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| Tuesday, Feb 27 2007 10:05 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Feb 27 2007 10:11 PM
V incent Brothers' brother testified Tuesday he didn't see his sibling during the three days surrounding the deaths of Vincent Brothers' family.
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Melvin Brothers walks to the courtroom to testify in the trial where his brother, Vincent Brothers, is accused of killing his wife, Joanie Harper their three children and his mother-in-law Earnestine Harper.
The defense hopes Vincent Brothers' family will help support his alibi that he was in Ohio around the time Brothers' wife, Joanie Harper; their three children, Marques, Lyndsey and Marshall; and Joanie Harper's mother, Earnestine were killed in 2003.
But Melvin Brothers testified that he did not see Vincent Brothers at his house in Ohio where he was staying from about 7 p.m. July 4, 2003, to about 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. July 7, 2003.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green believes Vincent Brothers was gone from Ohio even longer than that.
To prove Melvin Brothers was not a reliable witness, the prosecutor attacked his credibility by pointing out inconsistencies and lies in Melvin Brothers' many statements to detectives.
Melvin Brothers admitted he lied to detectives again and again when they initially questioned him in the days after the killings about credit card purchases he made on Vincent Brothers' credit card.
Vincent Brothers gave his brother a credit card to use when he left on Friday, July 4, Melvin Brothers said Tuesday.
The prosecution believes Vincent Brothers gave the card to Melvin Brothers to create paper evidence that he was in Ohio when he was really driving to Bakersfield to kill his family.
Just days after the killings, Melvin Brothers told investigators that Vincent Brothers gave him the card Sunday, July 6 or Monday, July 7, 2003.
Melvin Brothers also denied making at least one purchase during that previous statement.
He admitted on the witness stand that he lied again and again about the time frame and purchase, but eventually told the truth after investigators confronted him with a videotape of him making the purchase at a store using Vincent Brothers' credit card.
"I was frightened, I was scared, what was I supposed to do?" Melvin Brothers told the prosecutor.
Melvin Brothers repeatedly said the investigators threatened to rope him into the murder investigation.
"They didn't do so much interviewing," Melvin Brothers said. "They did more threatening."
During the exchange, Green kept a fairly cool demeanor even when Melvin Brothers told her things such as, "You asked me a question. I answered it."
He also said the audiotapes and transcripts of his interviews with investigators were doctored to make it appear as though he said things he did not say.
But Melvin Brothers did admit that Vincent Brothers showed up to his house unannounced that July.
Vincent Brothers made another trip to Ohio in April 2003, Melvin Brothers said.
Vincent Brothers and Melvin Brothers had not visited each other from 1993 when their father died to the 2003 visits, Melvin Brothers testified.
Melvin Brothers described their relationship as "close" but said they only spoke on the phone about seven or eight times during that 10-year period.
They had never met each other's wives and Melvin Brothers said he never met Vincent Brothers' children, who ranged in age from 6 weeks old to 4 years old.
Green says she has proof Vincent Brothers returned to Bakersfield during the April trip and called this trip a "dry run" for the eventual killings.
Melvin Brothers said Vincent Brothers left for a day or two during the April trip and gave him his credit card to use, just as he did during the July trip.
During the April trip Melvin Brothers made two $10 purchases from a nearby gas station with his brother's card.
During the July trip, Melvin Brothers used the credit card to buy two movies and some toilet paper from Wal-Mart, some clothes from a second store and dinner for he and his wife.
Vincent Brothers, 44, and Melvin Brothers, 43, are around the same height and weight, both have short cropped hair and both wear glasses.
Green did land an occasional barb.
On the witness stand Tuesday, Melvin Brothers said he didn't remember the name of the store where he went shopping.
"You don't remember the name Wal-Mart?" Green asked.
Melvin Brothers testified Tuesday that before both trips he called Vincent Brothers to tell him he was remarrying his wife. Vincent Brothers later called to ask if he could visit in April, Melvin Brothers said.
But Green pointed out that Melvin Brothers said in previous interviews that it was Vincent Brothers who initiated the reunion.
Before the April meeting, Melvin Brothers borrowed more than $400 from his brother, he testified.
In previous statements, Green said he asked for more than $200 or $300. Vincent Brothers told Melvin Brothers he did not have to repay him during the April trip.
Before the hearing, Melvin Brothers said he met with a defense investigator but declined to meet with Green or her team.
Defense attorney Michael Gardina has not yet had an opportunity to question Melvin Brothers. But he has repeatedly said Melvin Brothers was the victim of overzealous investigators who threatened him into giving incriminating statements against Vincent Brothers, who has pleaded not guilty to the murders.
The defense plans to present an expert to testify that witnesses can be forced into lying if they are threatened.