer Stephanie Kozyn.

After his arrival, Rodriguez said he began gathering information about how and why Christie Feland died. He observed Feland in a state of full rigor mortis at the foot of the bed in a bedroom. Rodriguez told the jury that full rigor mortis takes approximately six to eight hours to set in, though there are instances of it setting in as soon as four hours.

Rodriguez also observed that Feland's body and hair were wet and that the body had sustained multiple injuries. These injuries included a circular injury on her head, a bruise on one of her knees and a bump behind one of her ears.

Rodriguez later left the bedroom to speak with Wise outside. Rodriguez stated that Wise said that he and Feland had been dating for approximately three months, that Feland believed Wise had been cheating on her and that Feland had consumed two Smirnoff beverages prior to her death.

Footage filmed on Rodriguez's body camera the day of the incident was then played for jurors. In one clip, Wise could be seen and heard stating that he attempted to slap Feland awake and perform CPR on Feland after discovering her in the bathtub. Rodriguez can also be heard in the footage telling Wise that Feland had likely been in the bathtub for "hours."

Later in the trial, footage of an interview with Wise conducted by Rodriguez inside a vehicle was played. In the recording, Rodriguez can be seen questioning Wise regarding the origin of Feland's injuries.

Wise stated during a separate portion of the car interview that he used his phone primarily to play music and use Spotify. Rodriguez later said in reference to questioning from the prosecution that Wise told him that he primarily used the phone to access Spotify and Snapchat.

Rodriguez later spoke on the SAPD's search for Feland's phone. He stated that "at least eight" individuals employed by the police department searched for the device during law enforcement's time at the scene of the incident. Despite this, no one was initially able to locate the phone.

Rodriguez stated that, while conducting a final sweep of the property, he discovered a hammer on a countertop within the residence that "wasn't there before." After confirming with other SAPD members that the hammer did not belong to the department, the hammer was taken as evidence.

Rodriguez said that the phone was located later that day by Wise inside the couch he slept on the night of the incident. Additional body camera footage played for jurors depicted Rodriguez arriving at the property once again and witnessing Wise flip the couch on its side to show Rodriguez where the phone was found.

Later in the trial, Rodriguez stated that investigators returned to the duplex residence on Nov. 17, 2022, to conduct a water test. He shared that law enforcement wanted to identify how long it would take for the bathtub to flood under the conditions described by Wise and SAPD personnel who investigated the scene the night of the incident.

According to Rodriguez, the investigators learned that the water would eventually overflow into the bedroom to which the bathroom was connected. Furthermore, Rodriguez noted that the water test showed that the level of flooding observed the night of the incident would have occurred sooner than what Wise's testimony initially indicated.

Rodriguez said further into the trial that he was informed of the results of Feland's autopsy. He stated that the autopsy observations showed that Feland had multiple cracked ribs on her left side, brain damage and a severely damaged kidney.

Rodriguez said he conducted another interview with Wise on Nov. 22, 2022, that lasted approximately four hours. Rodriguez stated that Wise gave a testimony that varied greatly from the testimony he provided on the night of the incident. Wise was arrested on the same day as the interview.

Concho Valley Homepage, KLST and KSAN will continue to provide coverage of The State of Texas v. Christopher Wise as the trial progresses. Be sure to visit our website, Facebook pages or mobile app to stay up to date.

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