Hancock victim stabbed 12 times at kid’s birthday party

Kenneth Fanning was stabbed 12 times before he died, testimony showed Wednesday during the second day of the murder trial for Clinten Michael Dryer.

For much of the day, jurors heard testimony from State Medical Examiner Dr. Mark LeVaughn, who gave his expert opinion on the autopsy results.

LeVaughn said Fanning’s cause of death was stab wounds.

Fanning died at 12:52 a.m. on April 12, 2015, LeVaughn said.

The 29-year-old died in the front yard of Dryer’s residence on U.S. 90 in Hancock County.

Family members, including Fanning and Dryer, had gathered at the home to celebrate the birthday of Dryer’s 7-year-old daughter. Both men had been drinking that day and got into an argument that eventually turned physical, law enforcement officials have said.

Hancock County deputies reported the two exchanged punches, but Fanning managed to subdue him with a chokehold. After the fight, Dryer retrieved a hunting knife from inside the house, then came back outside and stabbed Fanning multiple times, according to testimony from Dryer’s 14-year-old stepdaughter.

Dryer’s attorney, Donald Rafferty, argued that the stabbing was committed in self-defense.

In an effort to discredit Dryer’s self-defense claim, prosecutors rolled a large flat-screen monitor into the courtroom and called LeVaughn to the witness stand to present the autopsy photos to the jury.

LeVaughn described the location of each stab wound as jurors watched graphic close-ups of the knife-shaped holes riddled throughout Fanning’s body.

The most significant stab wounds included three to the left side of his back, two to the back of his head, three to the back of his neck, one to the left side of his chest, puncturing his lung, and one to the center of his chest, directly puncturing his heart.

The latter two wounds, LeVaughn said, were fatal.

The defense countered by asking LeVaughn about the defendant’s strangulation injuries, shifting the jury’s attention away from the victim and onto Dryer’s self-defense claim.

After repeated objections by prosecutors, however, Circuit Judge Chris Schmidt called both sides to the bench and then halted the trial for a 20-minute recess.

Schmidt said Rafferty’s line of questioning was “irregular” because LeVaughn did not perform any medical examinations on the defendant. He said Rafferty’s cross-examination should be focused on the victim’s injuries.

The trial proceeded slowly Wednesday as both sides grappled over procedural issues.

When the jury came back into the courtroom, Schmidt granted the state’s motion and instructed the jury to ignore LeVaughn’s testimony regarding the strangulation injuries.

Earlier, the judge denied a similar motion by the defense when it was revealed that LeVaughn did not perform the autopsy on Fanning and was merely giving testimony from another pathologist’s autopsy records.

The trial enters its third day on Thursday. Assistant district attorneys Ian Baker and Chris Daniel are prosecuting the case.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Hancock victim stabbed 12 times at kid’s birthday party."