By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Attorneys for bombing suspect Dr. Randeep Mann spent today chipping away at the credibility of some of the evidence presented against their client.
Randeep Mann
Priya Patel, the daughter of Mann’s business partner, testified about her family’s 2002 Nissan Altima and why it had a full-sized spare tire in the trunk.
Prosecutors allege a donut-sized spare tire was possibly taken from the trunk of the vehicle and used in the Feb. 4, 2009, bombing that critically injured the chairman of the Arkansas Medical Board. Friday concluded the third week of Mann’s trial in federal court on charges related to the bombing.
The grenade used in the blast was taped to a small spare tire — which according to earlier testimony came from a 2002 Nissan Altima — and placed leaning against the right front bumper of Dr. Trent Pierce’s vehicle.
When Pierce moved the tire, the grenade exploded.
Pierce lost his left eye in the blast and suffered injuries to his face, right arm and right leg.
Patel testified Friday she had a flat sometime between 2002 and 2004, and after using the small spare tire to get home, her father removed it and replaced it with a regular-sized tire.
She said she did not know what her father did with the tire after that.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Karen Whatley asked Patel if her father was a “pack rat.”
“Is it fair to say if something is still usable your father is not going to get rid of it?” she asked.
“Yes,” Patel said.
Also testifying Friday was Thomas Hopen, a scientist at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms lab in Georgia.
Hopen was asked about plastic, duct tape and small pieces of string, twine and yarn found at the bombing scene. He testified that the items didn’t match any tape or plastic found at or near Mann’s London home.
Mann is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property. He also faces illegal weapons charges, and his wife, Sangeeta, is being tried with him on obstruction charges.
Prosecutors allege the bombing occurred out of revenge for what Mann expected would be the board’s move to strip him of his medical license after it suspended his license to prescribe painkillers.
