Medical analyst, retired CMPD detective testify as defendant Ward struggles to stay on task

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — The trial of the man accused of raping and killing his cousin and acting as his own lawyer continued Friday with the judge continuing to give defendant Derek Ward multiple warnings while cross examining a witness.

Ward is representing himself, but he does have an attorney on standby to help if needed.

The trial, which concluded its first week, was delayed for more than a decade over whether Ward is mentally fit to withstand trial, but the judge ruled it can move forward.

Friday morning a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detective who’s retired but currently works part-time with the agency testified about speaking with the mom of victim Brittini Ward on the day she was found in May 2010.

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In another testimony, the medical examiner says Brittini was strangled. He also said she had hemorrhaging in her eyes and bruises on her body.

Judge Carla Archie warned Ward after he repeatedly kept giving his opinion while cross examining a CMPD cellphone analyst.

“You are making commentary,” said Archie to Ward. “I have told you over and over again. Avoid commentary.”

Ward also seemed to be getting frustrated at the public defender who was trying to help him.

Ward asked a crime scene investigator he was cross-examining if he was a “mail boy.”

This same investigator is now a CMPD cellphone analyst and testified about analyzing Ward’s phone. He believed a photo of a woman’s face laying on her back that was taken on the day Brittini Ward died was later deleted from the device.

At one point Friday afternoon, the judge also had to stop Ward to tell the jury to ignore his commentary and just focus on the questions and the answers.

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